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What is the Digestion & Assimilation System in Functional Medicine? Understanding Nutrient Absorption

What is the Digestion & Assimilation System in Functional Medicine? Understanding Nutrient Absorption

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We can address the root cause of chronic disease and dysfunctions by examining, assessing, and therapeutically delivering on nutrition, environment, lifestyle, and genetic predispositions. Why are these symptoms presenting themselves? What is causing them? Let’s talk about assimilation.

What is Digestion & Assimilation?

Assimilation in digestion represents the absorption and digestion of nutrients by the body to be utilized for optimal health. This process starts in the mouth and ends at the cellular level where the final products are utilized. To put it very simply, what we don’t assimilate, we can’t use.

Nutrients must be digested, absorbed, and assimilated for our bodies to reap the benefits and use them properly. Assimilation is one of the most crucial body systems. Without it, it would be impossible for our bodies to survive.

On a more physical level, when addressing assimilation we consider the following:

  • Digestion and absorption required to assimilate
  • Macro- and micronutrients in food to fuel the body
  • Breakdown of large molecules of food into smaller units using digestive output: stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, bile acids

Signs of Poor Assimilation

If your body isn’t effectively absorbing nutrients, you might experience symptoms such as fatigue, frequent illnesses, digestive issues, or brittle hair and nails. These can be indicators that your body isn’t receiving the nutrients it needs, even if you’re eating a balanced diet.

The Connection Between Digestion, Absorption & Assimilation

To truly understand assimilation, it's important to see how it fits into the larger picture of digestion and absorption.

  • Digestion breaks down the food we eat into smaller, more manageable components.
  • Absorption then takes these components—such as vitamins, minerals, and amino acids—and transports them into the bloodstream.

Assimilation is the final and crucial step in this trio, ensuring that the nutrients from the food we consume are not just absorbed, but effectively used by our body to help us thrive.

How to Improve Assimilation in Digestion

With a better grasp of how assimilation works, let’s dive into some simple steps you can take to support this essential part of digestion. These tips will help your body make the most of the nutrients you consume, boosting your overall well-being.

Cultivate Good Bacteria With Probiotics

Incorporating high-quality probiotic capsules help to support the growth of good bacteria in your gut to improve your digestion and overall health. Probiotics are essential for maintaining a strong immune system, healthy digestive system, and balanced intestinal health.

When we take probiotics, we help fight invaders, improve our nutrient absorption, increase our ability to detoxify, and reduce the negative effects of antibiotic use. Our gut is filled with hundreds of different species of good bacteria. A truly healthy gut will contain more good bacteria than cells in the entire body. This healthy gut flora is the first thing other organisms encounter in the digestive tube as they fight to protect their territory and prevent other organisms from taking hold.

Gut bacteria help with the production of crucial b vitamins, specifically folate (B9), biotin (B7), and B12. These nutrients have to be pre-digested by bacteria before the body can absorb them. When we are not getting these nutrients, we can experience a variety of symptoms that seem to appear out of nowhere like low energy, brain fog, and skin issues.

The liver may get a lot of attention in the detox world, but the intestinal flora is arguably the largest detoxification component of the body. To put it another way — if the gut didn’t have a well-balanced intestinal flora, the liver would have to work almost twice as hard.

Supporting our intestinal flora with supplemental probiotics can help to rid the body of toxins entering our air, food, and water. Probiotics, like lactobacillus, look promising in helping to detoxify heavy metals and to prevent their absorption into the body.

Their support in reducing the toxins we inevitably encounter day to day, modulating the immune system, improving digestion and nutrient absorption, and their ability to decrease typical symptoms of antibiotics are a few benefits we don’t want you to miss out on.

Improve Digestive Health

Digestive enzymes play a key role in our body’s cells, catalyzing chemical reactions that facilitate the breakdown of existing materials while creating new ones. When we eat food, a key step in the digestive process is the release of pancreatic enzymes in the small intestine. If we have low production of these essential enzymes, or if we are dealing with food intolerances and/or GI inflammation, we end up with a lot of bloating and digestive discomfort.

Our bodies produce many different types of enzymes as needed for different functions. For instance, amylase is released in your saliva to break down carbohydrates. Various enzymes break down different substances, and a good enzyme supplement like our Digest Plus formula contains a variety of enzymes with diverse functions, such as protease, lipase, lactase, and amylase.

Remember, we get almost all nutrients that build and support our bodies from the foods that we eat. We must create enough pancreatic enzymes to break down and assimilate these nutrients effectively.

Leaky Gut Syndrome & The Gut

Leaky gut syndrome has been gaining more attention in recent years. As we become more and more affected by poor dietary choices, bacterial imbalances in the GI tract, stress, and overall toxic overload, the prevalence of leaky gut syndrome is on the rise. A growing body of research suggests that leaky gut syndrome can be a precursor to some serious health conditions.

Glutamine (or L-Glutamine, as it is also known), can be a key in healing this disorder.

Leaky gut syndrome is also called intestinal permeability, and it refers to a breakdown of the protective mechanisms in place between the GI tract and the bloodstream. The intestinal wall is the largest barrier between your internal bodily systems and the outside world. The intestinal wall lines the entire digestive tube and is in constant contact with incoming outside substances such as food, beverages, chemicals, drugs, viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens.

Intestinal permeability occurs when immune cells in the intestinal lining begin producing inflammatory molecules, and the protective intestinal tight junctions are disturbed. These tight junctions are the gateway between the intestinal tract, the bloodstream, and internal organs.

When the function of these tight junctions is compromised, toxins, undigested food particles, and microbes can pass into the bloodstream, causing multiple negative effects. Leaky gut has been linked to irritable bowel syndrome and other inflammatory bowel disorders, celiac disease, allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, systemic inflammation, and Type 1 diabetes.

Gut integrity is a natural glutamine supplement that supports a healthy intestinal lining, which is essential for regular digestion, good immune function, and optimal gut health.

Incorporate Breathing Exercises

We can also apply assimilation by taking in oxygen through the breath and incorporating it into blood cells. Our cells need oxygen to function. Our cells use the oxygen we breathe to get energy from the food we eat. The body’s cells use oxygen to transfer energy stored in food to a usable form. This process, which is called cellular respiration, allows the cells to harness energy to perform vital functions such as powering muscles (including involuntary muscles such as the heart) and the movement of materials into and out of cells. Without oxygen in the body, cells can function for a limited period; long-term oxygen depletion leads to cell death and eventually death of the organism.

Proper breathing can help us sustain healthy blood oxygen levels. Without proper breath comes a host of other ailments, including elevated anxiety and emotional stress, reduced energy levels, and compromised immune function. Focused breathing exercises can increase oxygen saturation in the body and ease physical and mental stress, as well as enhance cellular function.

According to the American Lung Association, “If practiced regularly, breathing exercises can help rid the lungs of accumulated stale air, increase oxygen levels, and get the diaphragm to return to its job of helping you breathe.” Breathing exercises can also help improve overall respiratory health, lung capacity, and a sense of calm rejuvenation.

Oxygen Can Help With Anxiety

When the body enters a “fight, flight or freeze” state and has gone into its sympathetic nervous system response, we tend to hold our breath or take very shallow breaths from the chest. One of the quickest ways to get out of the sympathetic nervous system response and into the parasympathetic is by utilizing deep breathing techniques. Specifically allowing your exhale to be longer than your inhale.

You can start today by simply inhaling through your nose for a count of four, and exhaling through your mouth for a count of five. Continue doing this as many times as you need until you feel relaxed and calm.

Frequently Asked Questions About Assimilation & Digestion

What is the difference between digestion and assimilation?
Digestion is the process of breaking down food into smaller components, while assimilation is the absorption of these components into the bloodstream.

How long does the assimilation process take?
Assimilation typically occurs within a few hours after eating, depending on the food and the efficiency of your digestive system.

Can poor assimilation be reversed?
Yes, improving your diet, managing stress, and addressing any underlying digestive issues can help restore proper assimilation.

How Clean Program Supports Digestion & Assimilation

At Clean Program, we understand the importance of healthy digestion. Our products, including the 21-Day Cleanse and digestive support supplements, are designed to enhance your body’s ability to absorb nutrients, helping you feel your best.

Ready to support your digestive health? Explore our 7-Day Cleanse and other digestive support supplements designed to help you get the most out of your nutrition. Start feeling your best today with Clean Program!

 

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