09 - What I Wish Everyone Knew About Digestion

In this juicy episode, we’re diving deep into one of my favorite topics—digestion! Did you know poor digestion can be the root of everything from acne and anxiety to bloating, heartburn, and nutrient deficiencies? The good news? A few simple (and free!) strategies can make a world of difference in how you feel.

I’m breaking down what digestion actually is, why it matters more than you think, and how eating in a relaxed, parasympathetic state can be a total game-changer for your health. 

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why “you are what you eat” isn’t the full story
• The sneaky symptoms of poor digestion you might be ignoring
• What happens when you eat in a stressed-out (fight or flight) state
• How chewing your food properly supports digestion and prevents heartburn
• What the vagus nerve is and how to activate it for better gut health and calm
• My top 3 ways to shift into a “rest and digest” mode before meals

Simple Practices to Try:

1. Take 5 deep belly breaths before eating
2. Chew each bite 25–30 times
3. Gently massage your vagus nerve (I explain exactly how!)

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review-- it helps more people find the show and stay empowered on their health journey.

Resources:

• Visual Guide: Vagus Nerve

Connect with Courtney:

 
Instagram: @nourished_living_

Work With Me: Nourished Living

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the Nourished Living Podcast, where I'll be diving deep into nutrition, holistic wellness, and practical tips to help you live your healthiest, most vibrant life. I am Courtney Podany, a nutritional therapist, certified personal trainer, type one diabetic and mom. And I'm here to help you take charge of your health with ease and confidence. Together we'll explore how to nourish your body, mind, and soul in a way that feels good and sustainable. So grab your favorite beverage. Take a deep breath, and let's get into the episode. I. Welcome back to the Nourished Living Podcast. I am Courtney Podany, your host, and this is episode nine. Today I will be plating up some juicy info on digestion along with blood sugar regulation. Digestion is just one of my jams. I love talking to people about it, and I am so passionate about helping people upgrade their digestion and sharing these tips that I'm going to share with you because it is linked to so many other things within our bodies, and just by implementing these few quick strategies, it can result in a world of change. So I'm going to elaborate on exactly what I mean. But you know, when you meet someone and you tell them your profession, sometimes they'll go into like, oh, well you're a nutritionist, so. I have X, Y, and Z wrong, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They start like listing off their problems. Well, probably like 90% of the time. The first thing that pops into my head is like, okay, we need to address digestion here. That's how important it is. And poor digestion over time can lead to nutrient deficiencies, a weakened immune system and getting sick often. Anxiety depression. Candida overgrowth, heartburn, bloating, constipation or diarrhea, inflammation, ulcers, leaky gut food sensitivities, Crohn's disease, celiac disease, and skin issues like acne, rashes, and eczema. Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food. We want our food to be broken down so tiny. We are then able to extract the nutrients from that food to be absorbed and utilized by our bodies. The saying, we are what we eat is actually a misconception. We are not just what we eat, we are only what we are able to absorb, which is one of the reasons why digestion is so important. If we are not breaking down the food that we are eating, we are not absorbing it and benefiting from it. You can actually be malnourished even if you are eating like the perfect diet specifically for you and your body. Because if you are not breaking down the foods, and we are not extracting those nutrients, we are not getting any of the vitamins, any of the minerals or any of the nutrients that our bodies need. When we are in fight or flight mode, also known as our sympathetic state, our body is not focused on digestion. Our blood and resources go to our limbs because our body thinks we need to be ready to outrun a predator and our in an emergency situation, and they also go to our brain. So we have resources to make quick decisions. To stay alive in this state, our bodies cannot digest or absorb the food that we are eating. So our body's last thought in this state is digestion. Well, the opposite of the sympathetic state is the parasympathetic state, also known as rest and digest. So we want to try and only eat food while we are in this state. Our blood and resources go to our digestive system and are ready and prepared for food. So there are a few ways we can prepare our body to enter the parasympathetic state. One of the ways is to take five deep breaths when you sit down for your meal, but before you have eaten anything. And I mean like five deep belly breaths where you can actually notice your stomach expand on the inhale. This signals to our brain because digestion starts in the brain that we are in a safe space and that we need to be ready to digest. The brain will then begin producing digestive enzymes and digestive juices, which will be ready and awaiting the food we eat to begin the breakdown. Another great practice to get into is to chew each bite 25 to 30 times. The goal of digestion is to break down food so small that we can extract the nutrients, right? Well, why not begin with the first point of entrance that we have with our food, our mouths? I definitely thought this was just an old wives tale when I heard it growing up back in the day, but there actually is some science behind it. The more that we chew the food in our mouth, the less our stomach and small intestine have to work to continue breaking down those foods to get those nutrients. It also kind of continues our slow pace so we don't get back into that fight or flight mode. This will help keep us in that parasympathetic state, and then it allows the saliva to moisten our food, and saliva is responsible for the initial breakdown of carbs. Everything else is stomach or small intestine, so we want the saliva to be able to get in contact with those nutrients. And like I said, the smaller we get the food in our mouth, the less time it will take to break down in our stomach. Sometimes heartburn or acid reflex can originate because the food we eat is in such large pieces going into the stomach. The stomach has to work harder and longer to break it down. The food ends up staying in the stomach longer than it should, which creates gas that can then irritate the esophageal sphincter. This is what separates the esophagus and the stomach, and once irritated, it can open up, and that is when we have backflow back up into the esophagus and the lining of the esophagus was not created to withstand acidic contents like the stomach, which is why it becomes painful. The esophagus was really only created for transportation of food from the mouth to the stomach, so really taking your time and chewing your food and making sure it is basically in liquid form before swallowing could ease heartburn pains. I know with some foods like soups or mashed potatoes, it will be a little bit harder to chew 25 times because it's already in a liquid state. But just try your best and try and just kind of move the food around your mouth again so the saliva can get into contact with the food before swallowing. And the last way I want to share to get into a parasympathetic state is to activate your vagus nerve and no, not Las Vegas. This is vagus spelled V-A-G-U-S, and the vagus nerve is a cranial nerve, so it originates in the brain and it is directly connected to our gut and actually wraps around a lot of the digestive organs. The brain and gut are so closely related and in constant contact so much that the gut is known as the second brain, which is why when our gut health is off and we are eating too much processed food, it can manifest as mental health symptoms, but that will be for a different episode. Anyway, the vagus nerve is responsible for decreasing heart rate, decreasing respiratory rate, so our breathing and digestion. These are what happen during the parasympathetic state of rest and digest. We have a slower heart rate. We have a slower breathing rate, and our bodies are prepared for digestion. What's really cool about this vagus nerve and why we were talking about it is since it's responsible for preparing for digestion, if we stimulate the nerve before a meal, it will help us to get out of fight or flight, jump, starting that rest and digest and preparing our body for food. I know you can't see me right now, but the vagus nerve runs behind our ears and then down into our necks so you can go ahead and massage that area when you sit down for your meals and while you are doing those. Five deep belly breaths. This is going to let our body know that we are safe, that we are resting, and that we are ready to enjoy some food. I will include a link in the show notes for a picture of exactly where the vagus nerve runs, so you know what I'm talking about. If you are more of a visual person. And honestly, since this is good for getting us out of fight or flight, I actually utilize this practice when I feel myself getting stressed or overstimulated with the kids, I will just massage the vagus nerve on both sides, and I almost. Instantly feel calmer. So it is not just great for eating meals, it can also help to relax the body in times of high stress. Since chronic stress can wreak havoc on our body and is definitely not beneficial to us term, so. You are welcome for that tidbit, honestly, go ahead and try it and please share with me if you felt any calmer in the moment because it is one of my favorite tips to kind of help regulate myself throughout the day. Because it is also important to note that our minds and bodies cannot differentiate different levels of stress. So even something like you are going to be late for work, and you would probably rate that as like a. Four out of 10 stress level, you know, so it, it's stressful, but not super stressful. Your body still takes it as you are in a life-threatening situation. So stress is just considered, stress is considered stress. So I promise you these will eventually become second nature to you. It might be hard to remember at first, especially if you spent a while creating a beautiful meal and you're just hungry and you wanna sit down and dig in. But they will become easy where you don't have to think about it anymore. If you find that you do have a hard time slowing down, you can put your fork down in between bites or it also helps to eat distraction free, so no TVs or phones. When you are distracted and not focusing on your food, it becomes easier to not pay attention to how many times you are chewing or how quickly you are eating. Often, bloating can begin from eating too quickly. When we eat too quickly and are just kind of scarfing down our food, it allows air to enter and sneak down into the stomach. If we get too much air in there in addition to the meal that we just ate, it can become quite uncomfortable and we might experience bloating. So again, just try to take your time while eating. We want to be able to enjoy and experience the food we just prepared anyway, right? Let all of your senses enjoy it beyond just taste. Well, sometimes when we are really in a rush or completely distracted, we might not even remember how it tasted either, so we want to avoid that. So to recap, the three ways that you can get into the parasympathetic state of rest and digest prior to your meals are to take five deep belly breaths once you sit down, chew each bite 25 to 30 times and really liquefy the food before swallowing and massage your vagus nerve. These quick, almost effortless steps will ensure we are absorbing the nutrients that we are providing for our bodies to keep things running smoothly and functioning as they should. To have you feeling your best, I swear. They really do become second nature. I don't still have to count each bite as I'm chewing, I basically know about how long it takes and know the feeling of the food. My focus is more on slowing down. I. Well, as much as I can when I eat with my kids, I know it can be extremely difficult to sit down for a full meal with them and be relaxed and calm, but after six years, I am glad to report that I am not still counting every single chew that I take, and you won't be either. So I challenge you to begin these right away, especially if you struggle with occasional heartburn or bloating. These are some free quick tips that don't require you to alter your current schedule in any way, but they have the potential to create such a huge improvement both physically and mentally. If you try them out and notice a difference, please share with me. I would love to hear how this has helped you and impacted your health. All righty, folks, thank you again for hanging out with me and I will see you in the next episode, which I'm so excited for episode 10. Have a wonderful day. Thanks for hanging out with me today and tuning into the Nourished Living Podcast. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and found something you can start implementing right away to kickstart your nourished transformation. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who could benefit from these insights. You can also connect with me over on Instagram at Nourished Living for more resources and support. Until next time, stay nourished.