Teeth in your stomach?

I regularly have people coming to me with digestive disorders. Heartburn, reflux, IBS, ulcers, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease, colitis, constipation, persistent diarrhea, etc. I love treating digestive disorders because when we straighten it out, it’s amazing how many other health maladies straighten out as a result. One question I frequently ask is “Do you have teeth in your stomach?” That generally results in a widened expression or a chuckle. But so many people act like they do!

We have reduced the important role of digestion to a series of labels that result in years (or a lifetime) of medications and forget the absolute necessity of the role of digestion in health. Many health experts believe that most problems with health result from faulty digestion.

Digestion isn’t just about eating for pleasure so you can live. Digestion is sending the nourishing compounds necessary for growth and repair. Cells die daily from every organ and tissue, and the body needs to replace them. We need raw materials (good nourishing food), to accomplish that. Then, whatever is not needed, including dead cells and other wastes, gets dumped.

Digestive enzymes go beyond just breaking down our foods. It is also the first line of defense against pathogens consumed — bacteria, viruses, molds, yeasts, fungi and parasites — that may be in our food, killing them before they make us sick. Digestion (and mucus membranes) create a hospitable environment for beneficial bacteria to survive. In fact, without healthy bacteria, you are handicapping your immune response.

To have healthy digestion, we need to begin in the mouth. Eating is not just about appeasing your taste buds, but satisfying the communication it sends to the brain. In addition to sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami, our taste buds also sense touch (crunchy, smooth), spicy hot (peppers), cool (peppermint), temperature (hot or cold), metallicity, calcium and other minerals and protein. Each taste bud senses all these, and probably more. We are realizing that our tongue is quite intelligent. What a disservice we do when we just chunk our food down!

Think about it: we eat in a hurry. As a result, we rob our tongues from providing vital information to our brain. The brain, when it receives this information makes many decisions with these communications that enhances our health or functioning.

But that is only part of the story. When we skip this vital role in the mouth, swallow chunks of food, we are also expecting our stomach to do what we didn’t do at the entry point — chopping food into minuscule pieces so that it can be effectively managed by the stomach. In short, we don’t have teeth in our stomach! The first step in improving digestion starts in the mouth — chew your food to a liquid before swallowing!

Learn more, attend my upcoming class, “Overcoming Digestive Challenges,” 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 23 at Vital Health in Coeur d’Alene. Fee: $10. RSVP: (208) 765-1994.

Holly Carling is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Doctor of Naturopathy, Clinical Nutritionist and Master Herbologist with nearly four decades of experience. She is currently accepting new patients and offers natural health care services and whole food nutritional supplements in her Coeur d’Alene clinic. Visit www.vitalhealthcda.com to learn more about her, view a list of upcoming health classes and read other informative articles. Carling can be reached at (208) 765-1994 and would be happy to answer any questions regarding this topic.