To help you say goodbye to sluggish digestion and hello to happy healthy guts, here’s our top tips for healthy digestion this summer:
Tip 1: Consider intermittent fasting
Firstly, intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone. If your personal circumstances mean you need to monitor blood sugar levels so they remain stable, then the suitability of fasting is something you would need to discuss with your health professional. If this isn’t you, then intermittent fasting has shown some great advantages for healthy digestion including providing a period of rest for the digestive system, allowing for repair. Resting the digestive system also allows space for the improvement of gut flora, improving overall gut bacterial diversity.
Tip 2: Savour your food and eat slowly
When it comes time to eat, savour your food and eat slowly, listening to when your body signals it’s full. Don’t just finish all the food on your plate because it’s there or because that’s what you’ve always been conditioned to do. Maybe dish up less than you would ordinarily eat and then wait 20 minutes after you’ve finished to determine how full you are. At the same time, mindful chewing allows for increased amounts of saliva improving the breakdown of food and allowing for better digestion.
When we swallow quickly and ingest big chunks of food, our stomachs and small intestine must work harder to break those foods down to properly digest them, potentially exacerbating digestive concerns.
Tip 3: Learn to stress less
While you may not make the direct link to stress and digestion, higher levels of stress can slow down digestion, causing flow on effects like decreased bowel motility.
When we eat while stressed, our sympathetic nervous system kicks in. When we’re tapped into our sympathetic nervous system and our body fights for “perceived survival”, our body does not favour digestion, resulting in food not being properly digested or absorbed.
Tip 4: Movement helps motility
Getting in a short walk after your meal can help food move downward through the digestive tract and stimulate your bowel movement later. So, keep on moving – your bowels will thank you for it.
Tip 5: Foods and nutrients can help
Featuring food in your diet that’s high in fibre like fruits, vegetables and whole grains can assist with bowel regularity, while foods like yoghurt or fermented foods are gut-friendly and increase gut and bowel diversity. Other foods like cold water fish and avocado are packed with healthy fats that are great for both our insides and outsides.
Gut-friendly nutrients like L-Glutamine as well as zinc as found in Herbs of Gold Gut Care can support gastrointestinal system health, while zinc is important to maintain healthy digestion.
Another important consideration for healthy digestion is high-quality probiotics. Herbs of Gold Probiotic 60 Billion contains 12 different probiotic strains in a high-strength formula maintaining beneficial intestinal flora and healthy digestive system function.
