“Food is all those substances which, submitted to the action of the stomach, can be assimilated or changed into life by digestion, and can thus repair the losses which the human body suffers through the act of living.” Jean Brillat-Savarin
Sitting down to consume a meal generally involves eating your food and drinking your water. Being mindful and making meals a sacred part of your day is very important. But good nutrition isn’t only about taking time for meals and eating healthy foods. There are two critical next steps: digesting and absorbing the food you eat. This *bioavailability* of food depends on that delicate process to “use the food we eat in the body we have.”
You have to use the foods you eat efficiently with the biological needs of your body both in how your body uses foods but also how foods we eat are nutrient-available for the body it enters! In other words, we cannot assume just because we open our mouth to eat a healthy diet that we use all the nutrients present in those foods. Digestion and absorption of nutrients is incredibly complex but is so critical for good health and overall wellbeing.
How do we know if our bodies are *bioavailable* and using food efficiently?
The main area where most digestion and absorption of nutrients takes place is the small intestine, so problems in this area of the body puts you at risk for nutrition-related and other health issues. Chronic constipation, diarrhea, bloating, gas or frothy stools are a body’s signal that something is going wrong in your gut.
Furthermore, a poor diet lacking fruits, vegetables and variety of whole foods, chronic stress, trauma, and overuse of certain medications can put the gut area at risk for dysbiosis, an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in the intestinal flora. This leads to increased risk of inflammation in the gut and other health problems.
A Five Pillar approach (Purpose, Activity, Nutrition, Sleep and Resilience) can address these challenges and improve and optimize your health.
At Hackensack Meridian Integrative Health & Medicine, we look at the whole body, and support the Five Pillar approach. We realize that an imbalance in one of these pillars can influence digestion and absorption of nutrients. We address this in our nutrition and health assessments and support you to be the best health shape you can be, one bite at a time. To meet with one of our nutritionists and learn more, call 732.263.7999. We are currently taking appointments in our Jackson and Old Bridge offices.
This article appears in the September 2018 issue of Natural Awakenings najerseyshore.com