The Gut-Life Balance: How Acupuncture Assists with Digestive Discomfort

We don’t just digest food—we digest life. Every thought, feeling, and experience we encounter impacts our gut health, making digestion about so much more than what’s on our plate. For women, this connection is even more profound, as stress, hormonal changes, and emotional well-being often show up in the form of bloating, acid reflux, IBS, and other gut issues. Acupuncture, a powerful tool in East Asian medicine, helps restore balance by addressing both the physical and emotional aspects of digestion. It’s not just about relieving symptoms—it’s about nurturing your body and mind to feel your best from the inside out.

In this episode, we talk about how acupuncture and East Asian medicine can support and heal digestion and gastrointestinal issues that are prevalent today with Jacques Depardieu. Jacques is nationally board-certified in acupuncture and traditional Chinese pharmacology and has been practising for over 25 years. He has a masters in oriental medicine and has been a Qigong practitioner for over 30 years. Jacques is a self-described advocate for the human spirit, having treated thousands of individuals for a wide array of conditions. He understands the role that spirit, creativity, and spontaneity play in creating health and recovery.

Tune in!

What You Will Learn:

• [00:01] Intro and a bit about our guest today, Jacques Depardieu 
• [05:28] What acupuncture and East Asian medicine are and their benefits 
• [08:04] Why so many people are struggling with GI issues today
• [21:42] Signs and symptoms of an underlying digestive issue 
• [28:43] How GI issues show up day-to-day and how to recognise them
• [32:57] How acupuncture helps address digestive issues 
• [37:55] The connection between stress, mental health and digestive health 
• [42:30] Simple lifestyle changes you can make to support your digestive health
• [46:18] Wrap up and end of the show

Standout Quotes:

• “We not only digest the food we eat, we’ve to digest our life, all of our thoughts and feelings are processes of digestion.” [11:32]
• “Whenever people digestive issues settle down, their sleep problems improve as well” [37:19]
• “You can’t fix a problem in somebody’s hip or shoulder if they don’t have a healthy digestive system, and are not sleeping.” [41:47]
• “If you’re not going to the bathroom, you’re not digesting well, and you’re not sleeping, it’s very difficult to heal your body from anything, specifically digestive issues.” [42:02]
  
  

Let’s Connect

Chandler Stroud

Website: https://healingheroespodcast.com/

Mixing, editing, and show notes provided by Next Day Podcast.

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey guys, it's Chandler and welcome to The Healing Heroes. I promise you. I'm Chandler Stroud, an executive wife and busy mom of two who after years of living with anxiety health struggles and an unshakeable feeling like I should be happier, made a profound discovery that changed everything. Join me on a journey where unexpected paths lead to healing and more happiness. On this show, we will explore unconventional ways to unlock more joy in your own life. With the help of my very own healers and trusted advisors, the healing heroes. Hey everyone. I am back with Jacques, and today we're going to dive deeper into how acupuncture and East Asian medicine can not only support but heal the vast majority of digestive and gastrointestinal issues that are so prevalent today, especially for women. Now, I have my own personal experience with this as I often do at the start of these conversations, and I know many others do as well.
(01:17)
So I was curious just how many are suffering from these sorts of issues? According to what I found, 60 to 70 million people are affected by various GI disorders annually. Irritable bowel syndrome or IBS is one of the most prevalent affecting between 25 and 45 million Americans. Of those with IBS, 65% are women making it more common for females than males. Other common issues include acid reflux or gerd, celiac disease, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. Those numbers are staggering and begs the question, what are we doing in our lives to create such an epidemic? I can tell you that I have been plagued with GI issues my whole life. I remember sitting in front of the TV as a little girl most nights actually growing up with a hot water bottle on my stomach as I was engaging in TV or talking to my siblings, and that continued and even worsened in my twenties and thirties.
(02:24)
I was diagnosed with IBS over 10 years ago now, and I tried the FODMAPs diet to combat that and mostly tried to stay dairy and gluten-free ever since. In one particularly bad job, I was even diagnosed with acid reflux and had procedures done like endoscopies to better understand my discomfort At around 30 years old while I was in business school, I switched between laxatives and Imodium pretty much every other day just to manage my issues. And there were some occasions well into my thirties where my stomach was such mess that it interfered with my ability to go out, keep plans with friends, and even be social. It was actually a flareup of these old issues back in the summer of 2023 that prompted me to start investigating more holistic approaches and why I called Jacques in the first place. Between that initial call and our first visit together is when I made that profound discovery after reading the body keeps the score that my emotional scarring from childhood was likely the root cause of my physical GI discomfort.
(03:34)
So our work together to heal my body, mind, and spirit began. Before we jump into our conversation today, let me give you a quick refresher on Jacque's background. Jacques Dip is nationally board certified in acupuncture and traditional Chinese pharmacology and has been practicing for over 25 years. He has a master's in Oriental medicine and has been a Qigong practitioner and teacher for over 30 years. He's a self-described advocate of the human spirit, having treated thousands of individuals for a wide array of conditions. He understands the role that spirit creativity and spontaneity play in creating health and recovery. Jacques, welcome back. Thank you so much for being here today. I'm so excited to dive into this topic with you. Speaker 2 (04:23):

Thank you so much and appreciate the opportunity to share this and thank you again. Speaker 1 (04:31):

Well, we are always so happy to see you, but this one in particular, I'm so excited to really unearth with you because Speaker 2 (04:39):

It Speaker 1 (04:39):

Does plague so many women and I of course have my own experience with it and we've talked about it a couple times in the context of other issues, but I'm really excited to kind of peel back the onion on this and get a better understanding from you on what you think the root cause is of these issues, how we can better manage them, and if there's anything else that we can do day-to-day to really feel better in our bodies. So I have to start though just by grounding everybody since we likely have some new listeners with us today who missed our previous conversations together, can you take a brief moment to just quickly explain what is acupuncture and East Asian medicine and how do you see it benefit your clients? Speaker 2 (05:28):

The acupuncture experience, which is personal, facilitates the individual for a period of time, depending on the practitioner and how they practice as little as 15 minutes and as long as an hour laying there with these pins, the person will often go into a state where they're possibly asleep, but often between awake and asleep and in that state, their body is given the opportunity to readjust itself, to rebalance itself. Acupuncture to me is experiential. It's personal. That is my experience with it and with my patience, I try and facilitate change not only through speaking with them about reframing the ideas which we're going to be discussing quite in depth during this about what digestion is. That's a very important part of the discussion I have with my patients. But then it's to experience that when they're in a state of relaxation and they get up, they find that they feel less bloated, they feel less reflux.
(06:48)
I can easily attest to this, and I have many, many patients who have gotten off of not only over the counter reflux medication, but also prescription. I mean like serious conditions like Crohn's colitis going into remission. So these things are not like, oh, the acupuncture pin fixes it. What it does is it facilitates an acceleration or an expansion of that individual's healing abilities. And what Chandler, what you brought up initially about your experience of health and your conditions is exactly the state when somebody makes a correlation or relationship between their life and their physical issue, which is inseparable and that already initiates and facilitates a change in that issue or that presentation. Okay, Speaker 1 (07:48):

I would agree with that. I would definitely agree with that. Thank you for sharing that. I really appreciate it. Turning to our conversation today, why do you think so many people struggle with digestive health and GI issues? Are there common lifestyle factors contributing to this in your opinion? Speaker 2 (08:04):

So at the core is an understanding that everything is connected and nothing is inseparable in our lives. So that framework of understanding in and of itself, once we start to see from that frame of reference, our life will change. But the main objective here is to explain one that once you start to see that your frame of reference about your own personal health is correct, that you don't need proof from somebody to tell you that when your kid gets up in the morning and they don't want eat, they have an exam or they have to try out for football or whatever it is, and they don't want to eat breakfast, and then they say, mommy, I have a tummy ache. They don't have some kind of digestive issue, they have anxiety. So it's not one thing, it's personal. Our culture right now specifically in the United States is riddled with gastrointestinal issues, and that's going to be our focus in that.
(09:20)
We look at generally that the foods that we eat are causing our digestive issues. And generally we look at that as in a lifestyle thing. Yes. So we have been under these assumptions that I need to change my diet. Now, many people, and there are many schools of this feel that because of the pesticides and all the different kinds of processed foods that that's causing a lot of our issues. We're going to just really focus on digestion, and then when somebody changes their diet and they eat more, find that for some it initiates the change, but for some it doesn't. For some over-the-counter medications will initiate a change. For some it doesn't. And so really what we all understand is this what works for somebody doesn't necessarily work for me. And we all learned that. We've learned that our whole lives, right, in different ways. Speaker 1 (10:31):

Absolutely. Speaker 2 (10:32):

So generally speaking, digestive issues are almost always linked with emotionality. I don't think if somebody really sits down and really thinks about it, they're almost never have a digestive issue when they're in a relaxed state eating at a slow pace. How many people eat like that? Not many. Generally, and rarely are people in a state of enough relaxation so that they can eat without anything on their mind or for that matter, anything in front of them. I don't believe that it is solely predicated upon processed foods and pesticides, although I am definitely a proponent of eat as clean and as healthy and as locally grown as you possibly can. Absolutely. Why cosign? It just tastes better, right? Yeah, it does. It just does. We not only digest the food, we have to digest our life. All of our thoughts and feelings are a process of digestion.
(11:41)
All of the experiences that we're going through emotionally will generally almost always be instantaneously expressed in our digestive systems. And if we continue that way, they will manifest themselves in something that sooner or later is going to get a name. In our culture, we call that a diagnosis where after trying to assist people to understand what is it in their lives that creates these digestive issues, and Chandler, what you said and what came to light to you was reading that book and seeing that relationship in and of itself helped you to bridge that gap, that it's not just physical, okay, yes, but nothing is just physical. One of the funny things about my patients who come in get that instant kind of thing, like you talked about in the earlier podcast about your knee, especially people who are not open to acupuncture at all, they just come because they're like, and my friend said, you fixed their shoulder, whatever.
(12:47)
I'm like, okay, that's cool. And I give 'em the acupuncture and I needle their feet and their headache instantly goes away or their shoulder pain disappears when I needle their opposite hand or whatever, and they go, it's psychosomatic. And I'm like, okay. I'm like, what does that mean? And they're like, it's in my mind. My shoulder pain was in my mind. I'm like, okay, so then why'd you come here? Just say, I don't have shoulder pain anymore. Right? What's going on here is everything is psychosomatic because it would be, if we didn't have bodies, that would be a different game. But we don't experience reality without the frame of reference of two things. Our physical reality, our mental reality, our emotional reality. And if you're into spirit, that's a whole other topic. But Speaker 1 (13:41):

I am third reality everyone, Speaker 2 (13:43):

Something greater and larger.
(13:46)
And I think there's a great awakening to these types of obvious relationships that everyone has known about. And I think this conversation here about digestion to get into it, there are generalizations as far as these types of presentations with Crohn's, colitis, IBS, all these things. But simply put, we somaticize. And that word just basically means we experience physically often our emotional states, everybody knows what it's like when they're watching some movie or something happens and they get a lump in their throat. Everybody knows when something happens that's so traumatic, they literally feel sick to their stomach. People who are generally more anxious and fearful will have more of the either super loose stools, kind of what they call spastic colon or they don't go at all, alright, it's particular to that individual. And we could just go into each digestive issue whatsoever. But really the first thing I really want to assist people to understand is that they can see within themselves better than anyone else, that there's a relationship between the food that they're eating, how they're eating it, the choices they're making, and also the mental emotional states that they're in when they're doing that.
(15:20)
So that's simple. That's a very simplified, I have treated of all the disorders I've treated and addictions, eating disorders are one of the most difficult things to treat. They're actually probably more difficult than drug addictions because we cannot exist without food. Speaker 1 (15:42):

Right, I see that. Yeah. Speaker 2 (15:45):

I always tell patients, wow, you're gifted because anyone who generally has a sensitive digestive issues is somebody who's highly aware and people who are highly aware are naturally more inclined to connect to nature, to connect to other human beings, and that's normal. But I do believe since covid, there's been a fourfold increase in digestive issues in children being diagnosed in their, it used to be teens, but now it's preteen and even younger and you can look that one up, but I always tell these kids, I got great news for you. You are normal and the environment you're functioning in is not, and what I mean by that is it's not just what's in their lunch pail you personally experienced in your life, something that you could not process and digest and it made its way into your physical reality and that there's no one that I've ever treated who's been traumatized, that it doesn't show up somewhere.
(16:56)
It just, no one, I can say that whether it's a behavior or a physical experience, it comes out somewhere. That's the way it is, unless somehow you have been graced with and that anybody who has had some form of realization that there was a relationship or connection with it and they're free of it. And then generally speaking, almost always that issue disappears or becomes less. And I'm not saying that that's the only way. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be combined with whether you use herbal strategies or prescription medications. Those are helpful. But the most important thing that I'm trying to really support here and what Chandler started out this podcast with is making a correlation for yourself personally with what created when these things started and the relationships they have not only from the past, but in your daily life and noticing that, wow, that's really weird.
(18:09)
But in the summer when I am not in school, I go to the bathroom every day and I never have a digestive problem. And as soon as the fall starts, I'm constipated and my abdominal pain has come back. And people generally don't make those until I point them out and they're like, that's really weird. It's really weird. My allergies all go away when I'm on vacation and when I come back, I get my migraines, and then they're like, I must be allergic to the insulation in my house. It's like, no, you come back here and what happens? It's like you're on vacation not thinking about anything, and then all of a sudden it's like you come home and now you feel gassy, bloated the food that you ate when you were in France, it could be the preservatives, but often it's because when you're in France, you were sitting outside someplace in the countryside or wherever you were on vacation.
(19:06)
Not everybody goes French, I'm just talking. I happen to be French. But wherever it is and making those relationships are literally, and I use that word I'll say, they're enlightening. Okay? That's an enlightening relationship to understand. And often instantaneously you will experience a change in the way that you experience your digestive issue by realizing, wow, this always happens to me when just before I get to work or just before, et cetera, et cetera. And that's what Chandler, I'm sure you start to put together all of those events for yourself and then how they led up to you finding your way to changing the way, not necessarily your diet, although that becomes natural, but the way you experience the workplace, the office, then once that happens, the digestive system issue goes away because you have these beliefs about yourself and what you should be or shouldn't be or look like or not look like. And that's nodding up everybody's GI tracts, all these beliefs about ourselves that either make us eat unhealthy or we experience eating the food in such a stressed out state that it has no ability to digest. Speaker 1 (20:47):

And we talk about that in our last episode, the importance of self-worth and how that manifests in your day-to-day. But I do love what you're saying because I think one of the things we talk about on the show are even people who don't recognize that they had trauma or that they had something distressing happen to them, that they may still be processing and not realize that. And I think digestive issues, GI issues are often a sign that there's something there. And so I really love thinking about some of these physical symptoms as almost a wake up call around getting people to really take inventory of how they're emotionally feeling and what might be there that they can unearth and work through. So I really love that. What signs or symptoms would indicate that someone has an underlying digestive issue that may not be immediately obvious to them? Speaker 2 (21:42):

Sure. Let's start out with the kid that basically is really picky about their food and they don't swallow pills. And then when they're in school, often people think they have some kind of eating issue because they generally are noticed that they don't eat a lot. However, when they get home, they eat a ton of food and everybody out there who's like this, they know who they are. Alright, that's cool. But then what happens is is they get through their early years, they got their whatever it is for them, they've eaten 1000 peanut butter jelly sandwiches because that one never bothers them or whatever it is. Everybody's got this one thing when they're kids, you notice that one kitty always eats the same thing. That's what we're talking about. So then what happens is they get older, they start to all of a sudden develop some kind of digestive issue where it's an upset stomach that they might need to take Tums with or it can come in the form of reflux. So they're like, I just really sensitive to anything spicy, or they really have an issue with their bowel movements where if they eat the slightest thing, they get a loose stool, they get diarrhea or something like that. So already that person now doesn't need a diagnosis. They've been medicating themselves with over the counter stuff. They basically take Toms, they take smooth move tea and Tums, I'm not whatever, tm. Right? They take some kind of antiacid medication. Speaker 1 (23:25):

No, that's right. I know all these products guys. Speaker 2 (23:27):

Yeah, yeah. They take an acid, they take some kind of thing to have a bowel movement or to not have a bowel movement, and they're trying to keep themselves in equilibrium, and then all of a sudden it starts to get worse. And now they're just like, I couldn't stay in the meeting. I was in so much pain that I had to go take anti-inflammatories. The hot water bottle doesn't work anymore. Now I'm doubled over. And then I go to the doctor and they run some blood work and they're like, Hmm, this is really interesting. Some of these markers are on the high side. That is the time where the person says, I don't really want to let me go and see somebody else. So then they go to a dietician or they go to whatever it is, and they're like, oh, you know what? You're allergic to gluten.
(24:21)
You're allergic to this, you're allergic to that. It's like, well, the test really didn't say that. It's like, yeah, but try that. And then they do that and they're like, for a while they're like, wow, that's really wild. When I eat these certain things, I feel better. However, and unfortunately, often what that does is now the person can only eat three things that don't bother them. And then they start doing that, and then a year later they're only down to one. So they're like, I can only eat one thing that doesn't bother me. Okay, that story, I've treated 150 to 200 of those stories,
(24:54)
Maybe more than that, probably more than that. And they didn't even come in for that usually because that was their norm. Most people come in for one thing and they're like, that's crazy. I don't have mean, not only is my headaches are gone, but my digestive issues are like, I'm not taking anything. I can't even believe this. So why am going into this is first and foremost to go back to the individual story. Then all of a sudden they're either on supplements or strong medications or in some cases, and unfortunately more often now than before, a diagnosis, nos reflux esophagitis, acid reflux, which medication does work for, but not always. And then as Chandler as you brought up, these types of unfortunately autoimmune illnesses, which require really strong medication. Sometimes surgery used to be those patients two decades ago that happened to them when they were 30, 40, 50.
(26:07)
Okay, now we're seeing it. 14, 15, 16. Okay, what's causing this? Is it because there's more pesticides, more than most, if not all of the individual I'm talking about have no issues with food scarcity or any kind of real issues? Most of these children live material abundant lives, and most of the adults I'm talking about do as well. So what we're talking about here is a relationship between how something progresses. Now, I could describe the guy do that, who basically really could eat anything. He can eat nails. He can eat plywood, he doesn't even care. It's like whatever it is, he just eats it. And he's just always like, whatever, you just go, go, go, go, go. He is always wondering, why do you care? What is that? Then all of a sudden as he gets older, he realizes, damn, I can't drink two red bulls and five cups of coffee and wash it down with vodka anymore.
(27:20)
It's really upsetting my gut. And not only that, but I've put on all this weight and now I can't really sleep well, and I used to be able to do this all the time. What's going on? And I'm on four different medications. I'm on a medication for my blood pressure. I'm on medication for reflux. I'm on medication because I can't sleep. And that's another example, an extreme opposite of example. But yet just as much of an example of somebody who has developed from a lack of awareness and sensitivity to what they're doing to their bodies, the body's finally, I have been writing checks for you for three decades. You can't do it anymore. And the thing is, is we all know these Speaker 1 (28:09):

People. That's great, Jacques, thank you so much for sharing that. Jacques, you gave great examples about coming back from vacation and feeling differently, or the kid that eats at home, but maybe not at school or even the adult who won't eat at the office, but then comes home and is ravenous. Are there other ways that these GI issues that may be a result of someone's emotional state showing up in their day to day, how would someone who's not familiar with this or maybe paying attention to that start to realize and recognize that that might be what's at play? Speaker 2 (28:43):

So we all know this to some extent personally, and we all know individuals, whether they're our friends or acquaintances or families, and I'm going to give you some generalizations, which let's go there. I often try to avoid, so the person, and let's just say the guy who is beet red and he's always whatever, and he's walking around with a cup of coffee and it's like stereotype or whatever, and then he's eating his sandwich while he's on the computer and he's doing work. And the guy just the deal went through that he was doing or they couldn't get whatever the materials to the job, and he's just like, ah. And then he is like, ah, I, like I said before, I shouldn't eaten that steak sandwich or whatever. And so basically that person also will often have high blood pressure. They're always often warm or hot, and a lot of times they'll have TMJ, which is like a plague. Now we won't get into that, but that's TMJ in this system of medicine is directly related to the stomach you treat TMJ from. Speaker 1 (29:56):

I would believe that actually Speaker 2 (29:57):

From the stomach. Okay. Why? Because here's the thing, we all know when we're just like you, what you did what? Right? People are like, okay. And that's the upper part of the body. Now, the next one is the person who's always ruminating. They're always like, I should have done this. I shouldn't have done that. I did this, but I didn't do that. And that person almost always has abdominal pain in the center. They're always holding their stomach. They would always want pressure on their stomach and they get gassy and bloated easily. They could be the yoga instructor, vegetarian, and they're thin as a rail and they look like their stomach is a basketball and they're not eating anything except raw foods and healthy foods, and they don't understand why they have this issue. And that type of person is the one that ruminates, okay, that overthinking all the time.
(31:02)
And so that's that kind of constantly trying to digest, but it's stuck. It's not coming up in anger, it's not going out in fear. It's more of overthinking and worrying. And then the next person is the person which we also have met and know, which is the person who's like, oh my God, they're always worrying about stuff. And they're just like, but they vocalize it. And they're just like, what do you mean? They're supposed to be on the bus? They're not on the bus. And that person almost often has the spastic colon loose stool where they're either have to go to the bathroom 10 times a day or they don't go to the bathroom for 10 days. I mean, honestly, believe it or not, I've had patients that did not have bowel movements. Their average was every five to seven days. You can't even believe that that actually occurs. And that for them, they said, well, I've just been like that my whole life. And then when I treat them like their eczema disappear, like their poop every day, it's like their skin conditions disappear. So why I'm saying that is that's three simple, broad descriptions of upper gi, middle GI, and lower gi. Speaker 1 (32:18):

Love that. That's so helpful. Thank you for sharing those examples. I think that just makes it a little bit more tangible for listeners who may not have as much experience with this. I'm Speaker 2 (32:28):

Curious. Unfortunately they do because Speaker 1 (32:30):

Yeah, I mean it's fair from the Speaker 2 (32:32):

Statistics you read. Speaker 1 (32:33):

Yeah, no, it's totally fair. I do think the majority of listeners probably can relate to a lot of what we're talking about, but this is really great just to again, ground everyone in the same concepts and real life examples. How does acupuncture specifically address digestive issues like bloating, IBS or acid reflux? Can you share some examples of how it helps? Speaker 2 (32:57):

Sure. We've talked about acupuncture, and I say it sounds like kind of esoteric or kind of acupuncture is experiential and it's personal. It sounds a little evasive, but here's the thing. People come in, they lay down, I give them acupuncture, they get up, they're like, that's really weird. It feels better. So when you ask me that question about how does acupuncture help, I know how I am framing this individual's issue, and then I, through the placement of the pins, try to assist them to go into a state where they do a few things. One is for a short period of time feel a release or a relief of their symptoms physically. The second thing is in the experiential is for this period of time, they're laying down there until all of a sudden they go, that's really weird. I never fall asleep in the day.
(34:00)
Or I must have been, I think I was dreaming, or my leg twitched and woke me up and I didn't know what I was going to be doing for the last 45 minutes. So experientially the thoughts and feelings that we're constantly operating from, which we're generally unaware of, but can be made aware through meditation or really just through sitting and saying, what am I thinking about right now? What am I feeling right now? That happens naturally. And then lastly, so we talk, this is part of the experiential that doesn't disappear when the pins come out, the person gets up and experiences being in their lives for whatever that period of time is. And for some people, literally one treatment can be weeks or longer, but usually days where they're like, my mother-in-law called me and I was totally chill and she didn't irritate me. That's really weird. Or I went back to work and it was a five alarm fire, but I was like, we got this. It's not a problem. Speaker 1 (35:13):

I love that you're bringing that up because that has absolutely been my experience. In my old job, after we had a treatment, I would completely just chill out. I'd be on these calls where people were maybe freaking out over an issue that didn't feel that big of a deal. In that moment, my response was a little bit more, it'll get done. It's going to be fine. Then I probably would have responded into that. And then even now, of course, my digestive issues completely go away within hours of having treatment with you, which I always appreciate because I can feel how much more relaxed I am leaving that room. I've really gotten out of my head and into my body. Speaker 2 (35:58):

So by physiologically experiencing our lives in a physical, mental, and emotional state that is different than our habitual way that we react to our environment, whether that environment is food that is going through our GI tract or that environment is the phone call or the traffic on the highway, then we literally break the cycle of our habitual responses to those things, to those events. And then what happens is we start from a new frame of reference, and if we're lucky enough to have somebody in our lives or the practitioner to support you to understand what that is, and then practice some form of meditation if that works for you, or understand that your jog is actually a meditation or to understand that cooking in the kitchen with the music on is a meditation. And then you start to take that feeling and you start to spread that feeling out in your life more than most of your digestive issues will disappear, as well as other things that are going to be a surprise, which usually is whenever people's digestive issues settle down, their sleep issues usually are improved as well. Speaker 1 (37:28):

That makes sense. Jacque, that makes complete sense, and thank you for sharing that. I think that's a really helpful way of framing and understanding the experience of the shift that happens in a treatment and how you feel on the other side and really what's at play. So I certainly get that and appreciate that, Jacques. In East Asian Medicine, what is the connection between stress, mental health and digestive health? Speaker 2 (37:55):

So the difference is that when in our society what we do is we examine something, we kind of break it down and then we focus it, right? So we all know that experience of like, oh, your shoulder hurts and your elbow, well, I can look at your shoulder, but you got to go look at the other guy for your elbow, just like, wait a minute. And amazing results have been achieved through specialization. But in our particular society when it comes to digestion, it's really focused on solely in a way of what creates digestive issues, inflammatory responses in the imbalances in our digestive enzymes, cellular irritations along our GI tract. So the difference is this, that when someone in East Asian medicine observes any issue, specifically digestion, they are looking from a framework of all the associations of what inflames or irritates that digestion. Not just the specific foods, but simply put who how.
(39:13)
That question is asked by every practitioner of East Asian medicine on any condition, so we can review that, right? Who has the digestive issue? Somebody who's six, somebody who's 36, somebody who's 76, okay, what? What's going on? Where is it in their digestive system? When does it happen? Okay, and then how? Right? You do all that first, that's the story. Then based on the information you receive, you assist the person in, let's say this, let's just have a particular person. So they only eat one meal a day and it's at night and it's half an hour before bed. So you help them, Hey, you got to try to eat breakfast and try to eat lunch and cut down on your dinner. Okay? Two, we find out that the reason they do that is because they're totally stressed out and they just basically get themselves through the day by taking caffeinated beverages.
(40:22)
And the only way that they relax at night is a couple glasses of wine with that dinner. So then we help them in the morning to try and take something that's more relaxing. Okay, reduce the caffeine a little bit. Alright, so that's another way. What's that doing? We start to address their emotional response and then we try and assist them with herbs and with acupuncture to experience that day in a different way. And then suddenly all of a sudden that individual all of a sudden is like, you know what? I only took my over the counter acid reflux medication once, and now that I'm eating in the daytime, I absolutely don't need to eat so much at night. I've cut my portion to a quarter and I don't even need the glass of wine. And then all of a sudden they're like, this is crazy, but my sleep is better.
(41:19)
I'm having a bowel movement when I wake up in the morning. And I generally feel like less aches and pains and not a hundred hundreds. Hundreds. And I mean probably over a thousand patients that I've treated, let's say not even half of them came for that. They came for another condition. And by treating them holistically, because you can't fix, so to speak, a problem in somebody's hip or shoulder if they don't have a healthy digestive system, if they're not sleeping right? If you're not going to the bathroom and you're not digesting well and you're not sleeping, it's very difficult for the body to heal from anything specifically digestive issues. Speaker 1 (42:11):

I love what you're saying right now, and that makes complete sense, and I think that's a really important point for listeners to take away. What are some lifestyle changes that people can make to support their digestive health according to whether it's acupuncture, east Asian medicine, whatever you believe in, practice in? Speaker 2 (42:30):

Sure. So we give our authority away to the acid reflux medication or the doctor that prescribed it or whatever, and go about our lives or to the holistic healer that told us to change to whether it's acupuncture or yoga or whatever. And really what we need to understand is that what's happening is our body is doing the healing and the way that we're experiencing our lives is changing. And it's not just because I got an acupuncture treat, which made me relaxed, but it's because I'm experiencing my life in a new way and that I really actually don't need the acupuncture and I don't need like this, that and the other thing, but I can do them to help me and to remind me how to stay on track so that when I can't get to acupuncture, when I can't get to yoga, when I don't have my medication, I know that I'll be able to manage through these symptoms.
(43:33)
That's really super important. So each person has to know for themselves, we both know you, you and I chand, they're like, when I drink too much, it flares up my issues when I eat, when I'm super stressed, I always wind up eating the whole bag of chips, so I need to work on it. So really it's about personal responsibility on how we, one, take the food in to know what our personal triggers are, and then three, be courageous enough and get support to manage some of the habits that don't serve us and try to replace them with habits that do. Nobody can do that for us, but ourselves. We can get support, but ultimately, that's another big word, but we have to take care of ourselves, and that's main objective and digestive issues. Speaker 1 (44:33):

Super helpful. I really appreciate you spelling that out. For listeners, Jacques, what is a simple lifestyle change that listeners can make to support their digestive health in your opinion? Speaker 2 (44:44):

Sure. One that I often share with my patients and seems so simple, but so profoundly effective and often difficult for most people to do. They think it would be so simple, they have so much difficulty with it is when you're eating, just eat. Don't look at a television, don't have your phone next to you. Don't have a laptop in front of you. Just sit there and eat your food. That's it. I'm not saying to eat it faster or slower or anything. Start there, and what you'll find is all of a sudden you realize you're eating and why are you shoveling food at a massive pace into your mouth, or you will literally experience eating in a completely different manner. It is so simple and it's a great way to basically all of a sudden see within ourselves how we manage that. It's kind of a great self-realization practice because everyone's like, oh yeah, that's not a problem. Try it. Try it every day for two weeks and see what happens. Speaker 1 (45:57):

Okay. You guys heard it here first. That's our challenge from Jacques. Speaker 2 (46:00):

That's a challenge for sure. Don't Speaker 1 (46:02):

Look at your phone, your computer or your TV for two weeks and see how you feel and what you discover Speaker 2 (46:07):

When you're eating, no matter Speaker 1 (46:09):

Where, when you're eating, no matter where you're eating. Speaker 2 (46:11):

That's right. Speaker 1 (46:12):

You Speaker 2 (46:12):

Can talk with people and hang out, but just not a screen. Nothing like that. Yeah. Speaker 1 (46:18):

Jacques, thank you so much for being here today. I loved our conversation, as I always do. I can't wait for the next one, and just so appreciate you being here to share your expertise and your experiences with listeners about this incredibly important and prevalent issue that I know is facing so many women. Speaker 2 (46:37):

Well, thank you so much. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to share what I have experienced personally for myself and with all the people I've worked with about how our digestion and the issues we have with it are inseparable from our lives and from the way that we live them. Speaker 1 (46:58):

Couldn't agree more. Thanks for listening, everyone, and until next time, remember, be curious, be courageous, and be kind to yourself. You've got this.