Digestive Aids, Digestive Enzymes, HCl and Bile 

LACK OF DIGESTIVE ENZYMES

Did you know that enzymes are crucial for digestion of your food?

Therefore, when your body lacks digestive enzymes, a vicious cycle begins. Your body cannot properly digest food, and the impaired digestion then leads to malabsorption and poor gut health. 

THE TWO MAIN CAUSES OF A LOW ENZYME SUPPLY ARE:

• A poor diet – fresh, raw foods are rich in enzymes and processed foods contain barely any enzymes
• Bad eating habits – such as not chewing properly or overcooking foods 

MALABSORPTION

If you’re not absorbing the nutrients you consume, it can be a huge problem for your gut health and overall health.

There are many reasons your body cannot absorb nutrients, which can range from simple to complex. For example, your body may not contain enough digestive enzymes to complete the digestive process. Therefore, you may need to do something as simple as integrate a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and take an enzyme supplement. 

Celiac disease, an autoimmune disease that makes the individual allergic to gluten, is another cause of malabsorption, as is cow’s milk intolerance. 

SYMPTOMS OF MALABSORPTION VARY, BUT MAY INCLUDE:

• Weight loss
• Failure to gain weight
• Exhaustion
• Diarrhea
• Foul-smelling or loose stools
• IBS
• Weak adrenals

SOME OF THE KEY NUTRIENTS YOUR BODY MIGHT BE MISSING DUE TO MALABSORPTION INCLUDE:

• Magnesium
• Sodium
• Potassium
• Vitamin D

You may want to consider integrating easier to digest foods into your diet. I always tell my clients who suffer from malabsorption to feed their own bodies as they’d feed a childs – with simple, basic, easy-to-digest foods, such as gut-healing meals, well cooked vegetables, soups and stews.

ENZYME-RICH FOODS INCLUDE:

• Sprouted seeds and legumes
• Papaya, pineapple, mango, kiwi, and grapes
• Avocado
• Raw honey 
• Bee pollen
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Extra-virgin coconut oil
• Raw meat
• Raw dairy

LACK OF STOMACH ACID

If you suffer from acid reflux or have been diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), I highly recommend reading this comprehensive article by Chris Kresser:

How to Cure GERD without Medication

https://chriskresser.com/how-to-cure-gerd-without-medication/

NATURAL WAYS TO BOOST YOUR DIGESTION

There are a few strategies you can try to boost your digestion naturally. Choose one of these to try:

1. Raw, apple cider vinegar – add 1-2 teaspoons of raw, apple cider vinegar to a shot glass size of water and drink 15 minutes before each meal.
2. Ginger – chew a small piece of ginger before eating to get your digestive juices flowing, add fresh, grated ginger to your meals or drink a shot of ginger juice before meals. Or add pickled sushi ginger to your meals. You could also drink fresh ginger tea between meals.
3. Bitters – digestive bitters have been used for centuries to aid digestion, improve appetite and help settle the stomach. Take 5ml in a little water, 15 minutes before a meal to encourage production and secretion of digestive enzymes, bile and hydrochloric acid. I like Napiers the Herbalists Best British Bitters.

DIGESTIVE ENZYME SUPPLEMENT

You could also consider taking an enzyme supplement. Digestive enzymes were a simple addition that helped support my digestion in the early repair stages. Now that I’ve got my diet figured out I don’t supplement with them anymore but I think they’re a great short term solution to digestive issues.

If you want to try digestive enzymes I like Now Super Enzymes – they contain HCl, bile and enzymes. Take 1 capsule with each meal. You can buy these on Amazon.

Recipes for July 

Courgettes and tomatoes are abundantly available in July. Make the most of them in this simple summer ratatouille recipe, one of my favourites. 

Ratatouille 

Ingredients:

• Olive oil 
• 1 onion 
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed 
• 1 courgette 
• 1 aubergine (optional, you could use 2 courgettes instead) 
• 1 red pepper 
• 2 tins tomatoes 
• 1 tsp. dried oregano 
• Sea salt 
• Freshly ground black pepper 

Method:

1. Finely dice all the vegetables into evenly sized pieces. 
2. In a large frying pan, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil and add the onion and the garlic. Fry gently with a generous pinch of sea salt (which will stop the vegetables from browning) for 5 minutes until softened. 
3. Add the rest of the vegetables and the oregano and fry for 10 minutes. 
4. Add the two tins of tomatoes to the pan. Season with freshly ground black pepper and a little more salt to taste. 
5. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for 15 minutes until the liquid has reduced. You could sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs such as parsley before serving. 

Serve with sausages or any meat or simply prepared fish. You could also serve this on top of cauliflower rice, mash or courgette spaghetti for a simple veggie main dish.

Taking in the Good (notice, take in and savour as many good things as you can each day – big or small, write a few down to remember)

• Breakfast at Bill’s in Tunbridge Wells and enjoying their delicious Garden Plate
• A trip to Hastings, browsing the antique shops, a turn on the bumper cars, fish & chips on the beach and watching the kids paddling in the sea

What good things will you remember about today, the only Monday 5th July 2021 we will ever have? 

Until tomorrow,

Chloe x

About Me

Hello, I’m Chloe. I’m a nutrition and health coach and I’m on a mission to inspire & support women so they can go from feeling fatigued to feeling fabulous! 

I help women who are FED up of being overweight, addicted to sugar and feeling tired ALL THE TIME to lose weight and optimise their health by fixing hormonal, digestive, autoimmune and energy issues.

My step-by-step programme, Revitalise, will help you lose weight, get back your energy, restore vitality and create lifelong health using the power of beautiful & delicious REAL FOOD. 

I’m here to make it easy for you to eat healthy, delicious food without counting calories or feeling deprived. You’ll reset your relationship with food, shift your mindset and build new habits for a complete health transformation!

Disclaimer: All information provided is for informational purposes only, and is not to be construed as medical advice or instruction. Please consult your GP or a qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health and wellbeing. I am a nutritional educator and do not dispense medical advice nor prescribe treatment. While nutritional support can be an important complement to your medical care, a nutritional therapy program is not a substitute for the diagnosis, treatment, or care of a disease, illness, or injury by a medical provider. Nutritional evaluations and lifestyle assessments are not intended for the diagnoses of disease. 

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All information provided within this blog post is for informational purposes only, and is not to be construed as medical advice or instruction. Please consult your GP or a qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health and wellbeing or on any opinions expressed within this blog post. The information provided in this blog post is believed to be accurate based on the best judgment of the author. However, you as the reader must be responsible for consulting with your own GP or other health professional on matters raised within. chloearchard.com will not accept responsibility for the actions or consequential results of any action taken by any reader.

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