Most people assume that eating healthy food is enough. But the real issue is often not what’s on the plate. It’s whether the body can actually use it.
In this episode, Tracy Harrison questions the idea that nutrition starts and ends with food choices. She breaks down why so many patients fail to thrive despite eating well and how digestion quietly plays a much bigger role than we give it credit for.
Tracy walks through four patient groups that often struggle with maldigestion: those with acid reflux, diabetes, hypothyroidism, and chronic aches and pains. Could common medications like PPIs or NSAIDs be interfering with nutrient absorption? Could sluggish bile flow or low enzyme output be blocking access to critical micronutrients? These are the kinds of questions she urges practitioners to ask more often.
Along the way, she explains why foundational functions—stomach acid, bile, enzyme activity, brush border integrity—deserve just as much attention as the more complex topics in functional medicine. Because when those basics are overlooked, even the best nutrition plans can fall flat.
This is a call to shift your focus back to the basics and to recognize that restoring digestive function may be the most powerful clinical move you can make.
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Introduction
01:03 The Importance of Micronutrition
02:18 The Role of Digestion in Nutrient Absorption
03:46 Focus on Digestion: Acid Reflux and GERD
07:01 Hypochlorhydria and Its Impact
10:02 Eating Hygiene and Its Importance
13:24 Diabetes and Digestive Enzyme Insufficiency
18:07 Hypothyroidism and Bile Function
22:22 Chronic Aches, Pains, and NSAIDs
26:07 The Interconnectedness of Health Issues
Links
Take SAFM's 10 CME course - the Essential Gut Deep Dive: https://schoolafm.com/gut-course
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