Good digestion is the key to general well-being. Make sure you’re giving your body the best chance to benefit from the food you eat.
- Eat in a relaxed way in a pleasant setting, and take your time. Chew your food until it is liquid. If you are under emotional pressure or in a hurry, take simple food, i.e. fresh juice, a fruit, yoghurt, a few sunflower seeds, or a protein bar.
- Keep up your exercise regimen. Walking and yoga are both particularly good for digestion. If you want to do any type of strenuous exercise, wait at least two hours after eating any significant amount.
- Drink enough water (6 – 8 cups a day), but not with meals unless you’re on a weight-loss diet trying to lower food intake. Minimise ice-cold drinks and consume more soothing warm drinks, such as hot lemon water or herb teas.
- Get enough fibre in your diet, whether from vegetables and fruits, bran or psyllium, and an adequate amount of wholegrains and fresh sprouts (or cooked legumes, if you can digest them well).
- Remove food allergens from your diet if you are dealing with digestive problems. Learn which foods cause reactions and affect how you feel. You may need a blood test to check out your food sensitivities.
- Minimise toxins and irritants. Eat organic foods whenever possible, and eat simply. People who have digestive disorders should avoid additives, such as fluoride (often added to toothpaste) and carrageenan (found in cottage cheese and other foods), both of which can act as irritants.
- If you have chronic indigestion, you may be deficient in enzymes and/or hydrochloric acid. Ask your doctor to test you for these factors. Then, supplement as needed with enzymes (to aid digestion), bicarbonate soda (for excess acid), or betaine hydrochloride capsules (for deficient stomach acid).
- Learn your best personal remedies for digestive upsets. You can learn to minimise constipation and diarrhoea by using foods, herbs, and nutrients that help to prevent these common ailments, and know what remedies particularly help you cope with them when they do occur.
- Occasional indigestion, heartburn, bloating after you eat and flatulence are normal, or at least quite common, and they can be remedied. But, if you have ongoing symptoms of digestive upset, get tested to see if you have food allergies, low or high stomach acid, yeast overgrowth, or bad bugs. Your health care practitioner can order these tests from a specialty lab.
- Support and repair the digestive tract with the right nutrients, such as glutamine and other vitamins and minerals.
Remember: Eat a low allergenic diet, find the best foods that feel right for you, and chew your food well. Digestive enzymes are proteins that assist in the breakdown of complex chemicals so that they can be absorbed by the body.
Editor's note: The body makes its own digestive enzymes. Each of your cells is making 2 000 proteins on average every second! It sounds utterly impossible, but it’s true. Some of those proteins are muscle proteins, other are digestive enzymes, and so forth. Protein is used extensively throughout the body. But as we age, there is generally a decline in the amount of digestive enzymes the body produces, which is why many people turn to digestive enzyme supplements. Here are two articles on digestion that you may find helpful. Read Why Do Integrative Doctors Aways Stress Digestion? and You are what you don’t excrete.
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