How to Improve Digestion Naturally at Home

Different systems in the body work in harmony for better functioning and optimal health of the whole body. The digestive system has a unique role as well. The food we eat provides energy and important nutrients after breaking down to the level where it can be absorbed easily in blood vessels.

The digestion process starts from the mouth and it goes through till the food reaches the large intestine. The most important function of digestion is done in the stomach and small intestine. It is aided by other organs like the liver, pancreas, etc. that secrete digestive enzymes and juices for this purpose. It means malfunctioning or weakness of any of these body parts and organs can lead to digestive problems. Constipation, diarrhea, heartburn are a few of the most common problems associated with weakness or malfunctioning of the digestive system.

Reasons to Improve Digestion Naturally

Various medicines and syrups are used in large number all over the world. These medicines can provide instant relief to digestive problems. But these synthetic drugs only provide limited relief from digestive problems. Most of these drugs are also injurious if used for longer duration. 

Therefore, the best way to achieve complete and satisfying digestive health is by adopting few simple natural lifestyle changes and good habits. We usually suffer from digestive problems by carelessness on our side. Just doing things right in a natural way can easily keep our digestive system healthy permanently.

How to improve Digestive Health Naturally

Eat More Fiber

Constipation is a major digestive problem that is widespread all over the world. Chronic constipation can lead to several complicated problems including colon cancer. The best natural ingredient for constipation relief is dietary fiber. In fact, the most important cause of chronic constipation is absence of adequate dietary fiber in diet. 

Dietary fiber improves digestion by treating constipation and ulcer of large intestine

Dietary fiber has also been proved beneficial for inflammation and ulcer of large intestine. Minimum 20 grams of fiber is necessary for a healthy gut. Dietary fiber is present in plant foods especially vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

Drink Fluid

Water is a necessary component of digestive process. It is especially important for keeping the food moving in the digestive tract. Water also helps in better functioning of dietary fiber. Fiber in intestines sucks water to function properly. It becomes a jelly like substance and protects intestinal walls. 

Therefore, it is necessary to drink slightly more water than required for relief of constipation and other digestive problems. It is important to note that drinking contaminated water is a major source of diarrhea and related illnesses. Therefore, cleaning and boiling water is necessary before its consumption.

Avoid Fluids after a Meal

There is no doubt that water plays a major role in assisting digestive system work properly. But timing of drinking water is important. When the food reaches stomach, the digestive enzymes start digestive process. These digestive juices are aided by slight acidic medium of stomach. The low pH level is necessary for digestive juice in stomach. 

If we drink more water between and after our meal, then it will disrupt digestive process. It is because water reduces acidity in stomach. It is the reason that people with digestive problems are advised not to eat juicy fruits (especially melons) after meal because they contain large amount of water.

Chew More

As stated above, the digestive process starts from mouth. As soon as we start chewing the food, the digestive process initiates. Chewing our food thoroughly helps digestion three ways.

1. Chewing breaks down food in small particles. This allows the digestive juice to act thoroughly.
2. Eating slowly and chewing properly produces saliva (lubricating material). This makes every morsel slippery and they don’t take more time to remain in the gut than required.
3. By chewing properly, an enzyme (amylase) is added to food in mouth. This is a carbohydrate-digestive enzyme that breaks down carbs. This assists proper digestion of carbohydrate component of food.

Do Regular Exercise

The impact of exercise on digestion process has also been proved. But it is important to know about right type of exercise for digestion. Strenuous exercise has been proved to pay undue stress on body. This is something bad for digestion. On the other hand, regular moderate exercise has been proved to assist in the overall digestion process. This not only passes the food forward but also stimulates various organs to secrete digestive juice.  

No Exercise for 2 Hours after Meal

Another important aspect of exercise on digestion is the timing of exercise. It is important to avoid any physical activity (unless it is something very lenient like slow walking) two hours after meal. It is because the blood rushes towards digestive parts (stomach, intestines etc.) for providing aid in digestion process. In case of physical activity, the blood will move towards limbs that are used in exercise. This will disrupt digestion process.

Don't Lie Down after Meal

Another extremely important factor for digestion is to avoid laying down after a meal (especially dinner). The digestion process immediately starts in stomach after we start eating. The walls of stomach are protected from acidic medium of digestive juice through their coating with mucus (secreted by mucus membrane in stomach along with digestive juice). 

Lying down after meal causes heart burn and ulcer

If we lie down after eating when the meal is still in our stomach (it remains there for around 2 hours or more), then the chyme (combination of digestive juice and food in stomach) will enter esophagus. In contrast to stomach, there is no such protective arrangement in esophagus. This can result in heart burn and, in severe cases, ulcer of this area. If not treated, this can even lead to cancer of esophagus. 

You can easily avoid this condition by not lying down for at least two hours after meal. This is extremely necessary for a healthy digestive system.

Avoid Alcohol and Tobacco

Few bad habits can also trigger digestive problems. Smoking and drinking alcohol are two of these. Apart from several other body parts, harmful effects smoking and drinking have also been proved on digestive process as well. Alcohol is especially injurious for digestive system as it is a major cause of cancers related to digestive system ^[1]. These include cancer of colon & rectum and cancer of liver. Apart from that, it also increases risk for cancer of pancreas and cancer of stomach. Combination of alcohol and smoking increases risks of cancers several folds.

Eat Probiotic Foods

Harmful germs in our intestines can cause diarrhea and other digestive problems. But there are also millions of beneficial germs present in our intestines, known as biotics. These bacteria are beneficial for gut health. Taking antibiotics reduce their numbers in the gut that creates several implications like diarrhea and non-absorption of important nutrients (especially Vitamin K). 

Probiotic foods keep gut healthy

It is important to keep healthy size of these beneficial bacteria in the body for better gut health. This can be done by eating probiotic foods like yogurt, buttermilk, soy sauce etc.

Reduce High-fat Foods

There are certain food products that are difficult to be digest. The most important are those that contain high amount of fats. Things like butter, full cream cheese, coconut etc. are difficult to digest for people suffering from digestive problems. These people should instead use foods that contain moderate oil content. Nuts, oily fish are goof alternatives for them that provide healthy fats and also good for digestion.  

Don’t Eat up to Full

There are two important things that should be adopted by both healthy persons and those with digestive problems. One must eat when he/she is feeling hungry and don’t eat more than hunger. The feeling of fullness is a natural indication that no more space is available for food. Eating more than required is mainly due to two reasons. It is either due to taste of food or if a person is not feeling satiety. A good way to avoid this is by eating nutritious food as it will provide satiety.