11 Jul What’s The Poop? Scoop #1
• POOP: 1. obscene terms for feces 2. a stupid foolish person 3. slang terms for inside information 4. the rear part of a ship.
As you can see, I could’ve gone in any direction with this one. I’ll also apologize up front. If you’re one of those people that squishes up their face when someone talks about poop, then you might want to skip this. But as the saying goes, “Lighten up Francis,” because honey, everybody poops.
That being said, there is NOTHING like a good poop! I know you’re smiling because — you know exactly what I mean, don’t ya jellybean?
Now, to start on this extremely personal subject, we begin at the digestive system. When most people think about health they think of a vibrant, glowing, toned physique with unending energy. While that’s true and goes along with it, good or bad health really is an inside job. One of the major places to begin to look at true health is in one’s intestines.
Here are a few things you might not realize about the human digestive system. It’s about 30 feet long! Healthy digestion takes about 24 to 72 hours. The minute we eat digestion starts. Food creates saliva which contains a couple of enzymes that breakdown starches (amylase) and fats (lipase). Then it slips down the esophagus into the stomach where gastric juice breaks down protein. While this is going on, peristalsis is happening, which is where waves of muscular contractions move along the stomach wall churning all that slimy goo up! Are ya still with me?
One to two hours later, this thick stuff is moved into the duodenum, which is part of the small intestine where it mixes with more digestive enzymes from the pancreas, liver and intestine, then passes into the small intestine. Your small intestines are about 22.5 feet long! That’s kind of crazy when you think about that inside of you!
After the thick stuff (it’s called chyme, for the record) is fully digested it is absorbed into the blood stream. Here’s the really important part I want you to really hear: 95% of the absorption of nutrients are absorbed at this stage. Foods with high nutrients are the ones that are dark, leafy, colorful – they have seeds, they grow and they rot. REAL FOOD. Aka: nothing processed: these have no nutrients.
But I digress. Let’s digest the rest of this whole process eh?
Blood containing the absorbed nutrients is carried away from the small intestine and transported to the liver for filtering, removal of toxins, and nutrient processing. Everything else left over goes into the large intestine where digestion is held to allow fermentation which further breaks down some things that might remain after its “workout” in the small intestine. The large intestine is about 5 feet long and is less rambunctious in its activity. The large intestine absorbs water from the chyme (HYDRATE!) and stores feces until it can be eliminated through uran… um, I mean your, anus. It took everything I had not to do it… fail.
There are over five hundred species and three pounds of bacteria in your gut. It’s a huge chemical factory that helps you digest food, produce vitamins, help regulate hormones, release toxins and produce healing compounds that keep your gut healthy. Many diseases that seem totally unrelated to the gut, such as eczcema, psoriasis, and even arthritis are actually caused by gut issues. What’s your gut telling you?
You can heal your gut and your health issues. If I can and millions of others, so can you. I used to have IBS, leaky gut, spastic colon, you name it… my guts were a mess, along with my skin, energy levels, etc. However, when you clean up your food and nutrient sources and learn some things about your body – you can fix things right up! How cool is that? Powerful.
This is why your digestive health is so important! Because, the more efficient and clean your digestive system is, the more energy your body has to clean out the toxins from your system. When it’s all gunked up (a very scientific term) with poor eating habits, processed fake food, and unhealthy excess weight, that can slow your whole digestive system down it will then create a compromised immune system. When that happens, you are at a higher risk for illness and disease = Inflammation.
Learn to reduce cellular inflammation and what follows is better health, quality of life and aging well!
So if you are one of millions who has digestive issues such as irritable bowel, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, reflux, gas, and all that unpleasant stuff, then you’re not alone. How do we fix it? How do I have a “good poop” you ask?
Well, sure there 100s of over the counter products that you can take, but unfortunately they may or may not fix the situation. They do not go to the root cause, and can sometimes make things worse.
Start simple. 7-8 bottles (16.9 fluid oz) of water a DAY. One of the two things you NEED in order to be alive: oxygen and water. Rather important eh? Just plain life giving water please. If water bores you… suck it up buttercup. It’s a requirement to great health!
The first thing I have my clients doing is waking up to a tall glass of water with fresh squeezed organic lemon juice from a nice thick slice and drink it down to hydrate and alkaline the body. THEN, drink your coffee.
I also share with them how to correctly take organic apple cider vinegar. (no, you do not do a pure shot – unless you’d like to ruin your teeth and esophagus). You mix 1-3 Tbsp., start with 1 and work your way up, in 1 – 1.5 cups of water and drink that down. At least one time of day, but better if twice for boosting your metabolism and releasing stubborn abdominal fat.
If a meat eater – no more “dirty meats!” I mean it. You take the time to search out clean meats. No hormones or antibiotics. Those will KILL your gut health.
Also no canned or processed foods. Real, live, gorgeous health-filled food rots remember. It grows and it rots. Come on now, you know… fresh fruit and veggies. You wash, them, cut and store them in portion sized containers and viola’ – you’ll make it easier to grab and go!
High quality pre and probiotics for the gut that you can find in foods are very helpful.
Here’s a handful… PLAIN yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles, dandelion greens (Hello! A Fave!), jicama (great for weight loss and blood sugar control. Plus, it’s high in vitamin C.), broccoli, asparagus, bananas, apples… see? All kinds of delicious foods.
Eating healthfully is neither difficult, nor as expensive as you’re imagining. Remember it’s doable. It works and it’s simply a new and different habit. It’s time perhaps to embrace some good healthy changes!
Remember… a healthy gut is an inside job. You have got to create a beautiful environment for it with the right types of foods and nutrients to help your digestion process work the way it was intended. Don’t like fruit? Can’t stand your vegetables? I would urge you to get over that, pronto.
I’ll tell you a secret though: If I can, so can you! It’s really not that difficult to fit into the grand scheme of things.
Hugs and have a great… day!
Cin 😉
(317)250-4848
Full-Body Fitness
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