How to Improve Your Digestive System? (14 Ways)

It is very normal for most of us to satisfy our taste buds when we have our food than ever thinking as to how it affects our digestive system. Craving and convenience of having certain foods that our tongues find delicious is such that nutritional value of food remains no concern.

This is how we take our gut for granted and continually eat wrong foods which are difficult to digest and hence accumulate as debris, clotting the digestive track. Bacteria and micro-organisms find this coating a perfect breeding ground.

An improved digestive system and a better gut can make you feel better. Digestive track is a mysterious 30-foot tube that delivers the required nutrients to our body and makes digestion and absorption easier. Headaches, constipation, bloated stomach and lethargy can take off all the energy from your body and are symptoms of a digestive system that has increased levels of toxins. Attaining a good digestive health can ensure an overall optimal health.

A simple yet precautious food habits besides eating and drinking habits can help cleanse and detoxify the body largely. You can achieve a better digestive health by following this 14 day guide which is practical and has simple ways to improve your gut health. These steps help aid your digestion by reducing the growth of bad bacteria and yeast that interfere with your digestion and help grow good bacteria and assist in dealing with toxins and make you feel better:

1. Don’t Drink Water with Meals:

Hydrochloric acid in your stomach is responsible for quicker and smoother digestion as it triggers the enzyme pepsin which breaks down proteins in your body. Drinking water during meals can dilute the levels of HCl, and make digestion a slow and hard process. If you want water, have it at least 30 minutes before food, or 30-60 minutes after food. This will retain the HCl concentration and sustain easy digestion. Also, it is a good practice to consume beverages at room temperature than consuming them cooled. Skip ice in smoothies and shakes as this is easier on digestive system than the cooler ones.

2. Chew Thoroughly:

Saliva and enzymes are responsible for the digestion and breakdown of the food containing carbohydrates at the level of your mouth only. If you chew your food thoroughly, your stomach will have to work less hard in order to digest food, thus reducing the strain on your digestive system.

Enzymes are responsible for attacking bacteria besides breaking down the food to release the desired nutrients. It is a good habit to take in smaller bites and thoroughly chew each bite of food and additionally use chopsticks if it helps you slow down the rate of intake.

3. Consume Probiotics:

Good probiotic in diet, supplemented with whole foods can help improve the quantity of beneficial bacteria that our body needs for digestion. Besides a probiotic, a good quality cod liver oil can help populate your gut with acidophilus. If you are or have been on an antibiotic and have been consuming more chlorinated water, these friendly little bacteria can do more good to your gut than you can imagine. These friendly micro-floras survive in your intestines where they assimilate foods and improve your immune power. Cultured liquids, probiotic-rich fermented foods like yoghurt and natural cheese can bring your intestinal health back into order.

4. Increase Fiber in Your Diet:

Reduce refined sugars and grains in your diet. Carbohydrates cause the yeast like Candida and bad bacteria to grow in digestive track thus affecting the gut and the digestion badly. Dietary fiber can be included in the diet to provide roughage which cleanses the digestive track and keeps it in order.

Dried fruits like figs, dates as well as beans and legumes should be consumed to provide the body necessary fiber. Ground flaxseeds are excellent laxatives. Irritable bowel, chronic constipation and damage done to the intestine can get relief by including fibrous fruit like apple, orange etc. as a snack.

5. Take Sufficient Water:

Many people suffer from constipation due to insufficient intake of water. Water is an excellent cleanser in flushing out the hazardous toxins from your body. A glass of lukewarm water in the morning should be had to start a fresh day and you should regularly consume water to keep your body hydrated. Frequent consumption in smaller quantities is advised rather than consuming large quantities. This also prevents dehydration in between meals which can impact the digestion negatively. A conscious effort may have to be made to consume water at regular intervals if you are not in the habit of taking in sufficient water through the day.

6. Eat Mindfully:

If your eating is governed by your desire than your requirement of food or a snack, then you must practice mindful eating as savoring every bite that you eat can greatly reduce the amount of food you usually consume. Some tips like eating in the moment while enjoying the pleasure, taste and smell of your food can help you feel satisfied in lesser quantity than gormandizing it.

Smaller cutlery can help reduce the quantities as the more you have in your plate, bowl or spoon, the more and faster you shall try to eat. A calm and beautiful atmosphere with soft music playing and dim lights with fresh flowers or scented candles on the table can make you a mindful eater. This will help you eat right and save your digestive system from unnecessary burden of breaking down large quantities of food.

7. Eat High Quality Organic Foods:

Tinned and canned foods have more preservatives and lesser nutrition value as compared to organic whole foods. Fresh foods are more nutritious, easy to digest and give better health to your body.

Pre-cooked foods or preserved foods usually lose the nutrients and are often refined foods with lesser dietary fiber that slow down the process of digestion. A combination of raw foods and cooked foods in the diet can be incorporated in the diet as raw foods provide more useful enzymes that aid digestion and healing of the body.

8. Understand Body Signals:

If you experience symptoms like gas, bloating, cramping, diarrhea or heartburn by eating certain foods, avoid such food completely. Some people are allergic to milk and dairy supplements while others to certain grains. An examination of your diet by trained practitioner can help understand the reaction of your body to certain foods which may be removed from your diet for some time and sequentially introduced to see what is it that your body throws off completely.

9. Try Digestive Enzymes:

Certain enzymes can be consumed externally that help your body digest certain foods and extract nutrients properly from your diet. Taking digestive enzymes with each meal can work really well in cases where digestive system has gone weak and major dietary changes cannot be done immediately. HCl supplements or digestive enzyme supplements can be used if your diet is not rich in live enzymes. You can take this as a preliminary step before you your digestive track gets better.

10. Exercise Regularly and Eat on Time:

Movements within the bowels are improved with exercise. Your body’s metabolism improves allowing food digestion to get quicker. A good amount of activity and work out in your daily routine can increase your level of activeness. Exercise is important to the proper assimilation of food into energy.

Exercise also helps in the removal of some accumulated toxins from your bodies that come out through sweat. Your overall health and body’s toxic levels are reduced which means that the body’s ability to digest and absorb food becomes better.

Scheduled meals and snacks can keep the digestive system in shape. Untimely meals including breakfast, lunch or dinner can disturb the body schedule.

11. Use Dietary Supplements:

Digestive health can be restored and made to function properly if enteric-coated peppermint oil is used. It is effective in reducing pain, abdominal pain and bloating. Enzyme supplements similarly act to aid digestion and even help cure other ailments originating from poor digestion.

12. Practice Yoga and Manage Stress:

Like fitness and stretch out exercises improve the strength and activate body cells to function better, ‘Yogic Asanaas’ or breathing exercises like Pranayam and others can help improve the internal health including digestive track.

Yoga must be practiced under a trained practitioner or a coach to perform the ‘Asanaas’ and exercises in the right way. Yoga is a natural way to improve the digestive system by concentrating more oxygen and cleansing the intestinal track. It is also beneficial in reducing stress and lower stress levels assist in improved digestion.

13. Avoid Fatty Foods:

Foods rich in fat content shall only slow down your digestion and make you susceptible to constipation. Fat in small proportions is desired but excessive fat in your diet should be paired with high-fiber foods to make digestive system easier.

Also fiber, both soluble and insoluble fiber should be consumed. Insoluble fiber helps in adding bulk to the stools, whereas soluble fiber absorbs water and prevents stool from being too watery.

14. Skip Excessive Smoking and Alcohol:

Caffeine and cigarettes as well as alcohol consumed in excess can largely interfere with digestion. Stomach ulcers and heartburn are common problems in people who continue with these bad habits for prolonged periods. If you have such habits, cut down the excessive smoking and alcohol.

Conclusion

Digestion problems have become common in today’s culture as we are more inclined towards the foods that are ready to eat, have more sugar or are stuffed with preservatives. Dietary fiber intake has greatly reduced and sedentary lifestyle has come with gadgets and computers becoming an indispensable part of our jobs at workplaces as well as homes.

Symptoms of problematic indigestion are often ignored and considered as not serious, but it is important to known that most serious disorders and ailments begin with your gut. Toxins that accumulate in your body with improper digestion can cause problems of fatigue, heart attack, skin diseases, obesity and even joint pains.

A healthy lifestyle can be ensured only if your digestive system is in order because your gut is the soul of your overall health. By adopting the ways we discussed day by day, you can surely see a lot of improvement in your stomach related disorders and avoid serious health ailments like colon cancer and cardiac problems.