Naturopathic Digestive Doctor in Phoenix
Since the time of Hippocrates doctors have encouraged the use of food as medicine. We believe this to be essential as well. The barrier for food to be medicine are any digestive health problems. When you have digestive system problems it does not matter how good your diet is, your digestion will limit the food's benefit. The food you eat should invigorate and support your entire body, and help improve digestion. Without good digestive health the food you eat could be making you more sick. Even "healthy" foods could do this.
Most digestive system problems come about from the relationship between the food you eat, the immune system and the "good" bacteria in the digestive tract. Now there are some digestive issues that do not fall within this criteria. However, most do.
Did you know that your gastrointestinal tract has the largest amount of immune cells in your body? Eating the wrong foods could trigger these immune cells. This could cause damage to the digestive cells leading to decreased absorption of nutrients. When certain nutrients are deficiency your GI tract cannot repair itself and work properly. This feed forward problem is the scenario many people are in. This dynamic is why food is medicine. Your digestive doctor should be able to tell you which foods are going to help you get out of this cycle and heal your digestive system problems.
Symptoms of compromised digestive health include:
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Millions turn to antacids, laxatives, immune suppressants, and other medications for help. The problem with such medications is they only relieve the symptoms and don't address the underlying digestive tract disorders. If you have not done the work to determine the source of the problem, these medications could be more detrimental than helpful. The key to improve digestion is to take a look at the functions in the digestive tract that are not working and support or fix them.
A holistic digestive doctor will do this by using a combination of conventional testing and imaging, with specialized testing, and functional testing, and reviewing your health history. Through a personalized nutrition program at Southwest Integrative Medicine you can get your natural digestive health back.