In our day to day lives, we are exposed to numerous toxins, including alcohol, food additives, preservatives, and caffeine. While our body’s systems work together to process, transport, and get rid of these toxins, excesses can overwhelm the body’s natural detox system, leading to a need for a little extra TLC. Keep reading to learn more about how detoxification happens in the body, why it’s crucial for our overall health and wellness, and how we can support our body’s natural pathways with our self care regimen, including supplements.
Our brains are wired to subconsciously react to the smell, sight, and thought of food with an increased secretion of saliva. However, in our busy days, these sensory cues are often missed. We need saliva to help chew and break down food, preparing it to be digested by the stomach and intestines. But before learning more about this concept, it’s important that we understand the process of digestion, in full. Keep reading to learn more about how our food is digested, why it’s important to prime our bodies before eating, and what we can do to optimize our digestion in order to leave us feeling our best.
In order to optimize digestion and feel our best, our bodies use naturally occurring digestive enzymes that are already present throughout these various organs. Digestive enzymes are released when we anticipate eating, smell or taste food, and begin and continue through the digestive process.
Research is now showing that what we eat has a major impact on our body as a whole, including feeding the microorganisms that live in our gut. One of the most important bodily functions, sleep, is highly correlated with healthy digestive health.
During sleep, our body repairs and regenerates itself, the brain stores information, and toxic waste is filtered and sent to our digestive system to be excreted. Hence, when we don’t sleep enough or when our quality of sleep is poor, our digestive system feels it, too.
Picture this: you’re jamming to your favorite getting ready playlist, getting glam, feeling excited for the night ahead. You know you have a fun dinner out with friends, and then you’ll see where the night takes you. But you can’t get one looming thought out of your mind: “I won’t want to go out if I’m bloated from dinner”. Or, you’re already out, and you realize your unbuttoned jeans will be visible the second you stand up.
Even with a perfect wellness routine, keeping active, and eating mindfully that we do, sometimes bloat likes to creep back in, just to remind us that it’s still there. From hydrating properly, eating all things nutritious, and moving our bodies, bloating, unfortunately, is something we can’t hide from for very long.