5 Ways to Improve Your Digestive Health

5 Ways to Improve Your Digestive Health

A healthy digestive system converts into a healthy one from that point on; digestion is the backbone of overall health! Your immune system, endocrine system, brain, and numerous other organs and systems in the body are all affected by and in contact with your digestive system. However, you are well aware that the digestive system is so complicated there are a lot of potential issues.

What’s Covered In This Digestive Health Article

In this article, we will explore the potential root causes of digestive discomfort and some suggestions and supplements to get your digestive system functioning perfectly:
  • Common symptoms
  • Potential root causes of your digestive discomfort
  • Impacts of stress
  • A strategy to get your digestion working better
  • Targeted supplements
  • Getting some personalized help

General Symptoms of Digestive Problems

Digestive distraction is an all too common feeling that numerous adults and children have suffered at one point in their lives. For some, it may be a passing awkward reaction that spends fully swiftly after a rich meal, while others might suffer more addiction and lasting distress that seems to never go away.

While symptoms look different for everyone, there are many similarities that most people have felt at some point. The most feasible and general symptoms might involve bloating, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, and heartburn. To make it more complicated, your digestive symptoms may change consistently and can make it harder to recognize a root cause or trick.

To understand what your digestive discomfort means, we first need to understand what the potential root causes of the distress are. Identifying the root cause is complex, and it is possible to find yourself down one too many rabbit holes searching for answers. Why is it so difficult, you ask? Because everyone’s body is different, that’s what we like to refer to as bio-individuality! However, just because it is challenging does not mean it’s impossible and that you should leave your search to find answers. With a bit of consistency, determination, and assistance from the authentic type of professionals, you can get on the exact track to sense better and confirm your digestion in no time.

Potential Root Causes

There are many potential problems that can affect digestion and lead to digestive discomfort. By appreciating the various root causes, you will be better able to understand your awkward symptoms and how to best address them.

Chronic Stress

A commonly overlooked cause of digestive distress is one that many people experience but fail to recognize the influence it has on digestion: chronic stress. Chronic stress is extremely prevalent in modern-day lifestyles, and though it might be challenging to eliminate, it is possible to change your reaction to this stress, thus changing how your body responds.

Stress can take many forms, and while some are obvious, there are probably some you're experiencing that you don’t even realize work is a stressor for your body. For example, upcoming work deadlines, arguments with loved ones, traffic jams, and current events are common and obvious stressful events. On the other hand, hidden stressors like eating while driving or working, undereating, autoimmune conditions, and lack of sleep all play a significant role in digestion and increase our stress bucket levels, leading to burnout.

To deal with the stressor to the best of its ability, our body shuts down digestion. It puts all of its energy into supporting the other organs and systems involved (your heart, blood pressure, and extremities). Thus, trying to eat when you are stressed is not ideal.

Food and Environmental Sensitivities

Another common root cause for digestive symptoms includes pesky hidden food and environmental triggers that increase inflammation in the digestive system. Some people might read this and immediately be able to identify foods that upset their digestion and leave them feeling less than stellar.

Common examples of poorly tolerated foods include processed grains, highly processed packaged foods, gluten, dairy products, and soy products. Remember that this is not a definitive list, and each body is different, which means each person’s triggers could be different, too.

Food triggers are not the only source of distress in the body; in fact, environmental triggers can cause just as much distress. Potential environmental triggers that disrupt digestion include personal care products, commercial cleaning products, off-gassing from new furniture (like beds or carpets), asbestos in old buildings, and mold, especially in wet or humid environments.

Sluggish Digestion

For some individuals, a lack of digestive fire increases their experience of unwanted digestive symptoms, especially bloating, constipation, and acid reflux. You should imagine your digestive system as a large wood stove constantly burning to keep your house heated. As the fire reduces, so does your ability to digest your food and consume those important nutrients.

Without this fire, our body does not receive the signals it requires to release digestive enzymes and gastric juices that are vital for breaking down food into digestible bits. Examples of these significant digestive components include pancreatic amylase, bile, hydrochloric acid (an acid present in our stomach), lipase, and pepsin, which help in digestion.

Nutrient Deficiencies

Finally, some nutrient deficiencies can impact the intensity of digestive distress. It is not always sure whether the digestive symptoms led to a nutrient deficiency or the nutrient shortage led to the digestive symptoms; you might call it a “what came first, the chicken or the egg?” scenario.

Anyway, research has shown that there are a few specific nutrient deficiencies that are generally connected with an adverse digestive system, which is carrying zinc, vitamin D, selenium, and iron.
  • Zinc is a defined mineral that is required in little quantity within the body and is needed for many digestive processes, most necessarily the pancreas.
  • Vitamin D is also an essential nutrient needed for maintaining a healthy working of the digestive system. Vitamin D shortages are very usual depending on the hemisphere you live in (especially northern hemisphere folks) due to the absence of high-quality sun exposure.
  • Individuals who have darker skin or do not eat wild-caught fatty fish are also at an enhanced risk for shortage. Research displays that healthy vitamin D levels can help support healthy and distinct gut flora, while lower vitamin D levels are connected with digestive illnesses like irritable bowel disease (IBD).
  • Selenium is an important mineral that must be acquired in trace quantity through diet, as our body cannot produce it on its own. One of the great qualities of this mineral is its high antioxidant qualities, which help to reduce oxidative stress, repair cellular harm, and handle excess free radicals floating all over the body. Antioxidants are vital for reducing inflammation not only throughout the whole body but especially within the digestive system as well.
  • Research has associated an opposite relationship between selenium levels and IBD; in other words, the less selenium there is, the higher the likelihood it shows that IBD happens. Selenium's role in decreasing inflammation also means that it supports the integrity and capacity of the gastrointestinal lining.

5 Ways To Support Your Digestion

Confirming your digestion is not as complicated as you might think. Thankfully, it's quite simple to get to the root cause of your discomfort and enhance your overall health.

Eliminate Offending Foods

The first place to start when working to boost your digestion is to recognize and remove potential offenders that are enhancing inflammation in your digestive system. Specified as an <elimination diet, an individual following these rules would respond by eating suspected trigger foods (or general ones if they are fully unsure what their activators might be) for 3-4 weeks to make sure the body is completely relieved of the proteins that make up these foods.

Doing this gives the digestive system a break from regular exposure and allows you to ease your symptoms as you exclude the foods. In the first aspect of a removal diet, it’s necessary to note any changes you experience.

Reintroduction

It's time to move on to the second and most vital aspect, the reintroduction phase, after 3-4 weeks. This is essential because the overall purpose is not to exclude foods forever but to be able to eat the most mixed diet possible.

To correctly reintroduce foods and detect potential triggers, it is suggested that you introduce foods in small quantities, one at a time. Allow a few days between reintroductions to be sure no dragged reactions happen. Are you looking for more advice? Check out our latest blog, Your Easy Guide To Food Eliminations and Reintroductions, which reviews how to follow an elimination diet in a healthy way appropriately.

Restore Balance

After you have removed and detected potential triggers, you must start replacing the balance of the bacteria in your microbiome. This means increasing your absorption of fermented foods that hold healthy bacteria to procreate your microbiome and crowd out the unhealthy bacteria. Healthy fermented food options contain plain Greek yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, and tempeh. Absorbing these foods constantly can help to enhance your microbial diversity, something that is essential for overall health.

Light Your Digestive Fire

Yet many people lack the intense digestive fire required to digest their foods completely. The term “digestive fire” relates to the digestive enzymes and gastric juices that work to break down food and consume essential nutrients. Digestive enzymes carrying pancreatic amylase, pepsin, and lipase and gastric juices such as hydrochloric acid can become insufficient due to many lifestyle and dietary elements involving age, medications, processed foods, excessive alcohol intake, and nutrient shortages.

If this feels like you, or you fall into any of the above types, increasing your digestive fire through nutritional choices is both absolute and efficient in boosting your digestive symptoms.

One way to awaken your digestion highest to a food is to relish an apple cider vinegar tonic made from a mixture of 8 ounces of hot water, one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, a big pinch of cinnamon, and a little spoonful of honey; furthermore, first thing in the morning or around 30 minutes before a feed.

The acidity of apple cider vinegar supports the activation of the expression of digestive enzymes and extends the acidity within the digestive system itself. Consider it as one of those swift lighting logs you locate in a hearth. This delightful trick helps to encourage your digestive system quickly and effectively.

Another easy way to enhance your digestive fire is to chew your food thoroughly. It may look simple and silly, but many of us don’t chew our food to smoothie texture before eating it. The mechanical act of chewing assists in releasing salivary enzymes, an enzyme significant for carbohydrate breakdown, but also makes it smooth for a weakened digestive system to break down food.

Confirming your digestion is not as complicated as you might think. Thankfully, it's actually quite simple to get to the root cause of your discomfort and enhance your overall health.

Eliminate Offending Foods

The first place to start when working to boost your digestion is to recognize and remove potential offenders that are enhancing inflammation in your digestive system. Specified as an <elimination diet>, an individual following this rules would respond from eating suspected trigger foods (or general ones if they are fully unsure what their activators might be) for 3-4 weeks to make sure the body is completely relieved of the proteins that make up these foods.

Doing this gives the digestive system a break from regular exposure and gives you a chance to weather your symptoms as you exclude the foods. In the first aspect of a removal diet, you must note any changes you experience.

Reintroduction

It's time to move on to the second and most vital aspect, the reintroduction phase, after 3-4 weeks. This is essential because the overall purpose is not to exclude foods forever but to be able to eat the most mixed diet possible.

To correctly reintroduce foods and detect potential triggers, it is suggested that you introduce foods in small quantities one at a time. Allow a few days between reintroductions to ensure no dragged reactions happen. Are you Looking for more advice? Check out our latest blog, Your Easy Guide To Food Eliminations and Reintroductions, which reviews how to appropriately follow an elimination diet in a healthy way.

Restore Balance

After you have removed and detected potential triggers, it’s necessary to start replacing the balance of the bacteria in your microbiome. This means increasing your absorption of fermented foods that hold healthy bacteria to procreate your microbiome and crowd out the unhealthy bacteria. Healthy fermented food options contain plain Greek yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, and tempeh. Absorbing these foods constantly can help to enhance your microbial diversity, something that is essential for overall health.

Light Your Digestive Fire

Yet, many people lack the intense digestive fire required to digest their foods completely. The term “digestive fire” relates to the digestive enzymes and gastric juices that work to break down food and consume essential nutrients. Digestive enzymes carrying pancreatic amylase, pepsin, and lipase and gastric juices, such as hydrochloric acid, can become insufficient due to many lifestyle and dietary elements involving age, medications, processed foods, excessive alcohol intake, and nutrient shortages.

If this feels like you, or you fall into any of the above types, increasing your digestive fire through nutritional choices is both absolute and efficient in boosting your digestive symptoms.

One way to awaken your digestion highest to a food is to relish an apple cider vinegar tonic made from a mixture of 8 ounces of hot water, one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, a big pinch of cinnamon, and a little spoonful of honey. Furthermore, it is first thing in the morning or around 30 minutes before a feed.

The acidity of apple cider vinegar supports activating the expression of digestive enzymes and extends the acidity within the digestive system. Consider it one of those swift lighting logs you locate in a hearth. This delightful trick helps to encourage your digestive system quickly and effectively.

Another easy way to enhance your digestive fire is to chew your food completely. It may look simple and silly, but many of us don’t really chew our food to a smoothie texture before eating it. The mechanical act of chewing assists in releasing salivary enzymes, an enzyme significant for carbohydrate breakdown, but it also makes it smooth for a weakened digestive system to break down food.

Supplements to Enhance Digestion

There are a lot of different supplements that can help to increase your digestion, most notably involving digestive bitters, prebiotics, and probiotics.

It may be shocking to you to think that something bitter can indeed be great for your health. After all, didn’t some plants flavor bitter to warn us that they are not safe to feed? Although this is the case for some plants and why you should not eat erratic plants unless you know for sure what they are, there is an abundance of bitter vegetables and herbs that are great for confirming digestion.

The body contains many receptors designed particularly for bitter compounds, measuring from the mouth to your gastrointestinal tract. When these receptors are stimulated, they release essential digestive juices. They are also helpful in supporting the natural detoxification attributes of the liver and gallbladder, which are significant for healthy digestion.

While many bitter foods involving bitter greens, like arugula or dandelion greens, can create the same impact, supplementing with digestive bitters may be the selected choice due to comfort and concentration. For prime results, bitters should be taken either right before or after a meal.

Probiotics tend to receive a lot of attention when it comes to gut health, but most people are not aware that prebiotic supplements survive as well. Both are equally essential in digestive health and necessary for keeping your bacteria balanced. Therefore, what's the alternation between the two? Prebiotics are a type of undigestible fiber that feeds the robust bacteria that probiotics provide. Supplementing with both a probiotic and a prebiotic (or a mixture of the two) is vital for maximum digestion.

Sometimes, the body tries to produce its enzymes, which could benefit from supplemental origins. These supplements are frequently either a single or a mixture of multiple digestive enzymes. They can enhance your ability to digest food that might last too long in the digestive system, leading to disturbing symptoms like bloating or nausea.

If you’ve had digestive problems for a while, you might be surprised about where to start the recovery process. Our nutritional therapy practitioners know how digestion works and can produce a customized plan that addresses the root cause of the discomfort you may be feeling. If you’d like some help collaborating, join now to make an appointment.