Digestive Enzymes & Health
Lab Markers, Health and Nutrition
Blood chemistry testing is an extremely effective tool to use as it screens and identifies imbalance in the body’s metabolism, assessing major bodily functions providing me, as a functional nutritionist, with sound recommendations to reach the individual’s health goals.
Some reasons to review and/or request these labs:
- Depression/anxiety
- Fatigue
- Digestive Complaints
- Chronic Pain
- Cardiovascular Risk
- Weight Loss
- Sleep concerns
- Optimizing General Health & Sports Fitness
Patients are referred to me on a weekly basis seeking nutrition plans that help correct essential nutrient deficiencies and greatly improve or fully resolve their current signs and symptoms. As a functional nutritionist licensed in DC with a Master of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine, I help get to the root of an individual’s unwanted health concerns by navigating nutrition and lifestyle factors that helps them feel better – such as improving digestive concerns, brain function, joint health or lab markers.
While I’m finding many deficiencies and nutritional needs one of the common findings is a need for digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes help break down fats and proteins. If you can’t digest and absorb properly you will have more nutrient deficiencies, inflammation and an imbalance of good and bad bacteria leading towards other chronic diseases. While we are addressing the underlying causes we often use digestive enzyme supplements to begin the “gut repair.”
Functional Nutrition & Gut Healing
Food is medicine, there are certain foods that have the ability to work on digestion.
Let’s dive into digestive enzymes and how we can utilize food to support gut function and improve the health of the body.
Common causes of improper enzyme production:
- Consuming a SAD diet (Standard American Diet of highly processed and refined foods)
- Low stomach acid
- Stress
- Micronutrient deficiency
- Inappropriately chewing foods
In a nutshell, the major factors that impact the health of our genes and our body are nutrition and lifestyle factors – aspects you do every day!
Top Mother Nature providing foods that contain digestive enzymes:
- Pineapple – contains an enzyme called bromelain that aids in the proper breakdown of protein.
- Raw honey – contains multiple digestive enzymes in the honey nectar and passed along from the bees that assist in the breakdown of carbohydrates and proteins – a little goes a long way!
- Papaya – this fruit contains an enzyme called papain helping to aid in digestion.
*Note: Keep in mind, these 3 foods might not be best for everyone and depends upon an individual’s food allergies, food sensitivities, food intolerances, lab markers and signs/symptoms the body, is showing us.
Aside from digestive aids, pineapple, raw honey and papaya further food and lifestyle factors provide the body with tools to detoxify, heal wounds, reduce inflammation and boost the immune system. The array of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that accompany these foods allow for a better functioning body.
While it can be very important to consume digestive enzymes in foods or clean supplements, it is imperative to correct the body’s production of digestive enzymes. For instance, the amount of saliva you have in your mouth, hydrochloric acid in your stomach and optimal functioning gallbladder, liver, pancreas and intestines, have profound impacts of your health and the rest of your body – from your head to your little toe, and everything between.
Warmly,
Stacy
