5 Ways to Boost your Digestion, Naturally

We talk a lot about specific digestive conditions, but what about 5 easy tips that literally everyone can adopt to improve their digestion?

Digestion is integral to health. When it comes to regaining your health, it’s factually impossible to achieve without a healthy gut. Every cell of the body relies on nutrients for sustenance – so proper digestion and absorption of the food you eat is necessary to every function in the body.

74% of Americans suffer

Digestion problems are common. In fact, a survey revealed the 74% of Americans are dealing with a digestive complaint. Symptoms such as gas, constipation, and diarrhea, affect millions.  So too does acid reflux, bloating, abdominal pain, and IBS.

And then there’s sub-clinical or mild hiatal hernia, a tremendously misdiagnosed condition that can cause not only acid reflux and bloating, but the shortness of breath, panic attacks, pressure in the chest, and more.

Symptoms underlying digestive imbalance are often not digestive in nature

What does that mean? You can have a digestive imbalance yet have zero digestive symptoms.

Sound odd? I know; on the surface it doesn’t make sense, but let’s look at why it’s true.

When food enters your body it’s in your gut for about 24 hours, but the digested nutrients then leave the gut to fuel the rest of your cells. If the quality of that fuel isn’t “right”, you can feel it in various parts of your body.

You may not get a stomach ache from poor digestive capabilities, but you could have brain fog, a headache, skin conditions like eczema, anxiety, sleep issues, or joint pains. This is a very small list but it gives you the idea of the vast array of body parts that can be affected when your digestive tract is not functioning optimally.

In fact, there isn’t a part of your body that is immune to digestive related issues.

Top tips to improve your digestion

These tips are general and therefore applicable to pretty much everyone. It is amazing how some basic changes can create big impacts. But remember, if these aren’t enough, don’t give up. We have excellent success in treating digestive conditions and there’s a natural solution to the vast majority of problems. Reach out and we can help.

Hydrate

As Americans, we are truly terrible at drinking water. The majority of Americans are dehydrated, putting their health at risk unwittingly.

Not only does water help the body flush toxins, but it’s also essential for you to produce an adequate amount of stomach acid.

A major cause of constipation is dehydration.

Aim for at least eight to nine glasses of filtered water daily.

Remove processed foods from your diet

Processed foods are created in factories. They’re pumped full of chemicals and other additives for color, flavor, texture, and shelf life. This processing generally increases the flavor and caloric density of the foods, while stripping away the fiber, vitamins, and nutrients.

Georgia State University’s Center for Inflammation, Immunity, and Infection has stated there’s a strong link between diets heavy in processed foods and harmful inflammation.

Considering inflammation is at the risk of digestive conditions such as colon cancer, plus degenerative diseases like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and a host of other cancers in the body, there’s really no one advocating the use of processed foods – except the companies who manufacture them.

Increase your vegetables and fruits to 9 servings per day

The health of the 39 trillion organisms making up your microbiome is very dependent on the amount of fiber you consume. 97% of Americans are deficient in fiber. We continue to learn the value of fiber to positively affect not just classic digestive issues such as constipation and colon cancer, but a wide array of health conditions throughout the body.

The influence of feeding your gut microbiome with healthy fiber actually translates into a diminished risk of all of the degenerative diseases killing us.

My recommendation is 6 servings of veggies and 3 fruits. Some of the best fruits are berries and it’s best not to have your fruit come primarily from tropical fruits like bananas and mangoes, which are very high in sugar. In the vegetable department, a wide variety is best, focusing on the crucifers (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower) and greens such as kale, spinach, collards, etc.

Chew your food

Maybe the above should be entitled: Chew your food well.

Do you remember your mom telling you to always chew your food slowly? Not only does chewing slowly make you appreciate the flavor even more. It also makes the stomach do less work to turn the solid food into the liquid mixture that will make its way to your small intestine. Chewing produces saliva, and the longer you chew, the more saliva is made. Saliva helps start the digestive process in your mouth by breaking down some portions of the carbs and fats in your meal.

Get up and MOVE!

Have you ever noticed that after working out you sometimes have to move your bowels? There’s a good reason for it. Getting your heart pumping helps increase blood flow and oxygen circulation throughout your body, including your digestive tract.

Blood and oxygen are necessary to aid in digestion and keep muscles (even those in your intestines) healthy.

Are you bothered with digestive symptoms?

While digestive problems are extremely common, they’re not normal. Getting to the root cause of why you’re experiencing your symptoms is truly critical to enjoying optimal health.

I hope this was helpful. If you are suffering from digestive problems please reach out. That’s why we’re here.

We specialize in identifying the underlying reason why you have the symptoms which are bothering you.

We have great tools to really get the answers of not only “why” but what can be done about it.

You deserve to enjoy great health; please give me a call if you want some help.