Our digestive system is a HUGE key to our overall health and wellness. I'll teach you 3 easy things you can do to help protect your digestive health!
But first, why is this so important?
We all know that suffering from digestive problems such as gas, bloating, reflux, stomach cramps, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease can seriously hinder our daily functioning and make us miserable.
Your gastrointestinal tract (GI) tract acts as your body’s food processor and if it’s blocked, overloaded, polluted with toxins such as food additives, pesticides and preservatives, or otherwise irritated, it is going to let you know how it feels by having one of the reactions listed above.
Your GI tract first breaks down your food by the mechanical process of chewing and then by a multitude of complex chemical processes that extracts nutrients to feed your system and expel toxins.
So, here's Tip #1:
The best way to ensure that we are helping make it easy for our bodies to digest our food is to chew A LOT so that our food mixes with our digestive juices so it can be easily digested and better absorbed for optimal nutrition.
Believe it or not chewing is one of the most important aids to our digestion and it’s also one we often take for granted so much so that we sometimes just swallow our food whole, forgetting to grind our teeth altogether!
Learning how to chew your food properly (up to 30 times per bite) will help you extract the maximum nutrients from your food and get your digestive juices flowing right AND help keep your weight down by helping you eat less.
Along with this tip, I would challenge you to take 20 minutes or more to eat a meal. Chew, drink water, put your utensils down, and breathe! All of these things will help you feel fuller, more satisfied, and it will improve your digestion.
Tip #2:
Take a look at your diet and supplements. Eating a diet high in fiber and low in processed foods will do wonders for your digestive system! You might also consider adding probiotics, digestive enzymes, or fiber supplements.
Foods high in fiber include: Whole wheat, broccoli, beans, avocados, apples, and berries.
To add probiotics to your diet, try yogurt, kefir, kombucha, or fermented foods.
Supplements can also help boost your body's systems to work better. Here are some of the supplements that I suggest for my clients. (If you'd like to have a consultation with me to learn which supplements might help you best, click here.)
Tip #3
Try a detox! I'm not into those crazy fad detoxes, but I believe that there are so many toxins that build up in our bodies and we truly need to clean them out!
I've written out the heavy metal & viral debris detox that I use when I start feeling extra fatigued, stressed, or bogged down.
To read about this detox, and step by step instructions, click here.
I hope these 3 tips will help you get your digestive system back in great shape. Feel free to contact me with questions! You can drop me a message or schedule a free session with me here.