Healing with Food Newsletter
Below the Waist
Accompanying recipe: Honey-Candied Ginger
If you are concerned that your intestinal health is lacking, here are three proactive steps to help resolve it. Plus, a delicious candy recipe that aids digestion!
As each of our emotions specifically relates to a physical organ (according to Oriental Medicine), let’s look at emotional clues of lower gastro-intestinal imbalances. Do you feel sorry for yourself? Perhaps you can’t shake a feeling of being stuck or victimized. Is their a deep sadness or sense of unmitigated loss?
These emotions indicate intestinal problems that may manifest as distention, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, allergies, autoimmune disease, colitis, leaky gut, excessive gas, abdominal cramping or spasms and assimilation issues including obesity and inability to gain weight.
If you suffer from the above, here’s what to do:
1. If your gut doesn’t like what you’re swallowing, its way to say “Ouch!” is with a symptom (like, for example, bloating). Keep up the abuse and the complaints will increase until the surgeon is called in. No need to go there. Rather clearly identify the contributing causes to your malaise. An Elimination Diet is the gold standard method for doing so.
2. Three times a day enjoy balanced meal of freshly prepared foods. Make sure you’re getting ample protein, quality fats and carbohydrates. Note: today most people eat excessive carbohydrates. A quick Self Test for Hypoglocemia will tell you if your diet is too high in carbs.
#3. Consider assimilation aids including fermented foods like sauerkraut, digestive enzymes, psyllium, triphalia and Swedish Bitters or an herbal equivalent. Also, virtually every herb and most spices support digestion so increase your use of fresh or dried culinary herbs as well as spices such as bay, cumin, coriander, fennel, garlic, ginger and mustard seed.
Additionally, there are the common sense things to do like get ample exercise, reduce stress and caffeine consumption and, if intestinal parasites are a contributing factor, dispel the beasties.
As promised, here’s a candy that supports digestion.
May you be well nourished!
Rebecca Wood