In this post and episode of Thank Gut It’s Fixed Show, I share 5 lifestyle habits that you can incorporate to improve digestion. These are things that anyone can do, no matter where you are or where you live! And as a bonus, they will help you lose weight and become more mindful too.
5 Lifestyle Habits to Improve Digestion
Here’s a summary of these 5 lifestyle habits. Watch the video for more details, explanation, and tips.
- Chew your food properly, about 20 times. Remember that your mouth is the first part of digestive tract, and digestion begins there. It’s important to be soft, moist, and pureed completely by the time you swallow it.
- Eat every 3 – 4 hours (not every 2 hours and not grazing), and allow 12 hours between dinner and breakfast the next day. This will help the smooth muscles in your digestive tract do it cleaning motion so it can push waste, undigested foods, microbes, and toxins outside the body and into the stool. When you eat, this motion gets interrupted and your gut has to start all over. Eventually this will cause disruptions in gut function and gut health.
- Don’t drink fluids with your meals. This includes water too! Fluids dilute digestive enzymes and reduce the ability of your stomach to breakdown foods properly. Drink 30 minutes before your meal or 1.5 hours after. If you need to take a medication or supplement with your meal, drink just enough to swallow the pills.
- Don’t drink with a straw. When you drink with a straw, you ingest air at the same time. The air bubbles can cause bloating, pain, and indigestion.
- Sit down and slow down to eat. When you don’t take your time to breathe and eat, and instead eat on the go or when juggling several tasks and errands, your neurotransmitters (brains chemicals) are going to be in fight-or-flight mode. In this mode, digestion is shut down! When you sit down, relax, and breathe, your nervous system will switch to rest-and-digest. This means your gut is getting the signals to produce enzymes and start breaking down the food. This will lead to less stomach pain, indigestion, and of course better absorption of nutrients.
Do you practice these already but still have stomach pain, bloating, and ingestion? I can help! Schedule a free discovery call here so we can discuss what could potentially be happening and the fastest way to heal and solve your health issues with a highly customized plan.
