Is Your Gut Timing Off?

TL:DR - When it comes to gastrointestinal health, we talk about the importance of food choices and probiotics, but little emphasis is placed on discussing the importance of timing, sequencing, and rhythms.

"The gut is essential for survival."

This is a direct quote from a research article, and it is ironic that it even has to be stated.

In the last decade, the market has been oversaturated with digestive health supplements and packaged health foods. If those are not working, you begin to realize that there are only so many things one can ingest when it is very likely the missing piece of the puzzle is TIMING, SEQUENCING, AND RHYTHM. 

There are examples of timing, sequencing, and rhythms all around us:

• Hormones fluctuate (e.g. menstrual cycle, cortisol, melatonin)

• Heart beats have a regular rate and rhythm

• Brain waves differ between when awake versus sleeping

• Life cycles and stages (e.g. puberty, menopause)

• Seasons

• Music

Our gut is no exception.

In my last post, I shared an overview of digestion.

In short, the digestive tract is very much like an assembly and disassembly line that turns food into digestible and absorbable components where the timing and order of steps matter.

The design is such that one step builds on the next.

Have you ever seen this clip from I Love Lucy?

You can cover up the symptoms for only so long before circadian disruption catches up.

Think of the gut as having normal operating hours, and when you force the gut to work outside of those hours, big problems begin to show up.

Two cautionary tales…

Certain cases and stories just stick with you when you are in this profession.

Case #1: Young man who had his colon removed

I worked with a young man in his early 20’s a number of years ago that had a large section of his colon removed due to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

The pain and digestive issues were constant. He struggled to digest anything he ate and would experience constipation and diarrhea regularly. I did as much as I could with manual therapies to address the adhesions and scar tissue, but once a part of the body is removed, it will never be the same.

A lot of this young man’s life up to this point revolved around being sick and seeing doctors. He could barely hold down a job because he was constantly dealing with his health challenges and had to live at home. His mom was understandably very protective of her adult son and was also constantly involved in his care.

"What would this young man’s life be like if he didn’t have to deal with having most of his colon removed?" I would think to myself on the way home from the clinic.

Case #2: Double hand transplant

I also remember seeing a story around the same time about Linsay Ess, a young woman who at 24 years old became a quadruple amputee who had both legs amputated and both arms amputated from the elbows down.

The story was highlighting a revolutionary bilateral arm transplant to give her working arms and hands again. The procedure was indeed miraculous as she was able to become a CrossFit athlete.

But what led to her needing to get her arms and legs amputated?

She needed a surgery to address a blockage in her small intestines due to Crohn’s Disease. After the surgery, she began to notice that the tissues of her hands and limbs started to turn black and necrotic because of an infection had gone septic (a systemic, life threatening emergency). Her limbs had to be amputated to save her life.

These stories stick with me because Inflammatory Bowel Disease along with many of the gastrointestinal issues I see are often preventable and addressable with lower cost and less invasive strategies.

In both of these cases, there is an argument to be made that these surgeries were necessary and life-saving.

However, would I want to be in either of their shoes? Would I wish this on any of my family, friends, and patients?

Were there any less-invasive treatments they could have tried first?

How could the root cause of their IBD be addressed in the first place?

How much more independence and freedom would each of them have?

I felt the pain that these two young people in the prime of their lives that now would have to deal with the consequences of these illnesses and surgeries for the rest of their lives.

What’s better than receiving a miracle surgery?

Not needing the surgery to begin with!

What happens when timing, sequencing, and rhythm of the gut are broken?

At the time of these two cautionary tales, I was just beginning to learn the importance of circadian rhythms in metabolism and performance thanks to the work of Satchin Panda, PhD.

The main takeaway is that the function of every body system is linked to circadian rhythms.

In the last decade, there have been much more research done specifically on the connection between circadian biology and the digestive tract.

Based on this research article, we can connect the dots between our circadian rhythms and meal timing and how our gut functions.

Each of these symptoms and diseases have a common thread that link them to circadian disruption. It is something that we have much more control over than we realize.

This is another reminder of why it is so important to respect the natural cycles of night and day and why I am guiding everyone I work with through their own Circadian Reset.

If not, our bodies will let us know it.

This is another example of The ONE Thing.

Getting our circadian biology right addresses almost all of the most common digestive issues.

P.S. Do you feel like your digestion isn’t working the way it used to?

Schedule a "pick my brain" session or book a complete GIMAP Comprehensive Evaluation here https://l.bttr.to/Ce2hj or reach out via email.