Plumbing and Drainage
With all this water falling out of the sky, sewers backing up, and gutters overflowing into inappropriate areas, I can’t help but mull over some wellness-oriented plumbing and drainage metaphors. I find myself remembering how much of our health is just a matter of keeping the drains open.
Whenever I assess a patient’s total health, it’s essential to find out how well the “plumbing” is working. For example, let’s start today with a look at one of the major components of our digestive system, the large and small intestines. Together, these flexible, serpentining pipelines comprise one of our major organs of nutrient absorption and toxin elimination. But, all too often, I discover a compromised intestinal system.
That, of course, both prevents proper absorption of nutrients and produces toxic build-up. It’s two-faceted recipe for trouble. And, it doesn’t just create the conditions for illness, it also compromises the body’s ability to respond. Because — and I find that many of my patients are unaware of this — the mucosa of our gut is home to key battalions of our immune defense army. When compromised by poor digestion, these minions are disarmed and can’t fight the ongoing battles with the countless xenobiotics we encounter and send their way each and every day.
Now for the good news. There are some great ways of improving gut function. These include specifically targeted digestive enzymes, high-potency digestive bacteria (good bacteria, also called probiotics), and GreensFirst or Red Alert (natural nutraceutical supplements). We can also repair the gut when leaky gut syndrome is the culprit.
Getting the intestines back in tune — extracting those nutirients and eliminating those toxins — is a major step on the pathway to Total Wellness. Next time, we’ll move down the pipeline and look at another essential and little-understood component of our marvelous human plumbing system — the liver.
Whenever I assess a patient’s total health, it’s essential to find out how well the “plumbing” is working. For example, let’s start today with a look at one of the major components of our digestive system, the large and small intestines. Together, these flexible, serpentining pipelines comprise one of our major organs of nutrient absorption and toxin elimination. But, all too often, I discover a compromised intestinal system.
That, of course, both prevents proper absorption of nutrients and produces toxic build-up. It’s two-faceted recipe for trouble. And, it doesn’t just create the conditions for illness, it also compromises the body’s ability to respond. Because — and I find that many of my patients are unaware of this — the mucosa of our gut is home to key battalions of our immune defense army. When compromised by poor digestion, these minions are disarmed and can’t fight the ongoing battles with the countless xenobiotics we encounter and send their way each and every day.
Now for the good news. There are some great ways of improving gut function. These include specifically targeted digestive enzymes, high-potency digestive bacteria (good bacteria, also called probiotics), and GreensFirst or Red Alert (natural nutraceutical supplements). We can also repair the gut when leaky gut syndrome is the culprit.
Getting the intestines back in tune — extracting those nutirients and eliminating those toxins — is a major step on the pathway to Total Wellness. Next time, we’ll move down the pipeline and look at another essential and little-understood component of our marvelous human plumbing system — the liver.
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