digestive & gut health
A Different Approach to Digestive Health
If you've been living with chronic digestive issues — irritable bowel syndrome, persistent bloating, food sensitivities, constipation, loose stools, or inflammatory bowel conditions like Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis — you may already know the frustration of being told your labs (and your colonoscopy and your imaging) look "normal" while your gut tells you otherwise.
At The Buddha's Medicine, we don't stop at managing symptoms. We look deeper.
How We Approach Digestive Health
Ayurveda holds a highly nuanced view and an extraordinarily detailed understanding of digestion. In fact, Ayurvedic medicine considers digestive health to be the cornerstone of overall health — the strength of one's digestive fire, or agni, directly influences everything from immunity and energy to mental clarity and emotional resilience. When agni is impaired, the effects are rarely limited to the gut alone.
Dr. Matt Van Auken, MD, MPH brings this Ayurvedic lens together with his training in modern integrative and lifestyle medicine to build a complete picture of what's happening in your digestive system and why. That process typically includes:
Thorough assessment beyond standard labs. Dr. Matt's intake process is comprehensive by design. He takes the time to understand your full health history, dietary patterns, lifestyle factors, stress levels, and constitutional makeup — because digestive issues rarely exist in isolation. When appropriate, thoughtful, targeted lab testing can help provide additional clarity.
Identifying root causes, not just triggers. Many patients come to us already knowing which foods bother them, but not understanding why and how their digestive system became reactive in the first place. Our care approach takes you beyond elimination diets to address the underlying issues and imbalances — whether those involve weakened agni, accumulated metabolic toxicity, nervous system dysregulation, inflammatory patterns, or anything else.
Personalized, step-wise treatment plans. Every digestive system is unique, and every one of treatment plans reflects that. Yours may include individualized nutrition guidance aligned with your Ayurvedic constitution, medication and supplement review, herbal medicine and custom herbal formulations, lifestyle modifications to improve sleep, stress, and daily routine, and additional forms of ongoing support to help you implement changes sustainably.
Plant-based options that don't compromise depth of care. For patients who eat plant-based, Dr. Matt brings extra expertise to ensuring your digestive health is supported without compromise. As he puts it, "there is virtually nothing that we cannot treat with a plant-based approach that might be treated otherwise."
CONDITIONS WE COMMONLY SUPPORT
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Chronic constipation
Chronic diarrhea and loose stools
Bloating and gas
Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and indigestion
Food sensitivities and digestive intolerances
Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis)
Plant-based digestive health
And more
"Before I was introduced to Dr. Matt, I was seeing different specialists every month without getting any results. I felt like I had to heal myself and that left me in limbo. With Matt I feel like I deserve to be well. He is a fantastic listener and master at solving puzzles."
Digestive issues don't have to define your daily life. If you're ready for a more thorough, individualized approach, we invite you to schedule a complimentary 15-minute consultation with Dr. Matt — available in-person in Portland, Oregon and via telehealth across multiple states.