Your Digestive Problem Actually Be an Awareness Problem

article by Shannon Dahlum

Have you ever struggled to enjoy yourself because you were worried about how you looked? How many pool parties or evenings out have you dodged simply because you felt self conscious, or even ashamed, about your appearance? Have you ever refused to take your shirt off at the beach because you hated how you looked in your swimsuit? Poor body image is an epidemic in our society and no one is immune to it. The ways we attempt to fix the problem are only making matters worse. 

I love food. Clearly I’m not the only one who does, or there wouldn’t be a whole issue (my favorite one) of BayouLife Magazine dedicated to it every August. Just looking at the photos in these pages of the steak from Doe’s, Dana’s pork cutlets from For His Temple, the sweets, the shrimp…. has my stomach churning. But if you’re one of the many people (one in four, actually) who suffer from indigestion, a completely pleasurable eating experience can quickly turn into misery. Sometimes, digestive distress can be triggered by what you eat, but often, the issue is simply related to how you eat. 

The digestive process begins before you even take your first bite of food. It’s triggered not by your stomach, but by your head, simply from the awareness that food is coming. Just thinking about food, then seeing, smelling, tasting and chewing, triggers the secretion of saliva, gastric acid, digestive enzymes, and the increase of blood flow to the digestive organs.  This first phase of digestion is called the cephalic phase digestive response (CPDR) and it’s responsible for as much as 30-40% of your total digestive action. Cephalic literally translates to “of the head.” Have you ever felt your mouth begin to salivate just from the thought of food alone? This is because of CPDR. Your brain is tuned in to food, so it begins to prepare your digestive system to receive it. 

If you tend to eat while distracted by other activities or stimulation of some sort, the CPDR likely isn’t being triggered. When your brain is focused on anything other than the food that your body is about to receive, it doesn’t know to trigger the flow of digestive juices and enzymes. Without bringing your awareness to the meal you’re eating, you completely miss this entire first phase of digestion. This means that when you eat your lunch while working, snack in front of the TV, scarf breakfast while running out the door or driving down the road, etc, your digestive function is likely only working at 60-70% of it’s efficiency. 

Without the proper release of saliva, gastric acid, digestive enzymes, and blood flow to your digestive organs, food is digested at a slower rate. Some sources blame a slow rate of food breakdown in the stomach for an increase in intra-abdominal pressure, which leads to acid reflux. Low levels of stomach acid can also contribute to an imbalance of gut bacteria, which is important for healthy digestion, as well. 

Not only can these issues be the cause of uncomfortable symptoms of indigestion, but they can also prevent you from being able to assimilate and absorb the nutrients from your food. In one study, a group of test subjects consumed a mineral drink in a relaxed state, and absorption of sodium and chloride in the small intestine were measured. Every participant assimilated 100% of those minerals. The same test subjects then consumed the same mineral drink while being given a dichotomous listening task. This is where two people were talking to them at the same time about different things, and they had to try to pay attention to what each was saying. You know when you’re speaking on the phone with someone and your child is demanding your attention at the same time? It’s just like that. But for this experiment, one person was speaking into each test subject’s left ear about intergalactic space travel while another person was talking into their right ear about the joys of financial planning. They consumed the mineral drink while listening to the speakers, and again, mineral absorption was measured. This time, they all showed a complete shutdown of sodium and chloride assimilation that lasted up to a full hour after the task was completed. The simple act of attending to two other stimuli while consuming the drink dropped their capacity to absorb the nutrients from 100% to 0%. 

Another study that demonstrates the importance of awareness while eating was performed on Italian university students. Using electrogastrographic (EGG) methods, researchers determined each student’s digestive activity before and while viewing a short film.  A snack eaten before viewing the film stimulated normal digestive contractions. During the movie, however, EGG rates dropped, indicating a decrease in gut motility, lower enzymatic output, and inefficient digestion. This implies that you likely suffer the same drop in digestive efficiency when you eat while watching TV or scrolling through social media. In the same way you don’t absorb information you’ve read while your mind is wandering to something else, your body doesn’t effectively absorb the nutrients you consume when your mind is wandering to anything other than the food you’re eating. 

Your brain and body not only hunger to fill your belly with food, but to completely be immersed in the experience of food. All human beings are emotional eaters, and are brilliantly designed to receive pleasure through eating. If you didn’t feel a positive physiological response from eating, you wouldn’t be driven to eat, and our entire species would probably be long gone by now. The experience of pleasure through eating serves not only to inspire you to eat, but it also shuts off the stress response in your nervous system. When you eat in a state of stress, digestive function diminishes in exactly the same way as when you eat without awareness. This means the pleasure you experience from food actually triggers healthy digestive function, as well. 

If you find yourself constantly reaching for the antacid medications after a meal, pay attention to how you’re eating. Slow down, be sure to sit at a table, and enjoy your meal with all of your senses. Be physically and mentally present with your food. There are so many delicious food options in our area covered in this magazine, and I hope you try them all! When you do, though, make an effort to get every bit of pleasure out of eating them that you can. Not only to maximize your enjoyment, but to optimize your ability to digest them efficiently and comfortably.