The Aging Digestive System: Maintaining Gut Health As You Age

People of every age experience digestive issues from time to time, but as we get older, annoyances like constipation, diarrhea and gas can become increasingly common. Aspects of our physical health change naturally with age, but poor diet, reduced digestive enzymes and unbalanced gastrointestinal flora can wreak havoc on both our digestive and immune systems.

There are countless products on the market right now to help improve gut health and immune function, but do any of these actually work? Which options are best for a senior’s unique issues? I contacted Woodson Merrell, MD, ScD (hc), to get some answers on how to maintain gut health as we age.

Dr. Merrell is a pioneer in the field of Integrative Medicine, which focuses on all factors that influence a patient’s health and utilizes therapies and interventions from many different scientific and medical disciplines. His practice in New York City utilizes tools like nutrition, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and mind-body stress reduction techniques in conjunction with conventional internal medicine and diagnostics to help his patients regain and maintain optimum health.

Read more: https://www.agingcare.com/articles/the-aging-digestive-system-maintaining-gut-health-as-you-age-211926.htm