It is usual for the digestive system to be a major factor in health problems – often the key factor. According to one brilliant study from 2015; “Glucose, salt, emulsifiers, organic solvents, gluten,microbial transglutaminase, and nanoparticles are extensively and increasingly used by the food industry…. all of the aforementioned additives increase intestinal permeability.” (Transglutaminase is an enzyme used widely to “improve” the texture and appearance of food). If your gut is leaky your digestion is impaired, and vice versa.
Allergens and toxins can get into your bloodstream and cause harm – not least to your liver, which can become overloaded and stressed. Often this is the first place where things go wrong. When you develop a problem digesting food, it typically starts with fatty foods. This is NOT AN ALLERGY; it’s your liver and biliary system feeling the strain. Fixing the liver can be the first step in fixing digestion.
Nobody these days can afford to forget what we now call the microbiome - the organisms that live on and in you, particularly in the gut. We do use probiotics to this end, but it also needs attention to the whole chemical environment in the gut.
You could start by reading a short article on my website – Healing the Gut. There is much more in my 2014 book The Vitamin Cure for Digestive Disease, co-authored with nutritional therapist and nurse Anne Pemberton. It contains practical advice for a range of digestive problems. It is due for an update though – we learn more all the time.
References
- Lerner, A., & Matthias, T. (2015). Changes in intestinal tight junction permeability associated with industrial food additives explain the rising incidence of autoimmune disease. Autoimmunity Reviews, 14(6), 479–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2015.01.009