The Nutritional Institute

High stomach acidity - isn’t that what you hear from your doctor when you have indigestion or reflux or heart burn? Well, I’m here to argue that in almost all cases of these digestive complaints, the problem is the exact opposite - i.e. our stomach acidity is too low…

Secretion of hydrochloric acid, along with a churning mechanism, is a vital function that our stomach must do whenever food enters our stomach, or preferably before. It is reliant on the parasympathetic nervous system for this to happen properly; this side of our nervous system is also called our ‘relax and repair’ or ‘rest and digest’ system, which gives us a few clues. The other side of our nervous system, the sympathetic division, is also called ‘fight and flight’. When you study a physiology textbook, which I’m sure all of you do on a regular basis (!), it is clear that everything that our sympathetic system does gets us ready for action, whereas everything that the parasympathetic system does is recuperative or nourishing in nature.

Now, in occasional cases, people have a ‘nervous stomach’ and may secrete too much stomach acid when they are under stress. But in almost all cases, stress is a fast track to down tuning our stomach’s function. And stress doesn’t need to be ‘stress’ - it can simply be lack of relaxation and mindfulness, such as munching your lunch while working at the computer - you are so engrossed in your work that you’re not even aware of how bad your shop-bought sandwich actually tastes - this is lack of mindfulness, the exact opposite to what I teach in my clinic.

So how do we digest better - apart from forcibly removing yourself from your work desk to eat lunch outside or in some social setting, here is the pre-eating strategy that I ask all of my ‘digestive’ clients to try:

5 minutes before eating:

• - Take 1 tsp of organic apple cider vinegar (neat or slightly diluted) or lemon juice (freshly squeezed) or Swedish bitters.
  - Sit down with your food and whether you are religious or not, pay ‘thanks’ to your food.
  - Smell your food and then visualise yourself taking your first bite of food and noticing how it will feel/taste in your mouth and then the sensation when it is in your stomach.
  - Take a long slow deep breath and then breathe out quickly in a ‘sigh’. Do a second one if you like.

While eating and afterwards:

• - Eat your food slowly, chewing well and noticing every mouthful.
  - After you finish eating, sit for a couple of minutes before you get up.

Our digestive cascade

Our digestion is similar to a cascade - like water rushing over the side of a cliff, if its force is high at the top, it will create incredible digestion, absorption and elimination potential all the way through the system, including the way that you poo, which is another elixir of health.

The first step of digestion is the cephalic phase, which is before you actually put anything in your mouth - think of an Italian restaurant, waiting for your food, and wafts of garlic coming from the kitchen stimulate your saliva flow and begin to make your stomach growl. The second phase is the stomach activity as I’ve described. The third phase is the secretion of digestive enzymes from our pancreas and bile from the gallbladder as your food empties from the stomach into the small intestine. Then there is the absorption of nutrients, which has various phases. Lastly comes large bowel activity, which at some stage should result in an elimination of waste. All of these processes are vital to our gut and general health, but as I mentioned with the cascade analogy, it all starts at the top.

By being stressed, or simply busy, and by lacking in mindfulness (mindlessness?!), we decrease stomach acidity and digestive function. These functions also decrease with age, meaning that more and more attention needs to be given to healthy digestive habits as we get older.

Lack of stomach acidity means poor digestion and absorption, which most obviously leads to malnutrition, most notably in mineral depletion, which affects the health of our hair and nails, plus many internal functions. But the most worrying thing these days is the increasing patterns of constipation, diarrhoea, IBS, inflammatory bowel disease, auto-immunity, behavioural issues in children, and neurotransmitter imbalance in adults. These all start with the way that we digest.

Knowing all this, why on earth would we choose to take an antacid or a proton pump inhibitor (the drug of choice for decreasing stomach acidity)? Let’s start with a healthy digesting attitude, such as an increase in mindfulness around your meals. Certain nutrients are important for stomach acidity, such as zinc and vitamin B12 and ironically these may not be absorbed when our stomach is not at full force, so in some cases supplements can be a strategic addition to your plan.

If you only change one thing after reading this blog, let it be this: slow down, smell your food and taste every mouthful…