Beyond just a fad, gut health has found its moment in the spotlight. Now is the time to address when and how to listen to our stomach and what we can learn. How do we transform that unpleasant gut feeling into agreeable gut health for life? What with cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, wrinkles and more, where do we draw the line between preventative health and complete DNA gene mapping to tell us our proclivity for certain diseases? Lori Borja, R.N., M.S., CNS, and a PA-licensed nutritionist with a nursing background and mother of three, pursued her interest to found her own practice with a focus on Nutrition for Life as a way to prevent disease and treat digestive issues. Borja helps patients of all ages reduce worry and plan for healthier eating and ultimately healthier living.
Imagine any great drama with one or more heroes where good guys and bad guys collide. Sooner or later, one side prevails over the other, either temporarily or permanently. That’s essentially what occurs in your gut — a microcosm community of healthy and unhealthy characters coexisting in your belly. Your own choices (eating) encourage which characters (gut health symptoms you experience) are introduced into your gut cast. How these compete for and influence your health is up to you.
Making Good Choices
Borja is downright honest about digestive health from the getgo. “A healthy digestive system is essential for whole body health,” she says definitively. “This includes effective digestion, the immune system, brain and heart health, improved mood, sleep and potential prevention of illnesses and disease.” (Ah! Useful, productive characters.)
Borja makes certain to mention balance in her goals in working with clients, which is a must. “Nutritional and lifestyle support can help create the proper balance to manage negative factors that can affect our gut and the body’s protective response,” explains Borja. In other words, digestion affects many aspects of life. Being intentional can prevent those bad actors from infiltrating the cast and outweighing the good. Plus, you may ultimately be able to worry less about all those other ailments which frighten us.
Connecting the dots between disease and symptoms is important. Borja starts with a laundry list of symptoms to consider. Let’s say you or a family member encounters one of those distasteful characters in your drama: upset stomach, gas, bloating, heartburn, constipation and/or diarrhea. They can really make your life miserable, and all may be symptoms of an unhealthy gut, not just random results of an unsavory meal, little exercise or a nasty bug. “Additionally,” Borja clarifies, “gut issues may underlie chronic health problems that seem unrelated to digestive health such as autoimmune diseases, skin problems, as well as others.”
Seeking Help
Many of us to allow time to pass before we consider seeking professional help, thinking maybe our symptoms and discomfort will disappear if we just wait long enough. When that plot line doesn’t materialize, when the bad guys don’t vanish, we seek a different direction for our personal health story. Finding someone who has the depth of knowledge and experience may take time, but Borja found the field extremely captivating and is ready and waiting to offer aid. She attests to the joy and satisfaction of helping someone improve their overall health.
As a professional, Borja’s interest in nutrition evolved, she explains, through her years of experiences in the workplace and as a parent of three. “With a background as a registered nurse, I recognized the great need to prevent disease processes as well as treating them. I wanted to utilize my education and experience in an area that would promote health and wellness. The desire to promote healthy eating and lifestyle changes led me to continue my education in the field of nutrition,” she shares. “I obtained a Master’s degree in Applied Clinical Nutrition from New York Chiropractic College. I am also a Certified Nutrition Specialist, the gold standard for advanced nutrition professionals, and a PA-Licensed Nutritionist.”
How do most people find a specialist like Borja? “Clients often seek nutritional services after other illnesses or diseases have been ruled out, but they continue to have symptoms affecting their daily lives. It is also common for individuals to experience symptoms for many years before finally seeking help, or they had initially addressed their issues in the medical community, but symptoms either returned or never resolved. Just starting with improving their food intake and eating habits, symptoms can improve or resolve. I support clients by providing personalized sample meal plans, recipes and meal prepping ideas, among others.”
Common Complaints
In the best stories, the hero (often the underdog) rescues the distressed in creative ways. The hero must have details about the yet-to-be-rescued dilemma, determine what obstacles stand in her way, then let the magic unfold. According to Borja, “The most common conditions clients seek nutritional services for in my practice include GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease), IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), celiac disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, overweight or obesity issues and food intolerances and sensitivities. Other individuals present with nutrient deficiencies.”
“Their most typical symptoms relate to gut issues," adds Borja. “This includes bloating, gas, stomach or intestinal pain, diarrhea, constipation, heartburn and fatigue. While I work with a client’s medical doctor, I do emphasize a more holistic approach to healing the gut through focusing on gut restoration by dietary approaches that can help restore healthy function of the digestive system.”
"I do emphasize a more holistic approach to healing the gut..."
Nutrition for Life, for Borja, truly encompasses the entire personal health story from start to finish. “There are natural supplements that I recommend, along with dietary approaches, identifying potential food intolerances, allergies, sensitivities, identifying nutrient deficiencies, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing stress, physical activity and other lifestyle changes to improve and support their health.”
Balance
We’ve all encountered characters in a story that appear harmless but later are revealed to be decadent, damaging and detrimental. Borja agrees that these disguised characters can be tricky to avoid. “Removing and reducing inflammatory foods in the diet such as sugar, vegetable oil, fried foods and refined flour, along with artificial sweeteners, additives, saturated fats, processed foods, trans fats and alcohol, is emphasized to help avoid an unhealthy gut.”
For her nutrition clients, Borja designs a food plan that focuses on “eating healthy whole foods, nutrient-dense foods and being mindful of proper portions and serving sizes. Eating a diet high in fiber can contribute to a healthy gut microbiome as well. Often, an elimination diet will be temporarily utilized to help identify food intolerances or sensitivities and to support proper gut restoration.” Finally, Borja emphasizes, “Staying hydrated and drinking plenty of water daily is also important for gut health.”
Age
Despite what some may believe, there’s no specific age or age range when people begin to experience gut troubles. The best way to approach good gut health is to prevent an unhealthy gut, advises Borja. “Preventing issues with the digestive system is important even within the first two years of life. Establishing a healthy bowel microflora can be effective by avoiding and limiting antibiotics, especially early in life. Breastfeeding and proper introduction of solid foods can have an impact as well as establishing healthy eating habits in childhood.”
The encouraging ending of this healthy gut saga is that there are dedicated healthcare professionals to guide us in good nutrition and healthy eating practices, especially when we’re unable to achieve this on our own. Listen to what your stomach is saying. Listen to that gut feeling. Restoring balance in your digestive system is not a fairy tale but an achievable goal.
Lori Borja | lborja@spineandwellness.org
