FW Guide - Step 5

STEP 5

ABSORB WHAT YOU EAT

STEP 5: ABSORB WHAT YOU EAT

© Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc. Contents

How Digestion is Supposed to Work 1 .................................................

The Brain & Nervous System 1 .............................................................................

The Gastrointestinal Tract 3 ...................................................................................

How Digestion Can Be Derailed 13 .......................................................

The Brain & Nervous System 14 ...........................................................................

The Gastrointestinal Tract 15 .................................................................................

How to Optimize Gut Health & Absorb More Nutrients 23 ........

Avoid Dietary Toxins & Problematic Foods 23 ................................................

Source & Prepare Your Food for Optimal Digestion 29 ................................

Prepare Your Brain & Body for Optimal Digestion 37...................................

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© Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc. How Digestion is Supposed to Work

How Digestion is Supposed to Work

In this video, we are going to provide a brief overview of how

optimal digestion works, and how our body converts the food we

eat into fuel and the basic building blocks of our cells. You don’t

need to memorize every step, but we do believe that it’s important

to have a global understanding of the digestive process so you can

make any needed changes in how you eat and live.

THE BRAIN & NERVOUS SYSTEM

Where do you think digestion starts? It’s common to think that it

starts in the mouth with chewing, but it actually starts in the brain,

with the sight and smell of food. So let’s start off our north to

south journey through the digestive system where the

physiological magic begins: up in the head.

Digestion Starts in the Brain

Digestion—from the thought of what you will make for dinner, to

the first cut of a vegetable, to the first smell of a delicious soup

cooking, to the taste on your tongue—starts in the brain. We’ve

talked about the importance of cooking throughout this course,

but one of the most important reasons for preparing our own

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meals is that we get to sense our meals from start to finish. The

more touch points we have with our food before we start chewing,

the better able our bodies will be to digest and assimilate what we

eat. Smelling, tasting, feeling, and even just thinking about food

causes what’s called a cephalic response: we begin to salivate, gastric

juices begin to fill the stomach, and even the pancreas gets in on

the action, all to prepare for the digestion and absorption of the

meal we’re about to eat.

Digestion Requires Being in a Parasympathetic State

The brain controls digestion in two key ways:

‣ Balancing the autonomic nervous system.

‣ Sending signals through the vagus nerve.

For optimal digestion to occur, the autonomic nervous system, or

ANS, needs to be primarily in the parasympathetic, or “rest and

digest” mode. This branch of the ANS carefully regulates

mechanical grinding (or chewing), secretion of gastric juices,

absorption of certain nutrients, and finally defecation, of our the

wastes left behind after digesting our food. The vagus nerve,

mentioned above, is the main parasympathetic nerve that controls

these actions, its path beginning all the way up in the brainstem,

and running down through our stomach, small intestine, and

ending in the farthest parts of the colon.

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The sympathetic or “fight or flight” branch of the ANS, on the other

hand, has the opposite effect on digestion: it inhibits gastric

secretions, restricts blood flow to the GI tract, and prioritizes

immediate survival over long-term health.

Both branches of the ANS are essential for us to survive and

thrive, but as in all things, the key is balance, context, and timing.

Preparing, eating, and digesting our food in a calm, relaxed,

parasympathetic state helps increase our enjoyment of life, the

quantity of nutrients we absorb, and our ability to eliminate waste

in a timely fashion.

See the Sympathetic vs Parasympathetic Guide for more on the

difference between both states.

THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT

The gastrointestinal tract is essentially a long tube that begins at

the mouth and ends at the anus. Though this tube resides within

our bodies, in many important ways, the inside of the tube is

actually outside of us. Just like the skin on the outside of our

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bodies, the lining of the tube acts as an important barrier to the

outside world.

The Mouth

The mouth plays three important roles in digestion:

‣ The tongue sends signals to the brain about the type of

nutrients being eaten. Beyond simply detecting basic flavors

and moving food around the mouth, the tongue actually

sends important signals to the brain about the nutritive

content of the food coming in, which in turn leads the brain

to orchestrate nerve and hormone signals to other parts of

the digestive system.

‣ Chewing breaks down food for easier digestion. The better

you chew your food, the easier it will be for your body to

absorb the nutrients it contains. Sufficient chewing also

increases the production of saliva, which brings me to the

next point.

‣ Saliva helps begin the breakdown of carbohydrates and

lubricates food for easier swallowing. Saliva contains an

enzyme called salivary amylase, which helps begin the

breakdown of carbohydrates within in the mouth. This

process is later continued in the stomach and intestines, but

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gets an important jumpstart in the mouth when we eat

slowly enough.

The Stomach

When you swallow your food, it goes into the stomach, where your

stomach muscles contract and mash everything together. Imagine

that you’ve got a big Ziploc bag full of vegetable soup, and you use

your hands to massage the bag and mash up the contents. That’s

basically what your stomach is doing, in addition to adding some

digestive juices that are going to chemically break down the

contents. We call that gastric juice.

The contents of the stomach need to be very acidic—enough to

break down the food you’ve eaten. The stomach makes hydrochloric

acid to make the contents of the stomach very acidic, even more so

than lemon juice or vinegar. The hydrochloric acid also triggers an

enzyme called pepsin that breaks down proteins. Proteins are long

chains of amino acids folded into complex, twisted, spiral shapes,

sort of a like a Slinky toy that a three-year-old got a hold of.

Hydrochloric acid acts to denature, or unwind, the proteins. Then,

pepsin comes along and acts like a pair of scissors, cutting apart

the long protein chains into smaller bits called polypeptides, so that

they are small enough to be absorbed through the small intestine

further downstream. The acid also unbinds various nutrients from

our food so we can better absorb them. Lastly, the acid acts to kill

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any “bad guys” we may have consumed—pathogenic bugs we

definitely don’t want to make their way past the stomach.

The Liver & Gallbladder

After the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food is complete

in the stomach, our food is now in a paste-like form called chyme.

Chyme is released a little bit at a time into the duodenum, the first

part of the small intestine. Once chyme has entered the

duodenum, the fats present in the chyme signal the release of bile

from the gallbladder, which help begin the process of fat

digestion.

Thankfully, the liver and gallbladder are ready for digestion. Our

liver cells, called hepatocytes, continuously release bile into the

gallbladder for storage, and it is held there until needed. Bile is an

amazing, fat digesting substance made of water, bile salts,

cholesterol, amino acids, enzymes, and vitamins. Bile can also

contain heavy metals and other toxins processed out by the liver

that the body hopes to carry out through the digestive tract.

The Pancreas

The pancreas is a 4 to 7-inch long organ that sits deeply within the

left side of our body. One of two major functions of the pancreas

is to release enzymes that help further breakdown chyme once it

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is released into the small intestine. This is the exocrine, or external

excretion, function of the pancreas, and over 99% of the pancreas’

exocrine cells produce and release digestive juices. These juices

contain salt, sodium bicarbonate, and the digestive enzymes lipase

(which helps digest fat), protease (which helps digest protein), and

amylase (which helps digest carbohydrates).

The Small Intestine

The small intestine is segmented into 3 main parts:

‣ The duodenum: The duodenum is the first and shortest part

of the small intestine, measuring about 1 foot (xx) on

average. Sodium bicarbonate is released into this segment of

the small intestines to neutralize the acidity of the chyme, as

well as various digestive enzymes from the pancreas, and

bile from the gallbladder (which helps break down fats as

mentioned above).

‣ The jejunum: The next segment of the small intestine, known

as the jejunum, is where we absorb the majority of nutrients

from the food we eat. The cells lining the jejunum have

special finger-like projections called villi and microvilli, both

of which significantly increase the total surface area of our

intestines and increase our availability to absorb nutrients.

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On average, the jejunum measures about 8.2 feet (2.5 meters)

long.

‣ The ileum: The last segment of the small intestine is called

the ileum (from the Greek word eilein which means “to twist

up tightly”). There is no clear dividing line between the

jejunum and the ileum, but there are some key differences.

For example, the jejunum contains more fat, has a smaller

lumen (the open space inside the intestines), and the highest

percentage of Peyer’s patches within the gut, which are an

important part of the immune system. On average, the ileum

measures about 6.5 to 13 feet (2 to 4 meters) long.

The small intestine is an underappreciated powerhouse of our

body, contributing to a substantial amount of immune function

along with its main digestive function of nutrient absorption. At

the NTA, we consider the small intestine the Center of the

Digestive Universe!

As the chyme moves from the duodenum into the jejunum, and

finally into the ileum, it interacts with the beautiful and complex

structure of the small intestine in order for nutrients to be

absorbed. So, let’s go deep into the small intestine to understand

just a bit of the structures that actually absorb our nutrients:

As the chyme makes its way through the small intestine, propelled

by wave-like muscle contractions called peristalsis, nutrients are

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selectively absorbed into our bloodstream through special cells

that line our gut. From the walls of the small intestine protrude a

mucosal layer called the Folds of Kerckring. Off these folds are

finger-like projections called villi, and these villi are made of

hundreds of cells called enterocytes. From the enterocytes project

microvilli, microscopic extensions of the enterocytes’ plasma

membrane. But wait…there’s more! The microvilli of the

enterocytes are what make up the brush border, the border of the

enterocytes that face the inner, open tube of the small intestine,

called the lumen. Most of the enzymes produced by the small

intestine live in this brush border region; thus, they are called

brush border enzymes.

This structure and function is so important to the body that our

small intestine covers an immense surface area—approximately

300 meters squared!—in order to optimize nutrient absorption.

Imagine the area of a 3 foot wide sidewalk that is 3 football fields

in length!

You can think of a healthy gut lining like a row of hard-nosed but

super-smart bouncers that only allow in the nutrients, ions, and

water the body wants, turning away undigested food particles and

pathogens. This row of “bouncers” is commonly referred to as tight

junctions, protein structures that keep the lining of our small

intestine strong and healthy. If these tight junctions are negatively

affected by inflammation, stress, or pathogens, then the

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operations of the small intestine can go haywire and eventually

lead to pathologies such as inflammatory bowel diseases or other

forms of autoimmunity.

The Large Intestine

The large intestine receives what is left of the chyme from the

small intestine, and reabsorbs water, electrolytes, and some

nutrients. The large intestine is approximately 5 feet long and

includes:

‣ The ileocecal valve

‣ The cecum

‣ The appendix

‣ The ascending colon, the part that ascends up toward the liver

‣ The transverse colon, the part that transverses across your

upper abdomen

‣ The descending colon, the part that descends from your upper

left abdomen (near your pancreas and spleen) down toward

your low middle abdomen

‣ The rectum

‣ The anus, where elimination of feces occurs.

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Muscular contractions along the large intestine gently mix the

remaining chyme for optimal reabsorption, and move the mixture

through the colon and toward the rectum and anus.

The most amazing feature of the large intestine is its bacterial

content. Various bacterial strains make up an enormous

community of microorganisms in the colon, including 100 billion

to 100 trillion symbiotic organisms living right inside our guts!

Given this fact, some have asked the funny but profound question:

“Are we humans having a bacterial experience, or are we bacteria having

a human experience?”

These bacteria serve us in many ways:

‣ They ferment dietary fibers into a source of energy called

short chain fatty acids (which directly nourish the cells that

line the colon).

‣ They produce B vitamins and vitamin K.

‣ They metabolize bile acids.

‣ They produce important proteins.

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‣ And a host of other benefits that we have probably yet to

discover.

Elimination

The last step of digestion is elimination out of the body. Feces

contains sloughed off gastrointestinal cells, small amounts of

unabsorbed nutrients, water, inorganic matter, food residue,

remnants of digestive juices, bacteria, and metabolic byproducts

and toxins ready for removal from the body. Poop may not be the

sexiest topic, but it’s an important one. Healthy, regular

elimination is crucial for our health, but as we’ll discuss in the next

video, there are many common ways that elimination can become

too fast or too slow when there are imbalances in the north to

south process of digestion.

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© Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc. How Digestion Can Be Derailed

How Digestion Can Be Derailed

As the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates famously said:

“All disease begins in the gut.”

Thousands of years later, modern science is starting to prove him

right!

In this section, we are going to provide a brief overview of some of

the ways the digestive system can get derailed from its optimal

function, and how this can negatively impact our health. We will

again work our way through the digestive system from north to

south, but this time we will go into more detail about how breaks

in the nutrient rail line can contribute to many commonly seen

health challenges in our modern culture.

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THE BRAIN & NERVOUS SYSTEM

Signaling Problems

In many people, digestive problems start with signaling issues

between the brain and the digestive organs. Normally, your brain

acts as the conductor of our digestive symphony, carefully

signaling each “instrument” to play at just the right time, at just

the right volume.

But when we eat too fast, experience constant stress, or suffer

from chronic inflammation, these signals can get lost in the noise

or happen at the wrong time.

Being in a Sympathetic State

As we said in the last video, we need to be in a parasympathetic, or

“rest and digest” mode, to properly digest our food. But given our

high-paced, high-stress modern world, many of us end up eating

in a sympathetic, “fight or flight” mode. This means we inhibit the

normal flow of gastric juices, leading us to absorb fewer nutrients

and creating the potential for vitamin and mineral imbalances.

Also, the inhibition of this early process of digestion can create all

sorts of potential digestive issues downstream, as we’ll soon

discuss.

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Now that we’ve seen how brain function can derail our digestion,

we’re going to follow that same north to south process through the

rest of the digestive system to see what can go awry at each stage

of digestion.

THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT

Eating Too Fast

Do you ever practically inhale your food? We all do sometimes. In

fact, eating too fast is one of the most common sources of

digestive problems. The first problem with eating too fast is that it

doesn’t give the brain enough time to signal to the rest of the

body, “Get ready! Food is coming!” so those digestive juices can

start flowing. Eating too fast also leads to swallowing whole chunks

of unchewed food. We are not snakes! This puts a greater burden

on our gastric juices to break down the food, not to mention the

increased burden on the mechanical action of the stomach to

“churn and burn” our food. Also, when we eat too fast, we aren’t

giving enough time for an enzyme in our saliva, called salivary

amylase, to get to work breaking down carbohydrates. If you think

about drinking a smoothie through a straw, those carbohydrates

from the fruit and veggies are getting hardly any time at all to

mingle with the salivary amylase.

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Insufficient Stomach Acid

Now, when you haven’t chewed well enough, those big chunks of

food make their way down into the stomach. But because the brain

hasn’t had enough time to signal to the stomach to start making

stomach acid, the stomach isn’t ready to start breaking down that

food. On top of that, the stomach has to deal with the workload of

doing all of the breakdown of the food chemically, because it wasn’t

done mechanically earlier from chewing. If you remember,

stomach acid also signals the enzyme pepsin to get to work, and if

the gastric juices aren’t acidic enough, pepsin won’t do its job, so

the proteins don’t get broken down. Lastly, we talked about how

stomach acid allows certain vitamins and minerals to be extracted

from the food, but this won’t happen if stomach acid is too low.

And importantly, the stomach won’t release its contents, called

chyme, until they are brought to a certain acidity. So now, we have

big chunks of undigested food sitting at body temperature for long

periods of time. This is a big problem, because the carbohydrates

in the food start to ferment, the fats start to go rancid, and the

proteins start to putrefy. Sounds pretty disgusting, right? As this

happens, the food expands and has nowhere to go but up,

resulting in burping and uncomfortable heartburn. So as you can

see, it’s not too much stomach acid that is causing the

heartburn―it’s actually too little!

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Excess Toxins & Stress

Normally the stomach waits until that chyme is sufficiently acidic

to release it all into the small intestine. But eventually, if more

food is coming, the stomach has to make room, and so the food

gets forced into the small intestine before it’s ready. Now, this

mixture being released from the stomach and into the small

intestine is somewhat toxic. It’s basically food that is actively

rotting because it hasn’t been properly broken down. Some bad

bacteria or other pathogens like parasites or viruses might be able

to sneak their way into the small intestine. On top of that, the

acidity of the stomach wasn’t high enough to signal to the

pancreas that it should release bicarbonate, which neutralizes the

acidity of the chyme, so the chyme can burn and damage the first

part of the small intestine, called the duodenum, which can result

in duodenal ulcers. Additionally, the chyme must be neutralized at

this stage in order for the digestive enzymes from the stomach to

actually work. Finally, the toxins and acidic byproducts from the

rotting food can cause deep damage to the small intestine, too.

Gallbladder Dysfunction

The gallbladder’s role is to break down our dietary fats. When

there are fats present in the stomach, the gallbladder knows to

squeeze its contents, called bile, into the small intestine, to break

up the fats into small little bits that the body can then absorb and

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use. Eating a low fat diet means the gallbladder won’t get the

correct signal to release its contents. In that case, the contents of

the gallbladder just compact over time and get thick and sludgy

rather than watery and free-flowing, as it should be. With enough

time, the sludge can compact further into stones. Eating a diet

with poor fats, such as vegetable oils, margarine, or Crisco, can

result in similar gallbladder problems. It’s important to eat plenty

of good fats and avoid the bad ones to make sure the gallbladder

keeps working well.

Insufficient Digestive Enzymes

As we learned in the last section, your pancreas contributes

digestive enzymes to help break down your food into smaller

molecules which will be even further broken down by additional

enzymes in the small intestine. Remember those brush border

enzymes? The long standing theory in digestive physiology is that

we are born with a finite capacity to produce and secrete these

digestive enzymes from the pancreas. A lifetime of eating

processed foods, which are devoid of enzymes themselves and

place a greater burden on the body to come up with additional

aids for digestion, simply burns up the limited supply needed to

do the work of digesting even the healthiest foods. This is what we

mean when we say there are insufficient enzymes, we can simply

run out of them. Also, the release of these enzymes from the

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pancreas relies on that highly acidic nature of the chyme entering

the small intestine. When there is not enough stomach acid to

create the acidity necessary to trigger the full release of pancreatic

enzymes, once again we will be left with an insufficient quantity of

enzymes to do the work of breaking down our food and freeing up

nutrients for assimilation into the body.

Excessive Sugar & Carbohydrates

An abundance of sugar and carbohydrates can cause a host of

digestive problems, especially an overgrowth of bacteria or yeast

in the gut. Undigested and fermenting sugars and carbs becomes a

snack for the little critters living in our guts, which can result in

bloating, gas, and even damage to the small intestine walls from

the toxins released by certain strains of bacteria and yeast.

Leaky Gut

Leaky gut has many potential causes, including chronic stress, gut

dysbiosis, infections, poor food choices, drugs, and toxins. Gluten

and gliadin (found in grains like wheat) can be especially

problematic, as many people have a sensitivity to these proteins,

which can inflame the gut. Gliadin can also increase the release of

zonulin, a protein that signals the loosening of the "tight junctions”

between cells in the gut lining.

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Excessive sugar and alcohol consumption can also loosen these

tight junctions, and also lead to gut dysbiosis and candida

overgrowth, both of which can further damage the gut lining.

Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (or NSAIDs) such as

aspirin, ibuprofen, etc., can also damage the gut lining and

increase intestinal permeability.

It is important to note here that leaky gut is also a precursor to

autoimmune diseases. As we mentioned in the last section,

proteins are normally broken down in the stomach and intestines

into peptides and amino acids, and then selectively absorbed

through the intestinal lining. But when we have leaky gut, larger

proteins can enter the bloodstream intact. This immune system

then mounts an attack to destroy these invading proteins. The

problem is that some of these proteins are molecularly similar to

many body tissues. The immune system can get confused,

especially when leaky gut is long-term and we experience chronic

inflammation, and begin attack the body instead of the actual

offending proteins.

Constipation

Constipation is incredibly common in our culture, and it’s not

only highly uncomfortable it’s also highly toxic to the body. When

you do not eliminate waste on a regular basis, the stool that lingers

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in your intestines will eventually leak toxins, pathogens and other

inflammatory agents back into the bloodstream, these toxic

molecules can create great damage to other tissues. Our culture is

chronically dehydrated, and it takes about 10 liters of reabsorbed

water per day for the large intestine to effectively manage

digestive waste. When you are dehydrated, your digestive system

simply won’t have enough water to produce gastric juices, flush

toxins out, or properly package waste for elimination. Beyond

hydration, good bile release from the gallbladder is crucial to

ensuring the peristalsis action of the large intestine musculature.

The bile salts, those mineral components of bile we mentioned

previously, are the spark plugs that stimulate the intestinal

muscles to contract, pushing waste through the colon. If the

gallbladder didn’t get the signal to contract, or it can’t contract

because the bile is too viscous and sludgy, this too can can lead to

constipation. Remember the parasympathetic state we need to be

able to rest and digest? Normal peristalsis cannot happen if the

body is stuck in fight-or-flight mode.

See the Sympathetic vs Parasympathetic Guide for more on the

parasympathetic state.

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Diarrhea

Think of diarrhea as the overly rapid transit time of your nearly

fully digested food and the necessary waste products left behind.

Sometimes this rapid transit time is quite necessary to quickly

purge the body of something toxic and unhealthy. Remember too

that even your waste has a purpose, providing nutrients to the

bacterial colonies in the large intestine which provide their own

nutrients to the lining of the intestinal wall. Diarrhea can often be

a sign of the body recognizing a signal that something needs to go,

quickly, such as a poorly digested food you are sensitive to, or

perhaps a bacterial load that has the potential to make you very

sick. Underlying causes of diarrhea include being in a sympathetic

state which inhibits all normal digestive functions, coupled with

all those poorly digested nutrients from farther up the digestive

cascade wreaking havoc and potentially feeding an overgrowth of

a pathogenic microbe, or even a beneficial microbe.

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How to Optimize Gut Health & Absorb More Nutrients© Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

How to Optimize Gut Health & Absorb More Nutrients

Now that we know how digestion is supposed to work, and the many

ways in which things can go wrong in our modern world, what can

we do to bring our digestion back into balance? There are three

main areas to focus on:

‣ Avoiding dietary toxins and foods that are problematic for

your body.

‣ Preparing your food in such a way that it’s easier to digest.

‣ Preparing your brain and body for optimal digestion.

AVOID DIETARY TOXINS & PROBLEMATIC FOODS

One of the most important steps you can take to help improve

your overall health is avoiding dietary toxins and foods that are

problematic for your body. Which exact foods can help or harm is

largely bioindividual, but here are some foods that are

problematic for many people. We highly recommend keeping a

detailed Food & Mood Journal and working with a qualified

practitioner to identify relationships between what you eat and

how you feel.

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Grains & Legumes

Grains and legumes are neither good nor bad across the board.

Like all foods, they simply present certain consequences. If you

tolerate them well and prepare them properly, both can be a

potentially nutritious, delicious, and affordable food. But if your

body does not tolerate them (which is likely true of a large

percentage of people), or if they are not properly prepared (which

is true of the vast majority of grains and legumes consumed

today), grains and legumes can potentially cause damage to our

gut lining and overall health. This is because most grains and

legumes contain phytic acid and lectins, both of which are part of

the plant’s natural defense mechanisms. Because the plants cannot

run away, they evolved a form of chemical warfare to dissuade

animals from eating them, especially their seed (which is what

grains and legumes are). Fortunately, humans have figured out

preparation methods that can help nullify the ill effects of both

compounds, which we’ll talk about more below. But these

techniques require time, effort, and patience, and for most people,

it’s easier to just avoid grains and legumes altogether. The classes

of helpful nutrients found in grains and legumes can be easily

found (and often in greater quantities) in other delicious plant and

animal foods.

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Other compounds worth noting here are gluten, gliadin, and

phytoestrogens. Most people are familiar with gluten and know

that people with Celiac Disease have to avoid it at all costs. But

many people may have undiagnosed Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity,

or NCGS. This is a controversial topic, but trust your body and see

how you feel when you consume gluten containing foods. Also,

keep in mind that the effects of gluten are not only digestive;

gluten sensitivity can also manifest in the nervous system as

anxiety, depression, etc., or in the skin as eczema, skin rashes, etc.

It should also be pointed out that some people are also sensitive to

gliadin, a class of water-soluble proteins found within gluten.

Lastly, it’s important to avoid soy, as it contains phytoestrogens

that can negatively impact healthy hormonal balance in both men

and women.

Dairy

Dairy can be a very nutritious part of the diet for those who

tolerate it, but many people have a tough time digesting it. There

are two particularly troublesome constituents of dairy for sensitive

individuals: a protein called casein, and a sugar called lactose.

If your ancestors have been consuming dairy for many

generations, you will likely have an easier time digesting it, too.

Many people of European decent, for example, have a gene that

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codes for lactase persistence, a fancy way of saying that they

maintain the ability to digest lactose into adulthood (humans

without the gene lose the ability to digest lactose after early

childhood).

Another issue with dairy is that it can be highly insulinogenic,

meaning that it can cause the body to release extra insulin. This in

turn can lead the body to store more energy as body fat and hold

onto the body fat already accumulated.

If you do decide to consume dairy, do your best to find high-

quality, raw, organic, full-fat dairy products from 100% grass-fed

cows. Many people find that they struggle to digest pasteurized

milk, for example, but can digest raw or fermented dairy products

without issue. Kefir, a fermented dairy drink, can be especially

nutritious for those who tolerate it. It’s packed with beneficial

probiotics like Lactobacillus Kefiri, vitamins like biotin, folate, and

K2, and it even contains a special antimicrobial compound called

kefiran that’s been shown help control overgrowth of candida.

See the Dairy Products section in the Good, Better, Best

Shopping Guide PDF in the Step 3 Resources.

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FODMAPS

“FODMAPs” is an acronym that stands for “Fermentable Oligo-,

Di-, Monosaccharides And Polyols.” These short-chain

carbohydrates can cause a host of digestive symptoms for those

who are sensitive to them, including bloating, gas, stomach pain,

constipation, and diarrhea. FODMAPs can be particularly

troublesome for those with IBS.

Here are some of the most common types of FODMAPs:

‣ Fructose, found in fruit, vegetables, and industrial

sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup.

‣ Lactose, found in dairy products as we just discussed above.

‣ Fructans, found in some vegetables and gluten containing

grains like wheat, spelt, rye, and barley.

‣ Galactans, found in large amounts in legumes, but also in

cabbage and Brussels sprouts.

‣ Polyols, including sugar alcohols such as xylitol, sorbitol,

maltitol, and mannitol. These are often used to sweeten low-

calorie foods, but are also naturally found in many fruits and

vegetables.

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See the List of FODMAPs PDF for a list of foods low,

moderate, and high in FODMAPs.

Fortunately, many of the undesirable symptoms caused by

FODMAPs in sensitive individuals clear up when the microbiome

is brought back into balance and the lining of the gut is healed.

This process takes time and patience, however, and we highly

recommend working with a qualified practitioner.

Nightshades

Nightshades are a family of plants that include bell peppers,

chiles, eggplant, hot peppers, tomatoes, and white potatoes. Sweet

potatoes, interestingly, are not nightshades. While many people

can enjoy nightshades without issue, some people are sensitive to

the alkaloids and lectins they contain. Such individuals can

experience symptoms like sore joints and digestive distress,

especially when consuming nightshades in large volumes. Those

with rheumatoid arthritis should be particularly vigilant about

avoiding them.

If you do decide to consume nightshades, you can reduce their

alkaloid content by peeling them (alkaloids are found mostly in

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the skin of nightshades), eating them ripe, and cooking them low

and slow.

See the List of Nightshades PDF for a complete list of

nightshades.

Foods High in Insoluble Fiber

Many otherwise healthy foods can be problematic for those with

gut inflammation, IBS, etc. Until gut issues are addressed, it can be

necessary to avoid vegetables that are high in insoluble fiber.

See the List of Foods High in Insoluble Fiber PDF for a

comprehensive list.

SOURCE & PREPARE YOUR FOOD FOR OPTIMAL DIGESTION

We’ve already talked about how to properly source and prepare

your food earlier in the course, but we’d like to touch on it again

here given how important this is for maximizing nutrient density.

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Store Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs Properly to Preserve

Nutrients

See the Fridge Storage Guide in the Step 3 Resources for

more food storage tips.

Proper storage of plant foods involves a balance between two

somewhat contradictory goals:

‣ Storing foods where they will be visible and easily accessible

so you are more likely to consume them. (Remember the

Strategy of Convenience from Step 2?)

‣ Storing foods in such a way that they retain more nutrients

and don’t spoil as quickly.

Here are some suggestions on how to strike a healthy compromise

between the two:

‣ Store all vegetables in a vegetable drawer in your fridge,

making sure to slide the lever to the “Vegetables” setting if

applicable.

‣ Store all whole fruit, with the exception of berries (which

should always be stored in the fridge), on the counter, but

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out of direct light if possible. This is especially true for

avocados, which are usually sold unripe and will need time at

room temperature to ripen. Once ripe, you can then store

them in the fridge to maintain their freshness until you’re

ready to eat them.

‣ Cut fruits should be stored in the fridge, but please note that

they will rapidly oxidize and should be eaten as soon as

possible. One trick is to add a squeeze of lemon to cut up

fruit; the Vitamin C it contains is an antioxidant that can

help slow decay.

‣ Herbs should be used right away to maintain their

phytonutrients. It’s easy to forget about them when they are

stored at the bottom of the vegetable drawer, so we

recommend storing them somewhere you can see them

more easily such as a silicon Stasher bag at eye level.

‣ If you have vegetables, fruits, or herbs that are about to go

bad but you don’t have time to consume, you can simply

freeze them for later use. Vegetables can be diced and placed

in a bag or glass container, fruits can be blended and poured

into ice cube trays, and herbs can be chopped up and frozen

in ice cube trays with a little water.

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Soak & Sprout Nuts, Seeds, Legumes & Grains

Soaking nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains is an effective way to

reduce the quantity of anti-nutrients found in these foods such as

phytic acid, which can otherwise block the absorption of crucial

minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc.

See the Soaking & Sprouting Guide in the Step 3 Resources

for more food storage tips.

Cut Up Plants to Maximize Nutrients & Flavor

Plants defend themselves from insects and other natural predators

using strong plant cell walls and various chemical compounds.

Cutting up vegetables and fruits helps break down these rigid

structures and release nutrients with important health benefits for

humans. For example, tearing up lettuce significantly increases its

antioxidant activity, and cutting up onions and garlic releases a

chemical called alliinase, an enzyme that in turn forms allicin,

which has many potential health benefits, including disease

prevention, cholesterol regulation, and weight loss.

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Steam Vegetables to Maintain Nutrient-Density

Steaming vegetables is one of the best preparation techniques

because it maintains more nutrients than other higher-impact

cooking methods. Some of the key nutrients spared by light

steaming include antioxidants, carotenoids, folate,

phytochemicals, and sulforaphane.

Cook Certain Foods to Maximize Nutrients & Minimize Toxins

Cooking some foods can significantly increase the bioavailability

of the nutrients they contain. In fact, as renowned primatologist

Richard Wrangham argues in his book Catching Fire: How Cooking

Made Us Human, transitioning from raw to cooked foods was

arguably the most important factor in human evolution. When our

early ancestors learned how to use fire to cook food, it sparked

some important changes:

‣ The human brain significantly increased in size.

‣ The human digestive tract significantly shrank in size.

‣ The time available for activities other than finding and

chewing food shot up.

From changes in our physiology to advances in human culture and

technology, cooking quite literally made humans human.

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There are some foods best eaten raw (which we will talk about in a

moment), but many are best consumed cooked. Here are a but a

few:

‣ Cooking makes the proteins in meat, fish, eggs, etc. much

easier to digest. Just be careful not to overcook animal

products as this can create undesirable compounds.

‣ Cooking increases the bioavailability of iron and other key

minerals we need to survive and thrive.

‣ Sautéing or baking onions improves their flavonol content,

which are believed to have numerous potential health

benefits, including increasing antioxidant activity,

decreasing oxidative damage, and helping prevent damage to

DNA.

‣ Cooking decreases the antinutrients found in many plant

foods, including root vegetables, grains, legumes, and

nightshades like potatoes and tomatoes.

‣ Cooking tomatoes increases the bioavailability of lycopene, a

powerful antioxidant that helps stunt cancer growth and

support the health of the eyes, heart, brain, and bones.

Incidentally, lycopene is the pigment that makes tomatoes

red and stains your cookware orange. A small price to pay for

its amazing list of benefits!

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‣ Cooking increases the bioavailability of beta carotene, a

pigment with numerous health benefits found in most red,

orange, and yellow colored plant foods like tomatoes,

carrots, and sweet potatoes.

Eat Some Foods Raw

While cooking can increase the availability of some nutrients, it

can actually break down others. This is especially true of water-

soluble vitamins like B1, B5, C, and folate, all of which are broken

down when exposed to heat. You therefore want to eat at least

some foods raw to ensure you are getting these critical nutrients.

Here are some foods you should consider eating raw (at least

occasionally) to maximize their nutrient-density:

‣ Avocados

‣ Bell peppers

‣ Carrots

‣ Celery

‣ Citrus fruits (especially lemon and limes)

‣ Cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil

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‣ Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, etc. (more on

ferments further on)

‣ Leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, etc.

‣ Pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds

‣ Tomatoes

Keep in mind, however, that some of the above foods contain

certain nutrients that become more bioavailable when cooked. It’s a

tradeoff, which is why it’s best to eat a variety of cooked and raw

foods each week.

Eat Fermented Foods

Fermented foods have numerous benefits:

‣ They help introduce beneficial bacteria into our digestive

tracts.

‣ They help keep harmful bacteria at bay.

‣ They provide helpful digestive enzymes.

‣ They are a low-cost, nutrient-dense food, that you can easily

make for pennies on the dollar at home.

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‣ They help naturally preserve foods, stretching one’s

investment even further. There is nothing worse than

throwing away spoiled food!

See the List of Fermented Foods PDF for a list of delicious,

nutrient-dense ferments to try.

PREPARE YOUR BRAIN & BODY FOR OPTIMAL DIGESTION

See the 6 Mindfulness Practices to Improve Digestion PDF for a

print-friendly summary of this section.

Rest to Digest

As we discussed in the first video of Step 5, we need to be in a

relaxed state to properly break down and absorb the nutrients we

consume. Here are a few ways to help shift your nervous system to

the parasympathetic state before, while, and after you eat:

‣ Smell your food.

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‣ Feel gratitude for what you are about to eat.

‣ Do a short meditation or say grace if that suits your beliefs.

‣ Lightly rub the area just behind and below your earlobes

(this can help stimulate the vagus nerve, which you may

recall sends signals throughout the digestive tract).

‣ Sit down at the table instead of standing.

‣ Avoid eating on the run or in the car.

Stretch & Maintain Proper Posture

Just before you eat, consider doing some light stretching to release

tension and help get your body into a more relaxed state. Also

check in with your body to see what your posture is like. Are you

slouching over? Are your shoulders tense?

Try to sit up as straight as you can, which gives your gut more

room to perform its magic, strengthens your core muscles, and

helps prevent bloating and indigestion.

Take Small Bites & Chew Thoroughly

When working to support digestion, we work north to south. If

you take just one thing away from this entire Foundational

Wellness course, make it this:

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Be in a relaxed state when you eat, and thoroughly chew your

food.

When you eat, make sure you sit down. Don’t have your phone

with you or the TV on. Don’t eat while working at your computer

or at your office desk. Go outside, or somewhere away from work,

and take a few deep breaths. Pay attention to the food before you

take your first bite. How does it look? How does it smell? What are

the colors like? Then, take your first bite. What are the textures

you sense? The tastes? What is the temperature like? As you eat

your meal, savor it, paying attention to flavors like you would

savor a fine wine. You can drink water as needed with the meal,

but try not to drink too much, as you don’t want to dilute your

stomach acid.

Chew each bite 25 to 30 times. Sing the alphabet song to yourself

while chewing for each letter, if you have to, to get an idea for how

many times you should be chewing. The food should be liquid in

your mouth before you swallow it. If it helps, put your fork down

in between bites. If you are having a smoothie, “chew” the

smoothie to get the saliva working to break down the

carbohydrates before you swallow.

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Boost Stomach Acid & Enzyme Levels

If you have insufficient levels of stomach acid (and many people

do today), it may be helpful to take a digestive aid to help boost

your digestive fire and better absorb the nutrients you eat.

You can also try drinking small amounts of raw organic apple

cider vinegar or lemon juice before a meal to naturally lower the

pH of your stomach and kick start digestion.

As Jonathan Wright puts it in Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You:

“If, because of inadequate stomach acid, our breakfasts, lunches, and

dinners aren’t being digested, then we can’t absorb the amount of

nutrients from that food that Nature intended. How can we expect to stay

healthy if we have chronically poor nutrient absorption due to incomplete

digestion?”

Move Your Body

A famous Chinese proverb states:

“If you take 100 steps after each meal, you can live to be 99 years old.”

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This may be an exaggeration, of course, but there is indeed

benefit to getting some light movement after a meal. The key

word here being “light.” A casual stroll with a friend or loved one is

ideal. Just make sure not to do any intense activity right after

eating as it can pull blood from the digestive tract to the muscles

and hamper digestion.

See our recommended movement practices in Step 7:

Optimize Your Energy.

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Documents

FW Guide - Step 5