“The wellness revolution seems to have arrived. At least with regard to the public consciousness,” says Dr. David Pollack, of Pollack Wellness Institute, in Commack. “Many people are doing a great job living a wellness lifestyle. Others think they are doing a great job but are quite a bit off in terms of actually eating healthy. There is just too much random information being given out.”
Pollack goes on to say: “Just because they sell a product in one of these health food stores does not make it good for you, i.e., Whole Foods asparagus water. But let us assume we are doing the right thing, such as eating our kale, substituting with quinoa, avoiding carbs, utilizing organic products, and replacing conventional with grass-fed meats in moderation. These foods cost a bit more than their conventional counterparts (arguably). What if they were actually hurting you? Why would they be hurting you? That may be the next question you ask yourself.”
According to Pollack, whole foods and paleo-style diets are actually harder to digest than processed, nutritionally devoid foods. “What if you have a digestive problem? Are you actually digesting and absorbing these high-density nutritional foods? If you have a digestive problem, I will suggest you are not.”
Food should be fully broken down in the digestive tract into its smallest constituents, explains Pollack. “If it doesn’t become fully digested, that good food now becomes foreign material, as it either remains in the gut, sticking to the walls of the intestines, or crosses into the bloodstream through what is often referred to as a leaky gut. When the immune system detects foreign material in the body it mounts a response, called inflammation. So now every time we eat with poor digestion, that poorly digested food now causes inflammation. For most of us that would be three times per day, seven days a week, four weeks a month, 12 months a year. Over 1,095 times per year without snacks we could be initiating or exacerbating our chronic inflammatory problems even when eating as an elite vegan or paleo-style diet.”
Pollack goes on to say, “Really, it is our comprised digestive function that is the problem. There are many ways to improve digestive function that are natural and safe. Many people use herbs, alkaline water, probiotics, and other natural treatments to help their digestive symptoms. Most of these treatments are safe but only deal with the symptoms and do not actually improve function.” Some methods actually can hurt us in the long run, he explains.
“Digestive problems can have many sources,” says Pollack. “Organ dysfunction, such as gall bladder dysfunction; physical issues, such as impingement—an example would be a hiatal hernia in which the stomach slides through the diaphragm; emotional imbalance, such anxiety and depression causing ‘nervous stomach’; and diverticulitis attacks, as many patients report stress and anxiety being their trigger. Often, we have a combination of these issues.”
Repairing the problem needs to often address multiple issues using multiple healing techniques, explains Pollack, such as nutritional therapy; enzyme therapy; physical manipulations; Chinese medicine techniques, including acupuncture and moxibustion; detoxification; and cleansing. He says that while cleansing and detoxification sound great, they should not be employed too early in the healing process as they can cause more harm than good if the body is not healthy enough to tolerate the negative effects of dealing with toxicity, which include stomach distress, breakouts, headaches and more.
Always utilize the help of an experience holistic digestive specialist when engaging in any nutritional or herbal program, cautions Pollack.
Source: Dr. David Pollack, of Pollack Wellness Institute (66 Commack Rd., Commack). For more information, call 631-462-0801 or visit CreatingWellnessLI.com.
