This past weekend I was visiting some friends and as were playing with his son’s video game I saw a Star Wars Poster that had many slogans from the original three movies, but there was one slogan that caught my eye. It said, "if it smells bad on the outside – it’s worse on the inside." I wish I could recall when that line was said, but be that as it may. The phrase has lots of meaning, especially when you are talking about how well your digestive system is functioning. Remember you are only as healthy as the weakest functioning system of your body.

One of the first questions I ask patients when they come to me complaining of fatigue, indigestion, arthritis, allergies, mood swings and the list goes on is how well is your digestive system functioning? Many patients will tell me fine, but as I dig a little deeper the question gets more specific. When you have a bowel movement or let out gas…would you rate the smell as mild, kind of stinky or open the windows?

If it is pretty stinky it is an obvious sign that your digestive system is not functioning properly. More importantly, as the Star Wars quote goes, if it smells that bad on the outside…can you imagine how bad it smells on the inside? Don’t get me wrong, I am not expecting the smell of lilac when you go to the bathroom, but if you are stinking up the house there is a problem.

That smell that is festering inside of you - is a result of food not being properly digested. The food is rotting, fermenting and putrefying inside your small and large intestine, which I hate saying is stinking up the insides of you. This leads to poor absorption and utilization of all the nutrients in your food and supplements. It’s not what you eat, but rather what your body absorbs and eliminates.

If you are struggling with bloating, gas, heartburn, reflux, GERD, constipation or other irritable bowel problems there is a good chance you are not absorbing all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants or essential fatty acids in your food. This than begs the question, how do you expect to strengthen and nourish your body if you are only absorbing a small percentage of all the vitamins and supplements you are swallowing? How do you expect your metabolism to produce energy if it can’t extract the B vitamins? How do you expect your liver to cleans and detoxify if it can’t utilize all the nutrients you swallowed because of digestive issues? How do you expect to overcome all the inflammation and joint pain – when you’re gut is responsible for a lot of that inflammation?

The human body is a lot like a chain, which is only as strong as its weakest link. The human body is linked together by all the systems and organs and is only as healthy as the weakest functioning system! If you are struggling with PMS, Hot Flashes, Fatigue, Arthritis, Eczema, Allergies, etc. and are taking some supplement for it and haven’t gotten the results you have been looking for, maybe there is another piece of the puzzle you need to address first.

I see this all too often, people come to me complaining or giving up on natural supplements because they didn’t get the results they were looking for. All too often they are hoping for that magic formula that is going to heal or fix whatever specific malady they are looking for, without checking or addressing the basics. This is why you need to dig a little deeper and see if something has been overlooked, specifically digestive function. If you’ve been struggling with various health issues that haven’t cleared up as you would hope, I encourage you to address the basics first. This helps you address the cause or root of your problem, which may be poor digestive function.