Dear Nutritionist, can you recommend anything specific that helps with poor digestion and bad breath? I don’t know if it’s because of aging but my stomach completely bloats after eating certain foods. I feel full and uncomfortable like that all night and I can’t figure out what causes it. The next day I feel I have very bad breath. If you can help me figure it out or what to take I would appreciate it. So would my husband :) — Nancy
Dear Nancy,
I can tell you which supplements I’ve found helpful for these conditions and I may be able to direct you to uncover the problem. We’ll go through the possibilities today so you can rule them in or out. I’m sure other readers will benefit from this conversation, too!
Let’s first look at the causes of bloating. These primary reasons come to mind:
- Hidden food intolerance(s)
- Low stomach acid
- Imbalanced gut biome
Each of these can cause bloating and gas, as well as poor digestion/absorption of nutrients, which in turn can cause systemic inflammation.
When you think inflammation, think anything that ends with ‘itis’. Colitis, arthritis, bursitis, rhinitis, etc. These are all inflammatory conditions. They can be anywhere in the body, depending on your own personal genetic weaknesses. Some families tend to get arthritic problems as they age (as inflammation sets in), while others have a tendency to allergies or bowel issues. We all get our own hereditary fault lines, so to speak. Depending on what those are, when the body has inflammation, those symptoms will crop up.
This is typically not how the mainstream medical establishment approaches aging in the body, so it requires us to look at health a different way. But we have to remember that today medical doctors are typically focused on treatment of symptoms, not figuring out or addressing the underlying causative factors in disease states. This is why people benefit from using both systems: they compliment each other very well.
Obviously, when you’re in serious pain and you need a strong acting medicine that is immediate or your symptoms are stopping you from functioning or you need a surgery, you have to address that first. But in the long run, it will serve you best to understand the underlying causes of that pain or disease process. Then you can start to address it at the root.
Back to digestive problems and bloating, the digestive powers of the body often weaken as we age. Enzymes and stomach acid decrease. By the age of 60, about 50 per cent of us have low stomach acid. By the age of 85, about 80 per cent of us are affected. The medical term for this is hypochlorhydria, or low stomach acid.
Unfortunately, it’s often misdiagnosed as high stomach acid and treated with acid blocking drugs, which further exacerbates the underlying digestive problems in the body. Downstream side effects of long-term acid blockers include muscle wasting, liver disease, mental health issues, bone fractures, and kidney disease, to name a few.
You see, sufficient stomach acid enables the body to break down proteins and move them into the intestines efficiently. If this doesn’t happen, food can stay in the stomach too long and start to ferment, causing gases and acid to back up the esophageal tube. This causes acid reflux, bloating, and burping. Later it can cause gas.
A telltale sign that you are low in hydrochloric acid is that your gas is smelly. This means you are not digesting your proteins fully - and undigested proteins means we don’t get the proteins we need for any of these organ systems to function optimally.
In addition, stomach acid helps us absorb minerals like iron, zinc, magnesium, chromium, and selenium, and helps us absorb B12 from our food. So when clients are eating foods that contain these in abundance but still have symptoms or tests that show they are deficient, the problem is usually low stomach acid.
In my practice, I address this by recommending a broad spectrum digestive enzyme. One I particularly like can be found here. I also recommend chewing food very well and reducing the carb content of meals. This seems to help tremendously.
Another suggestion I make is to take liquid proteins at least once a day. The protein powders I most often recommend can be found here and here. The first is a fermented whey protein formulated using grass fed, New Zealand whey (which is less inflammatory than normal whey proteins) and the second is a vegan all in one protein powder, which contains greens and vitamins and herbs in addition to protein. I recommend it for anyone who is sensitive to whey/ dairy or those who are vegetarian or those who don’t get enough greens in their diets. It’s also great for those with multiple deficiencies.
I’ve spoken about food intolerances before, and I offer testing for clients who are interested. A great way to start to sleuth out any hidden intolerances at home is to keep a food diary. Note what you eat and when, then note any symptoms that occur. Over time if you have an intolerance a pattern will appear.
Remember, with food intolerances the reaction can be delayed a day or two. So if you are finding that you have brain fog a day or two after eating a certain food, or have a low mood or stiff joints - or any other symptom - look to the days previous for hidden triggers. Over time they should become clear. The most common ones I see are gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, and shellfish.
Often there are more than one and they can cause any symptom in the body from racing heart rate to a flush to fatigue to joint pain to digestive woes, so figuring them out can be tricky. If you need help to figure this out you can give me a call.
Lastly, we need to talk about the gut biome in digestive problems. This is all the rage right now so there is info aplenty online, but I will summarize. Essentially, we need prolific bacteria in our intestines to break down and digest foods and to synthesize certain nutrients. We also need them to inform hormones, neurotransmitters, immunity, and inflammatory processes in the body. The gut biome is thus linked to everything from infertility to immunity, to chronic joint troubles, to mental health issues.
When bloating is related to an imbalance of the gut biome, the body can react as soon as a food is eaten, often with distension, and the stomach can actually seem to writhe or ripple. Bowel movements are unhealthy, often one extreme or the other - or going back and forth between the two - and carbohydrates cause the worst distress.
In this case, the person often craves carbs and sugars horribly, and can have a hard time wanting to eat any other food group. There can be a history of antibiotic use, birth control use, or steroid use, including puffers. There can be a history of chronic skin issues or asthma. There is a strong correlation to autism spectrum disorders and mental health symptomatology.
This sort of problem needs to be treated with professional help. It requires a supervised GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet. I recommend probiotic foods over supplements for these conditions because probiotic supplements that are effective are very expensive, while inexpensive foods contain so many active probiotic strains. Plus, they are fun to make and just taste amazing. Join my upcoming kombucha Brew Ha Ha class at the Barrie Public Library to learn how to make one of these fun foods at home.
In acute situations where you’ve just eaten too much rich food or you had takeaway or you just have too much acid, I recommend an all natural product called Fibre Choice. It’s made from prebiotic fibre and also helps with constipation. It looks and tastes like Tums. It’s safe and easy to use. I carry them in my glove box.
If you’ve eaten something you suspect is toxic or has gone bad or made you feel green, or if it was a horrible cheat on your diet and you have immediate discomfort, I suggest using activated charcoal capsules. These are made from coconut charcoal and they bind the food in the stomach so it doesn’t absorb. This has been used for ages by the medical establishment in cases of poisoning, if they can get it fast enough. It’s vegan friendly and I also recommend it if you know you’ve got a dinner out or interview or special event (I know, I know, does anyone have these anymore??) and you want to keep the gas and stomach problems under control. I take two in such situations. It’s important to take a good amount of water when taking these.
I hope this is helpful for you, Nancy. I’ve included products readers can order online or they can seek them out locally. Thank you for writing in.
If you missed it, my recent article on GMOs got some buzz with replies from an industry insider and reader. Apparently GMOs are a hot topic. It’s important to know both sides of any story, so I encourage readers to check out both pieces.
As always, if readers have their own health questions, I welcome them. Just send me an email at [email protected]. Readers can read past questions on my blog at Askthenutritionist.ca and sign up for my free newsletter at hopenotdope.ca for upcoming events like my kombucha classes. Have a wonderful week!
Namaste!
Nonie Nutritionista
