Digestive Health

PART I

By:  Maria




Perhaps one of the most embarrassing and uncomfortable issues many people are currently dealing with are digestive disorders.  One out of five Americans suffer from one or more digestive disorders and this problem seems to be getting worse.  

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Crohn’s, Constipation, Celiac, Ulcers, Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) – all of these disorders can cause abdominal pain, excessive or inconsistent bowel movements that might be difficult to control and also lead to psychological symptoms like depression or anxiety.

If you deal with any of these issues, you know how painful and uncomfortable it can be and the impact it can have on your quality of life. 

Probably 95% of sufferers,  simply ‘put up with’ symptoms, discomfort and embarrassing situations simply because the medical community has had a lousy track record with treatment plans. 

Mainstream medicine falls short when dealing with the gas, bloating, intestinal cramps, acid reflux, and other digestive distresses.  Many brush off these issues as being psychosomatic, leaving the patient feeling even more helpless and hopeless. 

The biggest flaw in dealing with digestive disorders, is that mainstream physicians are simply (an erroneously) taking a symptom-by-symptom approach (i.e., antacids for heartburn, laxatives for constipation, pink syrup for diarrhea, etc.), rather than addressing the root cause of said symptoms.  Sadly, this is the mainstream approach to many ailments – treat the symptoms, instead of figuring out the cause.

Why? 

The bottom line is simple:  PROFITS. 

Consider the following:

Annual sales of both prescription and over-the-counter digestive products are well over $15 billion a year – and the numbers are growing. 

• Laxatives = $900 million
• Anti-hemorrhoidals = $250 million
• Anti-diarrheals = $100 million
• Antacids = $ 2 billion
• Proton-pump Inhibitors, Prilosec, Nexium, Prevacid = $13.6 billion 

In the long run, these medicines end up doing more harm than good. 

Fortunately, an increasing number of people are becoming their own health detectives and decide on a non-conventional approach that seems to not only be gaining ground in the functional nutrition community when it comes to digestive health, but the results they are seeing/experiencing are phenomenal!

Stay tuned for Part II - A Dietary Approach to a Healthy Gut - to learn more!