Here are some tips to help you improve your digestion.
1.UNDERSTAND HOW DIGESTION ACTUALLY WORKS INCLUDING THE SYMPTOMS OF POOR DIGESTION AND WHAT THEY MAY INDICATE.
Educating yourself is always key to understanding what is actually going wrong. I never really understood what was going on with my digestion until I became an RHN and my digestive woes never budged as a result. I didn’t even know how I supposed to feel or how it was supposed to work, so how was I supposed to know how to fix it?
2. EAT IN A RELAXED, GRATEFUL STATE.
In order to properly digest, we need to be in a relaxed, parasympathetic state. If we’re distracted, or stressed our body isn’t focusing on properly gastric juice and enzyme production.
Because digestion always takes a back seat in times of stress, taking extra focus to be grateful for your food is always an amazing digestive health strategy. Not only does gratitude get you out of a stressed state, it shifts your mindset to be thankful for your food.
3. CHEW YOUR FOOD 30-40 TIMES PERETE.
That sounds insane, I know, but it’s so effective and necessary. Your stomach doesn’t have teeth, and there’s a reason that we have teeth! Our stomach acid and digestive enzymes can only do so much to break down our food. We need to do the work to really break down our food as much as possible in our mouth in order to properly digest it!
4. STAY HYDRATED, BUT STOP CHUGGING WATER AROUND MEALS.
One of the most common diet culture tips for eating less is drinking tons of water right before a meal. It’s supposed to fill your stomach to the point where you need less food. If only you could see how much I’m rolling my eyes as I type this. Though water consumption is clearly an important part of health in general and a very important piece in digestion, you don’t want to be chugging tons of water around meals. Water and soda’s dilute your stomach acid and interfere with all of the fluids of digestion, making it harder to break down your food.
Rather than chugging whole glasses of water with meals, stick to smaller sips with meals and drink the bulk of your water in between meals.
5. FOCUS ON THREE BALANCED MEALS RATHER THAN TONS OF SNACKS.
Yet another diet culture tip is to eat lots of little small meals throughout the day to “keep your metabolism running”. Another eyeroll as what this actually does is it never gives your body a chance to fully digest. We need to give our body time to rest and digest our meals rather than constantly eating every hour.
That’s not to say that snacks are the end of the world. If you’re legitimately hungry, you should be eating. However, focus on getting the bulk of your food at meals rather than snacking all day.
6. BALANCE YOUR MEALS TO FEATURE HEALTHY FATS, PROPERLY RAISED PROTEIN, AND VEGETABLE BASED CARBS.
In order to properly digest, we need to balance our meals to feature… fiber from vegetables, healthy fats and properly raised protein. Too many extreme diets try to cut out or severely limit or highlight on these three, but really, they need to be balanced to support proper digestion. So, what purpose do they all serve?
If you have any other questions, please contact me directly to discuss.
Yours in Health, Wellness and Love
Donna Rivard
RHN - donna@wellnessbythewater.com