Improve Your Digestive System With These Simple Tips

• Chew your food well before swallowing. Chewing is imperative for proper digestion because the more the food is broken down in your mouth, the less hard work the digestion system must deal with. Your brain also needs time to get the message that your stomach is full – rather allow your stomach to prepare for the food that it is going to receive.
• Fiber, fiber, and more fiber keep the food moving easily through your intestines. Soluble fibers such as whole grains and veggies absorb water and prevent stools from being too watery. Insoluble fibers help by adding bulk to your stools. Fiber also helps to break down any fatty foods you have eaten.
• Drink plenty of water – because the water helps to dissolve the soluble fiber, allowing your food to pass through the intestines easily. When you have too little water, you have harder stools which make it more difficult to pass through your colon.
• Get moving because exercise also moves the food easily through the digestive system and increases the flow of blood to all your organs. Exercises tone the wall of the colon to reduce anxiety and stress because this can play havoc with your digestive system. How many people have IBS – irritable bowel syndrome? What about ulcers? – All stress related. Getting enough sleep is important too.
• Eating warm foods is being friendly to your spleen. The spleen does not like the cold. The digestive enzymes also break down foods properly that are warm. It is the cold foods and drinks that can cause the spleen not to work properly. Soups and warm teas and cooked vegetables are great.
• Give up smoking because smoking can not only impair your digestive system but your health altogether. Smoking weakens your lungs. Nicotine is believed to relax the muscles at the lower esophagus which keeps acid in the stomach. This is where it belongs and when the muscles are relaxed, you experience acid reflux, you have heartburn and you start increasing your risk for gastrointestinal cancer.
• Cut down on alcohol. Sometimes when you drink a lot, your digestion gets out of sorts because acid secretion in your body is affected – also the absorption of nutrients. Heartburn, diarrhea, and liver problems are affected when your consumption of alcohol is unreasonable.
• Start to lose weight because just even a few pounds over your ideal weight can affect your digestion. It can affect the valve that is situated between your stomach and the esophagus which won’t close properly. When you lose weight, you ease the pressure so that your digestive system can continue to work properly.
• Taking probiotics and fiber are a couple of things that the Western diet lacks. The body has good bacteria and bad bacteria and maintaining the right balance is essential to your health. Probiotics are good bacteria; easing IBS and preventing infections and allergies.
• Eat mindfully: Sometimes we eat too much too quickly, especially if we are not paying attention. This can lead to gas, bloating and indigestion. Eating slower and taking notice of what you are putting into your system can reduce symptoms of IBS and even ulcerative colitis. In order to eat mindfully, eat slower, focus on what you’re eating, away from television and phones, notice how your food tastes and how it smells – simply enjoy your food, taking notice of everything about it.