Since digestion is a north-to-south process, it actually starts in the brain. In order for the process to work properly, we need to make sure we are supporting digestion from the top. We also need to make sure that we are in a parasympathetic or relaxed state. Since digestion takes up a lot of energy for the body, a lot can go wrong if we are in a stressed state. Things like bloating right after eating, indigestion, acid reflux, and burping can occur.

For results over 12, try these tips:

• Get parasympathetic. Take some slow deep breaths and practice a bit of gratitude before your meal. Try placing one hand over your heart and one hand over your belly and take 3 deep breaths nice and slow to start. Try closing your eyes for the first few bites and truly engaging in the textures, smell, and taste is a great way to appreciate what you are eating.

• Chew, chew, chew. Digestion is a very demanding task for the body and requires a great deal of energy. Saliva contains digestive enzymes, so the longer you chew, the more time these enzymes have to break down your food, making digestion easier for the rest of the process. Shoot for about 30-40 chews per bite. This may seem like a lot, but your food should be liquid before it goes down to the stomach.

• Drink water with lemon or apple cider vinegar. Drinking 4 ounces of water with a squeeze of lemon or a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar will prime your digestive process by stimulating the production of gastric juices and sending signals to your digestive tract that food will soon be arriving.

For results over 20, it makes sense for you to work with a practitioner to troubleshoot your symptoms and really get to the root cause so that you can get your digestion into shape and feel better.

While not exclusively a digestion organ, one of the liver’s roles is to work with the gallbladder to signal, produce, store and release bile. Bile is necessary to break down and absorb the fats and fat-soluble vitamins we eat. These organs are also essential to detox and drainage as the liver uses bile as a way to dispose of toxic substances that it processes. If bile isn’t being moved out of the body regularly, these toxins will just get recycled back into the bloodstream and stay in the body.

For results over 16, try these tips to troubleshoot:

• Eat lots of fiber-rich, whole vegetables and fruits. Particularly beneficial for the liver are cruciferous veggies like broccoli and Brussels sprouts as well as bitter foods like arugula, dandelion greens, and radicchio

• Eat plenty of high-quality fats like extra virgin olive oil, grass-fed butter, ghee, avocados, and raw nuts and seeds. If you’ve been avoiding fat, start slow and increase your intake over time.

• Try this quick and easy recipe that is excellent for supporting the liver and gallbladder and can be served as a condiment or side dish to any meal.

CAB Salad (Carrot, Apple, Beet)

Ingredients:

½ Cup shredded beets

½ Cup shredded carrots

½ Cup shredded green apple

1 Tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. I like to make a double or triple batch to eat throughout the week!

For results over 21, it makes sense for you to work with a practitioner to troubleshoot your symptoms and really get to the root cause so that you can get your digestion into shape and feel better.

Since digestion often goes astray before this point, the small intestine often feels the brunt of it. This is where we typically absorb the nutrients out of our food, but if the food hasn’t been broken down as it should, it can cause inflammation here and irritate the cells that make up the walls of this organ. A compromised small intestine can lead to a lot of symptoms in the short term and is linked to “leaky gut” — where undigested food particles get into the blood-stream which can lead to issues like food sensitivities, nutritional deficiencies, auto-immune conditions, brain fog, immune system dysfunction and even skin conditions like acne and rosacea

For results over 12, try these tips:

• Consume gut-healing nutrients daily. Things like aloe vera juice, bone broth, collagen peptides, gelatin, and Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat tea are all great for soothing the gut lining (did you know that the same mucosal lining that makes up our throat goes all the way down the line to our gut?! pretty cool.)

• Manage your stress. Stress can keep you from getting into that relaxed state needed for digesting and is linked to issues with the gut. Even 10 minutes a day can really help. Try breathing exercises, meditation, yoga or stretching, getting outside in nature, or journaling.

For results over 20, it makes sense for you to work with a practitioner to troubleshoot your symptoms and really get to the root cause so that you can get your digestion into shape and feel better.

The large intestine is the last stop in the digestive process. This is where most of the water absorption takes place and the assimilation of any remaining nutrients. Constipated? Have loose stools? Do you alternate between these two? These are common symptoms of large intestine malfunction. Having the right flora here is essential to good gut function, but can easily get out of balance if things are not functioning properly before getting to this point.

For results over 16, try these tips:

• Eat probiotic-rich foods or take a probiotic. Raw kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, kombucha, and pickles are all great options here. They’re full of probiotics—the good bugs that populate your gut and help with digestion. Start with a small amount at a time, and work up to a tablespoon or two to avoid extra gas and bloating.

• Drink plenty of pure, filtered water. A good general baseline is to drink half of your body weight in ounces per day. For MOST people 60-80 ounces is usually about right. This also depends on your activity levels and the time of the year. You need to be drinking sufficient water for your body to have the lubrication to move your stool through your colon and out of the body.

For results over 21, it makes sense for you to work with a practitioner to troubleshoot your symptoms and really get to the root cause so that you can get your digestion into shape and feel better.