Why Eating on the Go Causes Digestive Problems!

Probably the Worst thing you can do if you struggle with bloating, gas or any other digestive issue is Eat on the Run, In a Hurry, In the Car.  But one of the simplest things you can do for your tummy if you struggle with digestive issues is Sit, Eat and Relax!

Just because you ate it – doesn’t mean your body absorbed it!

“Yes – what you choose to eat could be causing a lot of your digestive distress – but your dietary habits could be equally at fault”

To help you understand, you need to understand that your body runs or operates on two different systems.  One is called your Fight or Flight Mode (sympathetic mode), and the other is your Resting Digestive System (parasympathetic mode).

They don’t really work at the same time, nor do they control and regulate the same things.  They are like ying and yang, left and right, night and cold – of how the body operates.  One important distinction is that your Fight or Flight mode can over-rule your Resting Digestive system.  In other words, when you eat in a hurry, on the run, in the car.….Your Digestive System doesn’t really turn on and do it’s job like it’s supposed to.  This is because your Fight or Flight Mode is more concerned with pumping blood to your muscles (body), so you can Run or Fight….to Survive!

One of the duties of your GI tract it to produce various Digestive Juices (enzymes and acids) to help breakdown your food.  Think of it like washing your clothes without soap.  Your clothes only get so clean without soap, and your food may not get fully digested without those important digestive juices.  In other words, your Fight or Flight mode essentially turns down, your digestive system.

How Eating on the Go Hampers Digestion

I know you’re not really running or fighting for survival, as you wolf-down your food and speed through traffic.  Nor are you in that Zen moment of relaxation, which is when your digestive system is at its best.  For centuries, we ate when we had time to relax and eat – not when you are in the middle of battle.  In other words, all that hustle and bustle going on as you eat isn’t allowing your digestive system to breakdown the food so it can be absorbed and utilized.

This is especially important if you are eating more protein and or cooked, processed, junk food, because you need hydrochloric acid (HCL) to breakdown protein, and those enzymes to break everything else down.  No HCL = No protein breakdown!  But here’s the kicker…. what do you think happens to all that protein and food that doesn’t get broken-down properly?  The undigested protein slowly rots and putrefies inside your small and large intestines, which disrupts the delicate balance of good and bad bacteria in your GI tract.  Can you say – Start Your Tummy Ache?

Now allow all that undigested food to continue to disrupt your GI tract – for however long it has been going on, and you are setting yourself up for bloating, gas, indigestion, leaky gut, irritable bowel, GERD or the new name they are calling it SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth).

Are Dietary Habits or Choices Causing Your Digestive Problems?

How bad and how long you have dealt with these problems is only one part of the healing process.  You have to also take into consideration what else you have done over the years to disrupt your intestinal bacteria.  You may also need to look at how many rounds of antibiotics, birth control pills, steroid hormones you’ve taken?  We’re just scratching the surface as to how you could be killing off all the good bacteria in your gut, which only makes things worse.

The point of the story is to help you understand that eating on the go, on the run, in the car could be a huge contributing factor for your digestive issues.  And the best Elimination diet, Food Combining program, and Digestive Enzymes could all be for not – simply because you don’t allow your digestive system to do the job it’s supposed to.

The only thing you should feel after eating is less hungry!
If you’re bloated, gassy, sleepy or energized – it’s a sign your digestive system isn’t working properly.

Is it your Dietary Habits or your Dietary Choices that are causing more of your digestive issues?  Could it be both?

The simplest and possibly the most effective thing you can do to help your tummy is to… Sit, Eat and Relax.

FYI….If you get bloated in the first 30 minutes of eating, it’s an Upper GI problem!  If the bloating occurs 60-90 minutes after eating – it’s a lower GI problem.  And yes you can have both problems.  Will talk later how to address both of those problems.