Have you been experiencing bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gas, or nausea? Do you frequently face an upset stomach? If you are looking for ways to improve your digestion, you are at the right place.
There are numerous causes behind poor digestion, but an unhealthy diet and unhealthy lifestyle top the list.
12 Easy Ways to Improve your Digestion and Maintain a Healthy Stomach
1. Stay Hydrated
Drinking water before and after meals is advised for better digestion as it helps in the breakdown of complex nutrients. It also enables your body to absorb them better. It can help solve constipation problems as water softens the stool.
2. Eat More Fiber
Fiber keeps the digestive tracts running smoothly. Soluble fibers like fruits, legumes, oats, and barley easily dissolve in water. On the other hand, insoluble fiber comes from plants like wheat, seeds, and vegetables. Having both kinds of fibers in a meal is advised. A rich fiber diet can help you prevent or even cure digestive conditions like hemorrhoid, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and diverticulosis.
3. Have A Fixed Schedule
Skipping meals can cause lower metabolism, fatigue, constipation, nausea, kidney stress, and low blood pressure. So, to ensure that your digestive system functions effectively, have your meals at regular intervals.
4. Exercise!!
Having an active lifestyle can help solve your digestive problems. Practice yoga, Zumba, or running. It will help increase the blood flow in your body which will keep the digestive muscles active, leading to faster digestion of food particles.
5. Manage Your Stress
Excessive stress can have bad effects on your mental and physical health. It can lead to digestive problems like ulcers, constipation, diarrhea, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). When stress levels are high, the energy and blood are diverted away from the digestive system. To keep stress at bay, do things that make you happy.
6. Chew Your Food
It is advised to chew your food properly in your mouth itself so that the digestion process becomes smoother. Gulping or poor chewing can leave the digestive system confused and in turn, the body might not produce enough enzymes to break down complex food particles. Poor chewing of food can lead to acid reflux, cramps, nausea, irritability, bloating, diarrhea, gas, indigestion, and heartburn.
7. Avoid Caffeine & Alcohol
Too much alcohol or caffeine can interfere with the working of your digestive system leading to heartburn and stomach ulcers. Avoid them before meals as they can speed up your digestion. Increased caffeine intake may give you an urge to visit the washroom before proper digestion takes place.
Avoid alcohol as it reduces the formation of saliva which is essential for digestion. Avoid smoking before or after meals because it increases the chances of developing acid reflux.
8. Avoid Eating Late At Night
Eating late at night and then instantly going to sleep can lead to severe indigestion and heartburn. The body takes time to digest and break down complex food particles. Gravity also plays an important role to help the food particles move in the right direction. Hence, have your meals hours before you go to sleep. Also munching on the bed in a sleeping position can cause food to rise and lead to heartburn.
9. Include Probiotics And Zinc
Probiotics are good bacteria that help improve digestion. The bacteria break down complex fibers, which if not broken down cause indigestion, gas, and bloating. Food items like yoghurts, kimchi and fermented foods have probiotics.
Zinc is an important mineral that is essential for good gut health and its deficiency can cause gas and indigestion.
10. Detoxification
Detoxification is a natural and easy way to flush out the bad oils and toxins out of your digestive system. It also helps to improve digestion and irregular bowel moments. You can have a detox week or a detox day, depending on what your interest is. Most people follow a fruit diet or consume fruit juices the whole day. This helps to cleanse the organs, thus keeping them healthy.
11. Drink Herbal Teas
Popular herbal teas like ginger tea, green tea, tulsi tea, mint tea, peppermint tea, chamomile tea and others are quite good to cleanse out the toxins leaving your organs healthy. There are various benefits of drinking herbal teas like weight loss, lower risk of chronic disease, better skin and hair, better digestion, and improved blood circulation.
12. Eat Fermented Food
Fermented foods are high on good bacteria and probiotics that help with faster digestion of food. Some other benefits of including fermented food in your diet are stronger immunity and weight loss. Popular fermented foods are kombucha, kefir, tempeh, sauerkraut, curd, dhokla, idli, dosa, and butter milk.
When to visit a doctor?
If your symptoms keep returning or are increasing day by day then it is recommended that you visit a doctor.
If you want lasting effects then you need to make significant lifestyle and diet changes. A healthy diet and lifestyle can help to not only improve digestion but also build immunity. With a healthy immune system, you can protect yourself from contracting highly contagious diseases. An individual with a low immunity system often falls sick and is always low on energy.
Do you have any helpful tips to improve digestion? List them down in the comments below.
Read also – 12 Food Items That Could Be Harmful To Us
