Most people are well aware that their food choices play a crucial role in how their body digests what they eat. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few foods that can cause the digestive system to work overtime, and to keep it in optimal shape, implementing a few dietary tweaks can go a long way.
More precisely, the digestive system breaks down all the food we eat into valuable nutrients our body needs and uses as energy. Neglecting your digestive health, in that aspect, can lead to several problems and may impair the body’s capacity to absorb said essential nutrients.
As mentioned above, your lifestyle and food choices impact your digestive health. Poor choices (both lifestyle and food) may decrease your overall health and well-being. As such, you owe it to yourself to make a few healthy tweaks to your diet to improve it and, with that, your health.
To help you get started, Dr. Omar Rashid, MD., and his expert team have created a list of easy strategies that will help you ensure that everything’s running smoothly.
Effective Ways to Improve Your Digestive System’s Overall Health
- Eating a High-Fiber Diet
Several medical experts agree that consuming a high-fiber diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes can improve the digestive system. Consuming high-fiber foods can help “things move” through the entire digestive tract, decreasing the chances of experiencing constipation.
Regular bowel movements aren’t the only reason a high-fiber diet can be beneficial. Consuming more fiber-rich options is also known to help prevent several digestive issues like irritable bowel syndrome, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis, and more.
Experts have also noticed that consuming more fiber can help ease the flares that patients with Crohn’s disease experience.
- Insoluble and Soluble Fiber Are Both Necessary
To help prevent bowel syndromes and other problems, it’s essential to regularly eat both types of fiber sources since they work to improve health differently.
Insoluble fiber is also called roughage. The body simply can’t digest these fiber sources, adding to the bulk of one’s stools, while soluble fiber will draw in water preventing too watery stools.
Usually, vegetables, wheat bran, and whole grains are excellent sources of insoluble fiber, while soluble sources include nuts, legumes, seeds, and oat bran.
- Limit Your Fat Intake
Consuming too many fatty foods typically slows down the entire digestive process and, as such, may increase the chances of becoming constipated. Still, this doesn’t mean you should avoid fats completely to improve your digestive system’s overall health. Healthy fats should still be a staple in your diet, but ensure that you pair them with high-fiber options to keep things moving smoothly.
- Opt for Lean Meats and Avoid Fatty Cuts
Protein is a crucial cornerstone of every healthful diet regimen, but too fatty meat cuts may cause digestive discomfort. So, when you eat meat, choose leaner cuts, such as skinless poultry and pork loin. Also, try to limit portion sizes, and instead of incorporating too much meat, try filling your plate with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, all rich in fiber.
- Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Probiotics and Prebiotics
Probiotics are healthy yeasts and bacteria naturally present in everybody’s digestive tract. Probiotics help keep the body in optimal health by aiming to combat the adverse effects of a poor diet, stress, and antibiotics. Apart from that, probiotics are also known to improve the absorption rate of nutrients, may help strengthen the immune system, break down lactose, and improve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
As such, eating low-fat yogurt and kefir is an excellent idea if you are looking for ways to improve the health of your digestive system.
Additionally, regularly consuming prebiotics may also aid the digestive process. These compounds can be described as “food for probiotics,” improving the functioning of the gut’s healthy bacteria even more, as evidence suggests from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Fortunately, most prebiotics can be found in high-fiber options like vegetables, raw fruits, whole grains, legumes, and more.
- Give the FODMAP Diet a Try If You Are Experiencing Digestive Issues
For people with irritable bowel syndrome or for patients with abdominal cramping, gassiness, bloating, and diarrhea, the FODMAP diet may offer some relief. If you suffer from digestive problems, you can always opt for the FODMAP diet or fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. Essentially, these are different carbohydrate types that may be difficult to digest for some people.
Usually, people will follow this diet for a shorter period, just enough to identify which foods they should avoid to promote better digestive health. Still, you should know that health experts don’t recommend trying this alone. Working with a certified dietitian nutritionist with experience in this area is highly advised for the best outcome. This will ensure that your diet is healthy while you learn which foods should be eliminated from your diet.
- Create an Eating Schedule and Try to Stick to It
Most healthcare providers agree that eating your meals at the same time every day can maintain the optimal performance of your digestive system. While this can be a bit challenging at first, aim to create an eating schedule and sit down for all your meals approximately at the same time every day. The first few weeks might be more difficult, but it should become somewhat like a reflex after a while.
- Drink Plenty of Water
Staying hydrated is also essential in keeping your digestive system in optimal shape. As you may know, fiber pulls the water into the colon to create bulkier and softer stools, helping them pass through the body more efficiently.
Drinking enough water is also highly recommended for various other reasons, so ensure you never go thirsty throughout the day.
- Avoid Excessive Caffeine Consumption, Quit Smoking and Alcohol
It probably goes without saying that alcohol, too much coffee, caffeinated beverages, and cigarettes can all interfere with the healthy functions of the digestive system. They may lead to the development of ulcers and cause heartburn.
Also, both smoking and alcohol abuse can cause many other problems, including developing different malignancies and other severe conditions such as liver cirrhosis.
- Incorporate Regular Exercise Into Your Daily Routine
Just like high-fiber foods, regular exercise can also help move the food in your digestive system, thus, reducing the likelihood of constipation. Living an active lifestyle will also help you maintain a healthy weight which is, too, excellent for keeping the digestive system in top shape.
As such, consider introducing a steady exercise program to your weekly schedule.
- Find Effective Ways to Manage Stress
Constant anxiety may induce the digestive system to go into overdrive and cause problems down the line. What’s more, anxiety may reduce your appetite. At the same time, it’s not uncommon for some people to become stress eaters who will consume unhealthy foods as a coping mechanism to make themselves feel better.
On the other hand, stress is also linked to other, more severe health issues, so it’s crucial that people find stress-reducing strategies that help them relax and feel calm.
Expert Help When You Need It
Introducing a few healthy dietary and lifestyle changes makes it relatively easy to improve your digestive health. On that note, if you’d like to learn even more applicable strategies, feel free to reach out to our practice by scheduling an appointment with us today.