One aspect of healthier living that is often overlooked is digestion. Without healthy digestion many of the other things that you are doing for your health won’t work as well as they could and some might even be counterproductive. It takes very little effort to help your body make the most of the foods that you eat. Just by following 5 easy principals you can greatly improve your digestion and live a healthier lifestyle.
1. Be Sure to Chew!
The first thing you should be doing to improve your digestion is so simple that most people have forgotten about it but it is critical. It is simply chewing your food well. The process of digestion begins in the mouth where the food is broken down into manageable pieces and is first exposed to digestive enzymes.
2. Drink Warm Liquids
The next tip is for when to food is still in your stomach. Digestion takes place in a warm environment. If you drink cold beverages while you eat you are cooling that area down and inhibiting digestion. It is much better to drink warm beverages that have no caffeine. The caffeine can drive up HCL (hydrochloric acid) levels.
3. Give Your Stomach a Break
Oddly, you can really help your digestion by not eating anything. You should give your digestive system a little break once in awhile by fasting. You should make sure that these are only a day long (the full 34 hours) and drink plenty of juices. These should be both fruit and vegetable juices.
4. Drink Juice
On the topic of juices, there are many that are helpful with daily digestion. Try to include lemon, papaya, and pineapple juice in your diet for better digestion. Certain foods that don’t produce juice should be eaten on non-fasting days as well. Eat onions, garlic, root vegetables, leeks, celery, and even apple cider vinegar.
5. Colon Cleansing
The final thing you need to do for healthier digestion is to get and keep your colon clean. There are several ways to do that. You can go to a spa that specializes in flushing out your colon but that is too invasive for some people. There is no reason to worry, though, as there are other ways to do it. Health and homeopathic stores have caplets and supplements that can do the job as well.
Emily is a health blogger and writes about digestion for IBSTreatments, a site that focuses on symptom relief for those suffering from the condition. One such treatment includes the use of anticonstipation medications for IBS treatment.
