Happy Healthy Gut (21 page)

Nutritional stress is defined by Brendan Brazier in his book
The Thrive Diet
, as “a stress created by food because of its unhealthy properties.”
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In layman’s terms, the food you eat can either help you or stress your body out. We need all the nutrients we can get, for as little digestive work it takes. By eating strong, plant-based food, such as raw or slightly steamed vegetables, minimal stress is placed on your body, and you get the most bang for your buck in terms of energy output. When you eat something highly processed, your body works hard to digest it, and that creates additional stress. Ditto for meat and dairy.

Once you eliminate animal products from your diet and introduce whole, unprocessed foods, your body will respond positively and almost instantaneously, and you’ll realize that you’re completely capable of healing that troublesome tummy. With knowledge comes power, and honey, you’ll want to be president of the Healthy Colon Club!

Other means of reducing stress, primarily by getting more sleep and increasing the quality of your exercise, will be next on your to-do list. Learning how to reduce stress will help you move your bowels better, curtail intestinal flare-ups, and ease stomach pain when you are in the middle of an episode.

Sleep, Baby, Sleep!

One excellent way to combat stress is to get enough sleep. I know research typically states that we should be getting seven to eight hours of beauty sleep per night, but I would like to argue that I need nine or ten! My husband often jokes that I’m neither a morning, nor a night person. Sleep is good, my friend. Get lots. How do we make sure our zzzz’s are quality? Eat good, clean food. Also, try not to eat anything after dinner, so that when you go to bed, you are not still digesting it. Go to bed early, no later than ten o’clock if you can. Your body needs to repair and restore at night, and if it’s concerned with digestion, that won’t happen. Try having a bath with some epsom salts, or sip some warm chamomile tea. Maybe stretch a bit first, or meditate for five minutes. Sleep in the dark, and make sure your room is cool. It’s also a good idea to try and go to bed at the same time every night, and wake at the same time every morning. This puts your body on a sleep cycle that it will recognize, and hopefully lead to more restful nights. Lack of sleep and constant exposure to stressors are correlated to weight gain, too, so getting enough consistent sleep could restoratively help you lose a few extra pounds that may be lingering for that very reason.

Another good way to make sure you stay stress-free is to exercise on a regular basis. Exercising is a fabulous stress reliever, and relieving stress will help you sleep better, too. See? It’s a crazy cycle! Exercising does not have to be heavy weight lifting, by the way. Exercise should elevate your heart rate, while rhythmically stretch and massage your organs. Walking is a great way to accomplish this, and it also helps to stimulate your bowels. One of my favorite exercises is yoga. I leave a yoga class feeling light, optimistic, relaxed, and regenerated. Remember that treating your body well does not stop at food. Be nice to it in every way you know how.

Breathe . . .

The next suggestion that I have for you involves such a basic movement, yet is entirely necessary in order to detoxify, regenerate, and even live. Breathing is something that is often much overlooked and almost always under-practiced. The art of breathing in order to relax goes back to such ancient practices as yoga. Do you ever just sit in a quiet place and breathe? I often forget that doing such a thing is an option, but when I remember, I try and practice it on the spot. Deep breathing provides oxygen to our entire body and provides aid in clearing the mind, while achieving the sought-after state of parasympathetic nervous system dominance, “which is responsible for all healing, proper digestion, hormone balance, and a feeling of general well-being.”
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Remember the rule of tens: inhale deeply for a count of ten, exhale slowly for a count of ten, and then repeat it ten times. This is extremely relaxing and stress reducing. Remembering to do this routinely at least twice a day will be very helpful in delivering your blood cells the extra oxygen that they need. This breathing exercise can also be incredibly helpful in reducing pain that may have already settled in for a visit. Breathe deep, and send that unwanted visitor on a sabbatical!

You Need to Relax (Om . . . )

It seems like a funny thing to say, but most of us don’t know how to slow down and chill out anymore. North America is known throughout the world as a busy, crazy, hectic place to live and work. (Except for a few glorious regions in Mexico. . . .) We want to do everything, right now, really well, and in record time. Well, as the offspring of a classic type-A father, I can tell you that I used to be a
pretty wound-up kinda girl. While there is huge correlation between eating more meat, more crap and less nutrients and being sicker than ever before, I also think that we could correlate the massive influx in sickness with our desire to be super-humans. Digestive disease is something that can definitely be brought on by rushed eating, too much eating, not eating, and stress eating. Maybe we need to take the time to enjoy eating our food, appreciate our environment, listen to some music, and bask in the nature that surrounds us every single day.

Our world begins to align itself when we chill. We chew our food more slowly, we take longer to eat, and we make better food choices. We start to notice little bodily signals that we never took the time to pay attention to before. We breathe more deeply and think more clearly. Relaxing is important for many reasons, and it will certainly help you digest your food better.

Here’s the bottom line: Find a way to reduce stress and help yourself relax. The implementation of the methods given, along with the right foods, will help your digestive system recover.

If You Flare

Even though I very rarely get flare-ups anymore, I now know what to do in order to quickly reduce inflammation and absolve any pain. When you feel an episode coming (sometimes you know it’s going to happen for hours before you are in real trouble, and sometimes you only get a one-minute warning), the following things are recommended that you do immediately:

• Stop eating! Do not eat if you feel an impending flare-up. Food at this point will just amount to added stress to your digestive system that is clearly already fighting with you. Instead, start sipping warm herbal tea, preferably fennel, peppermint, ginger, or chamomile. These herbs will help with inflammation and stomach upset.
  
• Lay
  flat on your back, with a warm towel or heating pad on your lower abdomen for about ten minutes. Once you remove it, gently massage your stomach clockwise; in the direction that food must travel through the colon. Yoga is also helpful; there are many positions that help massage the organs that are related to the digestive system.
  
• Aromatherapy oils help too. Anise and peppermint combinations are the best. You can lie down and apply the oil straight to your lower abdomen, while massaging it. Or, apply the oil to your wrists, and then lay an arm gently over your face and breathe it in, also while lying down. Deep, rhythmic breathing helps supply oxygen to your body, including your digestive system. It’s extremely beneficial.
  
• If an episode begins while you are eating or shortly thereafter, it might be a good idea to get up and go for a walk. This helps to stimulate your bowel to work through what might be accumulated there. The fresh air and exercise also aids to achieve higher levels of oxygen intake.
  
• Sometimes it helps to take a very warm bath. You can also add the aromatherapy oils to it. The warms water helps to alleviate pain, and is also bowel stimulating.
  
• After you feel the flare-up begin to pass, be very aware of what you are eating. Continue with herbal tea and lots of tepid warm water. If you have IBS-D, you can try eating select foods that will slow your bowel down, such as sprouted grain breads, brown rice, bananas, and applesauce. (The BRAT diet.) Do not drink any caffeine or alcohol; your tummy needs to heal.
  

Natural Supplements

Consider holistic supplements that can help soothe your irritated gut right away:

• Peppermint
  Oil: aids in nausea, cramping, and gas.
  
• Papaya Enzymes: natural digestive enzymes that work very quickly.
  
• Aloe Vera Capsules: contributes to improved bowel mobility, reduced inflammation and pain, and possesses detoxification properties.
  
• Oil of Oregano: Reduces nausea and indigestion, strengthens the immune system, possesses antibacterial properties, and is anti-parasitic, antifungal, and antiviral.
  

Tips for Creating Bowel Movements Naturally (Sans Laxatives)

• Drink lots of room-temperature water. Water will help lubricate every part of the digestive system. Making sure that the water isn’t cold is very helpful, because cold water shocks you internally, which is operating at a very warm 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Warm water works better, because then the body isn’t offended by cold temperatures. (Simply heat cold water by warming in a pot or a kettle, but not by using hot water directly from the tap, as it can be contaminated with heavy metals from your hot water tank.) Water is essential in the process of cleanly moving along food matter in your small intestine, and also in being able to lubricate your colon in order to pass pain-free stools. Get used to drinking about eight glasses a day, and this action alone will help constipation considerably.
  
• Drink warm herbal teas, especially in the morning and on an empty stomach. Warm tea first thing upon waking will stimulate your bowels, and prompt swift movement. Warm lemon water is great, also, especially because lemon has an alkalizing effect. A pinch of cayenne pepper will further stimulate a bowel movement.
  
• Exercise.
  Move your body just by going for a walk. The action of walking massages your digestive parts, such as your stomach, intestines, and your colon.
  
• Eating fruit or drinking fresh juice. Fruit is full of enzymes that promote bowel function, and they act quickly. (Most fruit is fully digested and ready to be expelled within an hour or two.) Take care to juice your own fruits and veggies in order to take advantage of living enzymes. Store-bought juice doesn’t possess the same nutritional benefits.
  
• Make sure you are getting enough
  good
  fats. Fat helps to lubricate the digestive process and bring about bowel movements more easily. Remember that there is quite a significant difference between good and bad fats. Foods like avocados, olives, and sweet potatoes can help move stool more easily. Bad fats, such as trans or saturated fats will further aggravate the problem.
  
• Raw veggies, beans, and whole grains should always leave you very regular and cleaned up. If you are eating a whole food, plant-based diet such as the one promoted in this book, you should not ever have trouble with bowel movements. If you genuinely are following this plan and still have concerns, you should talk to your doctor about arranging a colonoscopy or another medical procedure to see if there could be another cause for your symptoms that might be out of your realm of control.
  

Question:
What was your favorite part of this chapter? What got you most excited? I recommend that you begin with what interests you most, and move on from there. Don’t feel like you have to drop everything and incorporate all of this tomorrow, because that by itself would be a cause for stress! Go at your own pace; it took me two years. In fact, I’m still getting there. What will you change, add, or try first?

Panchakarma is something that I originally heard of during a yoga class. It immediately struck a chord with me, and I love its message and meaning; one of immense importance.

Essentially, Panchakarma is the Ayurvedic science of detoxification and rejuvenation. Ayurveda means “the knowledge of life.” It is the traditional healing science in India, which is well known to be the birthplace of yoga. Ayurveda views chronic disease as the result of living life out of harmony, and out of balance with our environment, ourselves, and ultimately the universe. Ayurvedic methods of re-establishing this balance include diet, herbs, meditation, colonic therapy, aromatherapy, yoga, and Panchakarma.
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Panchakarma is the traditional route of detoxification for the cluttered mind and body. While there are many toxins in everyone’s modern-day environments, Panchakarma is aimed at removing one specific offender: ama. Ama is an especially harmful toxin that in formed within our bodies, and is believed to be the product of improper digestion. It is supposedly the most damaging force in our body, and it contributes to chronic digestive disease. Panchakarma is what is used in Ayurveda to remove ama and restore our natural balance within our bodies.
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The process of Panchakarma is fairly specific, but in short terms, the patient goes through a detoxification process that allows the ama to exit the body through the digestive tract, and thus allows for balance and tranquility within the body to occur. This is achieved through special
foods (all vegan), herbs, massage, steam, meditation, and sinus irradiation achieved by means of a neti pot.

I think Panchakarma resonates with me because it becomes so clear that proper digestion is paramount to living disease-free. We just don’t pay enough attention to that part of ourselves, and that’s too bad. Good digestion is so good for us, and bad digestion is so, so bad for us. Also, I think that it’s important to note that the topic of digestive importance is not a new thing. Since Panchakarma has been practiced in some parts of the world for thousands of years, obviously good digestion was revered back then, too.

Namaste . . .

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
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