With its tubes, pipes, and sludge, the digestive system is most often compared to plumbing. Clogs, stop-ups, leaks—all kinds of issues can arise in the home, and in the body. Altogether, the organs involved include some darn impressive tools that take your food and nutrients on a long journey through your body and out.
But when you look at the entire digestive system—from the consumption of foods and drinks to the way your body processes them, to how it delivers, stores, or expels them—you may think of these processes a little differently. It’s part magic, part thrilling, part crazy.
In a lot of ways, your gut is really your anatomical amusement park. When things are going well, you’ve got a lazy river shuttling your food through the park so that your body can use calories as energy. Eat something that doesn’t agree with you and your gut may feel like it’s on a triple-loop roller coaster. Or when things are really bad, your food may be purchasing a ticket for an extreme gravitational ride—sometimes shooting straight up and sometimes dropping straight down. No seat belt is going to hold anything back.
This is the nature—and majesty—of our digestive system. It’s responsible for so many parts of our health because of how it processes our food and energy.
From our discussion in Chapter 2, you already know the basics of how digestion works—but here’s a quick refresher: Food moves down the esophagus to your stomach, which breaks it down with various acids and enzymes so it can move through the intestines in a more liquid form. In the small intestines, food is broken down even more as it prepares the nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream to be shuttled to other parts of the body. The colon’s main job is to remove water, which is the part of the process that creates your stool. While these things are happening, your pancreas, liver, and gallbladder are all performing various functions to remove toxins and help your intestines do their job. The waste that’s left over moves through the colon to ship out to its final destination.
That system doesn’t always run smoothly, as you know. Sometimes you feel rumbles, sometimes you feel cramps, sometimes you feel blah after eating certain foods, and sometimes your body rebels in a full-scale assault that threatens the cleanliness of your porcelain bathroom fixtures.
Why? Seems like there are millions of different causes for digestive problems. Some of them have to do with your microbiome—that is, the population of bacteria in your gut. You remember from our earlier discussion that good and bad bacteria have to coexist to have a peaceful environment; when they don’t, you can experience digestive and other issues. Your gut health can also be influenced by the foods you eat; some people have intolerance to certain foods or ingredients (gluten and lactose being some of the most prevalent). And viruses can invade your body to cause your digestive system to go haywire for any period of time.
In any case, it’s important to pinpoint the root issue that’s causing any turmoil in your gut. Oftentimes, you can settle it down by identifying foods and nutrients that might act as triggers to a certain discomfort or problem (and then eliminate those triggers from your diet). In many instances, though, you can use food to help heal your problems. Here’s the menu for four of the most common digestive issues you may encounter:
Diarrhea/vomiting. If food is quickly shooting out either the North or South Pole, there’s a good chance that you don’t want to eat anything. And in most cases, that’s the right thing to do: Take it easy on your stomach, because many foods can actually make symptoms worse. The following are two major exceptions:
The BRAT diet—bananas, rice, apples, or toast. These choices work because they’re gentle on the stomach, so won’t likely trigger any further rebellion. They also can help solidify the gunk in your gut to help ease symptoms of diarrhea. If you’re vomiting, it’s best to eat nothing and give your stomach a break for about six hours after your last bout. Sip as much water as you can tolerate to stay hydrated. Then, ease back in by sucking on some hard candy or a frozen fruit pop and drinking clear liquids. After about a day without vomiting, start eating again with the BRAT foods.
Homemade hydration drink. If you’ve experienced a lot of diarrhea, the biggest concern isn’t that you’re running low on TP; it’s that you’re running low on nutrients. You’ve likely lost a lot of fluid that you need to replenish. An oral rehydration solution (ORS) is a simple recipe that you can use to treat both children and adults with diarrhea and related illnesses. To make it, take 6 teaspoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and then mix with a liter of water. Stir it until the salt and sugar dissolve. The combo will help replace what has been lost and prevent you from losing more fluid.
Note: This is the one time we recommend adding sugar to your diet. It works because sugar helps electrolytes into your system, and electrolytes are what drags water through it. ORS has saved many lives, and Dr. C learned in a few bouts with a stomach virus that it tastes pretty good too.
Constipation. This is the body’s version of a traffic jam. Nothing’s moving, and no horn honk is going to get anything to move any faster, no matter how frustrated you get. Thank goodness, some foods can clear the road and help traffic move a little more smoothly:
The CRAP diet—cranberries, raisins, apricots, prunes. A diet rich in fruits, veggies, and whole grains will help get your system going, but these four foods are great choices to start. That’s because the fiber in these foods helps keep you regular. Fiber has been shown to help reduce constipation and diarrhea, and to help lower bad cholesterol. It also plays a role in keeping many of us satiated, which helps prevent weight gain.48 Most Americans simply don’t get enough of fiber; men should have between 20 to 24 grams of fiber a day, while women should have 24 to 28 grams.
Water. One major source of constipation is dehydration; without enough water to help your waste move through your digestive system, things get slowed down or stuck. Water is the shuttle driver that helps move things along. So drink, drink, drink.
Reflux. Anybody who’s ever experienced a little heartburn, acid reflux, or a burrito-tasting belch knows that the sensation isn’t as pleasant on the way up as it was on the way down. But there’s a reason, evolutionarily speaking, why our bodies need to take food up the anatomical escalator every now and then. Our stomachs are strong enough to digest just about anything. But we developed a mechanism to reject poisonous foods: the vomiting response. When it comes to reflux, what travels upward is the acid that’s in the stomach to help break down foods.
The problem with reflux isn’t just the burning you feel in your esophagus, but also the chronic effect it can have on your body—namely, increasing dangerous inflammation. You can do a lot to help prevent or ease reflux by what you do directly after eating (for example, not lying down right after you eat or eating too close to bedtime). But for changes in eating habits, your best bet is to avoid acid and go bland:
Bland foods. Certain foods can increase the amount of acid in your stomach and thus increase the chances your throat will feel like fire. The biggest ones to avoid are peppers and spicy foods, as well as caffeine and alcohol. For some people, reducing chocolate may help. Citrus fruits and tomatoes—both very acidic—also promote reflux. Stick to bland foods like quinoa, skinless poultry, and non-spicy vegetables.
Bloating. Bloating means different things to different people. Some associate it with gas, gurgles, and that distended feeling in your belly. Those symptoms can be associated with reflux—but in general, it sort of feels like your innards are gargling. That gassy feeling can be reduced by what and how you eat. For example, by eliminating carbonated beverages and beer, you’ll reduce the gas (bubbles in the drink cause those bubbles in your belly). By eating more slowly, you can help reduce the chance that you’ll suck down a lot of air, which also contributes to that distended, gassy feeling.
There’s another kind of bloating feeling—the kind that makes you feel more puffy than gassy. This happens when you retain water, often after meals loaded with sodium. Sodium used to be rare in our diets (not the case anymore!), so our bodies learned to retain it; our kidneys were responsible for maintaining balanced sodium levels. Now that we consume so much more of it (averaging 3,400 milligrams a day when we only need 200 to 500 milligrams), our kidneys are working overtime to filter it out through our urine. Because that doesn’t happen instantly, extra sodium can trap water—and your belly feels like a massive wave pool. The following are your best bets:
Slow-digesting carbs. Think fiber, so lots of veggies. Not just salty foods make you retain water; sugar and simple carbs also do. Simple carbs cause a spike in blood sugar and insulin—and insulin works to actually save sodium, which can lead to even more water retention. Instead, eat complex carbs like oatmeal and whole grains or any type of beans.
| SUB OUT… | SUB IN… |
| Spoiled or unwashed foods | Bacteria from outdated or uncooked foods can get into your system and cause a whole range of issues, such as food poisoning and cramps. Go for whole grains and washed vegetables, which amp up the fiber to improve your digestive health. |
| Spicy and hot foods | If you have digestive issues, spicy meals can trigger even more problems, especially heartburn. Ginger is a traditional remedy for all kinds of tummy troubles and may help your stomach properly empty. Studies haven’t proven it works, but it’s worth a try.49 You can also season your food with cinnamon or caraway for a gentler effect on your stomach. |
| Dairy products | Get your vitamin D from salmon and leafy greens (or even mushrooms exposed to sun) instead of traditional dairy products, which can be tough on the stomach for those with an intolerance to sugar lactose. Try Greek yogurts (with no added sugar, syrup, or fat), which don’t include lactose. |
| Acidic foods like oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, and lemons | High-acid foods can irritate your stomach lining and cause discomfort. Try blander options like apples and bananas, or fiber-rich vegetables, like asparagus and artichokes. |
| Alcohol | Not only will alcohol give you a buzz, it can also relax the sphincter in your esophagus and increase heartburn. Water, on the other hand, will keep everything moving smoothly, as it’s one of the most important things you can ingest for a healthy digestive system. |