Why is gastrointestinal health important?
Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 7:26PM
Dr. Emily Chan in Conditions, Gastrointestinal Health

Gastrointestinal complaints represent the second most common doctor's office visits for chronic disease. Yet the gastrointestinal tract serves as a foundation to other systems in the body. The GI tract is where we get nutrition to the body, where major elimination of toxins take place, and the largest immune system interface in the body. Improvements to the health of the GI tract often lead to improvement of other systems of the body. 

Are you soaking your digestive tract with hormones, pesticides, chemicals, nutrition-less foods or stress? Could your nervous system or hormonal signals be affecting your digestive tract? These factors can interact with your body contributing to, GERD, ulcers, diarrhea, constipation, gas, bloating, abdominal pain, parasitic infections, IBD, Crohn's disease, Celiac disease, Ulcerative colitis or even low immunity or autoimmune conditions in susceptible individuals. 

Your GI tract makes up more of your immune system than your bloodstream and lymphatic system. Your GI tract is where absorption of nutrients and elimination of toxins take place. Your GI tract is the interface between the "outside world" (Open on both ends to the environment outside) and the "inside world" (the rest of your body). It can be thought of as the door to the rest of your body. Does your door let in too little nutrients? Does your door let in too many toxins? Is your door inflamed, causing irritation and pain? 


I will help patients discover ways to improve the digestive system. We will find what the cause for symptoms, with an effort to understand how your body is interrelated, and use individualized modalities that suite you in the healing process. Are you ready to?
•    Remove offending pathogens or antigens
•    Repair the GI mucosa enabling it to be a properly functioning "door"?
•    Replace deficient acid or enzymes necessary for proper digestion
•    Re-inoculate the GI tract with the type of flora necessary for proper immune function, and a non-hospitable environment for pathogens.


Article originally appeared on Naturopathic Doctor San Diego, NET San Diego, Neuro Emotional Technique, Pranic Healing, Functional Medicine Testing (https://www.modernintegrativemedicine.com/).
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