Strategies for Better Digestion

Here are some simple strategies to improve your digestion – and remember that great health starts with great digestion.

Avoid drinking much with meals. The liquid dilutes your body’s natural digestive enzymes that are needed in full force to cope with all the heavy food most of us ingest. Limit your liquid intake with meals to less than a cup. If you’re drinking with meals, choose fermented beverages like kefir or yogurt-based drinks.

Snack more and eat smaller meals throughout the day rather than eating huge meals. Your body is better able to digest food in smaller amounts.

Take your time. Chew your food well and really savor the taste by slowing down. Chewing mixes food with digestive enzymes that get started immediately to improve digestion. The stomach and intestines cannot do the job of the teeth, so make sure you chew well.

Eat earlier in the day and not too much just before bed. Your body needs adequate time for digestion. Lying down too soon afterward is a recipe for heartburn, indigestion, and poor nutrient absorption.

Try not to eat when you’re feeling stressed out. If you’re frequently stressed, try to create a more relaxing time to eat. Stress hormones send energy needed for digestion to other parts of your body and can result in indigestion.

Eat more fermented foods. Unpasteurized sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, kimchi, or kombucha (a fermented tea beverage) are just a few examples of these delicious, health-promoting foods. The naturally present bacteria aid digestion and replenish the body’s natural bacteria in the gut.

Supplement with a probiotic supplement on an empty stomach upon rising in the morning. Choose a formula that contains a range of proven intestinal flora such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus. By regulating intestinal flora, you will also regulate bowel movements and improve digestion.

Supplement with a full-spectrum digestive enzyme product. It should contain a wide range of enzymes, as each one serves a unique purpose. Lipase aids fat digestion, protease aids protein digestion, amylase assists with carbohydrate digestion, lactase assists with digestion of dairy sugars, cellulase and hemicellulase assist with breaking down plant fiber.

Take apple cider vinegar for better digestion. If you struggle with digestion, start with a tablespoon of unfiltered, organic apple cider vinegar diluted in a half cup of water about ten minutes prior to eating your meals. The naturally fermented apple cider vinegar stimulates the body’s natural production of hydrochloric acid to aid protein digestion. Avoid apple cider vinegar if you have been diagnosed with a stomach ulcer.

Enjoy a peppermint or ginger herbal tea. Both have been shown in studies to improve digestion. Have them a few times during the day, though they are best drunk between meals rather than with meals, so wait at least an hour after eating to enjoy these delicious beverages.

Instead of sugar, choose stevia, a sweetener that is naturally three hundred to one thousand times sweeter than sugar without having any impact on blood sugar or insulin levels.

Eat a largely plant-based diet and reduce your meat consumption. Meat and dairy products negatively affect the gut microbes within twenty-four hours of eating these foods. Eat more plant-based foods and protein sources.

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