CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE July/August 2020 | Page 50

DIGESTIVE ISSUES
SYNONYMOUS WITH BODYBUILDING
Melissa Ieraci
THE PROBLEM THE WORK THE FIX
Here are some tough
to swallow facts
about digestion (pun
intended):
• Having a ‘food baby’
after your meal is NOT
normal.
• Protein farts should
be as much your concern as
those smelling them around you.
• Indigestion is not the result of too much
stomach acid, but not having enough.
THE PROBLEM
It is hard to find a group that eats like the
bodybuilding and fitness community does. Meals
are quite large, contain high amounts of protein,
and are eaten rushed or force fed.
The body digests food using mechanical and
chemical processes. Under normal conditions these
are responsible for hormone and neurotransmitter
production, muscle and connective tissue growth,
energy production among others. If you want to
build muscle or lose fat, optimizing your digestion
is the first step.
THE WORK
If you have ever eaten a meal while scrolling through
Instagram, watching a screen, rushed between
work and daily tasks, you have not practiced
mindful eating. Digestion begins in your brain (think
Pavlov’s dogs that salivated when triggered before
food was present). Turn off the distractions, sit
down, keep drinking fluids away from meals, and
chew!
THE FIX
We all live busy lives, we train hard and sometimes
meals must be consumed while multitasking.
Stress, overeating and poor food choices all impact
our hydrochloric acid (HCl) levels in the stomach.
Consequences of low HCl include micronutrients
deficiencies (B12, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron,
selenium), poor protein digestion and bacterial and
yeast overgrowth.
Increase your HCl by taking a Betaine Hydrochloride
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