Good digestion a key to optimal health
By Dr. Ray Innis

There are many factors which affect your health. Some are considered more important while other health factors are mentioned less honorably. With this fact in mind, I write about digestion. It is so subtle many people do not even think about it or consider it of much significance in their overall health. In this column, I will strive to cover factors that can contribute to us experiencing optimal health.

For our purposes, we will define digestion as the processes that take place from the time food enters the body at your mouth until it’s excreted.

A good sign of weak digestion is low blood mineral levels. A sufficient supply of minerals is necessary for an efficient and capable immune system. For example, critical minerals such as magnesium, chromium, and selenium may be low due to inadequate hydrochloric acid in the stomach, thus hampering efficient digestion. One study reported that a vast majority of Americans are deficient in the mineral magnesium, an element critical for optimal organ function. Few of us are aware that magnesium is a part of a powerful nutritional strategy in the prevention and treatment of medical conditions such as constipation, headaches, diabetes, anxiety, kidney stones and depression. Below normal levels of magnesium is a contributing cause of cholesterol forming plaques....

Read more at: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/living/good-digestion-a-key-to-optimal-health/article_b14782e3-2a57-5903-b857-5821e21fcd9c.html?mode=jqm

By Dr. Ray Innis / Healthy Living columnist