Six Ways to Improve Digestion Naturally

What happens in our digestive tract or gut does not stay in the gut. It’s not like Las Vegas—You know “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?” Our digestive tract or gut impacts every part of our body including our all-important immune system. We’ve learned in previous videos that 70-80 percent of our immune system lies in our gut lining. So let’s look at six ways we can improve our digestion naturally so our gut lining can be healthy and work the way God created it to work.

Eat a nutrient-rich, whole food diet. Whole foods are packed with essential nutrients and much-needed fiber. This fiber absorbs water to bulk up the stool and keep it moving in a timely manner. The fiber also feeds your good gut bacteria. A diet high in fiber is linked with a reduced risk of colon cancer, constipation, and many digestive disorders. Whole foods also contain no additives or preservatives and are not highly processed. The additives, preservatives, and chemicals in processed foods lead to increased gut permeability and therefore inflammation that can spread through our bloodstream to our entire body. Inflammation is the root cause behind nearly every disease and autoimmune condition. So good digestion begins with a whole foods diet created and packaged by God for our good health.

Eat slowly and chew your food well. In our fast-paced society, we tend to eat on the run. Instead, we must slow down our eating, eat in a relaxed manner, and chew our food thoroughly. Experts recommend 32 chews per bite. Some foods like watermelon may require less chews while steak may require more chews. Poor chewing is linked to decreased absorption of nutrients, and chewing is the first step of digestion. The chewing and saliva break down and mix the food in your mouth before the food is pushed into the esophagus. This thoroughly chewed food helps prevent indigestion and heartburn by breaking the food down and making it easier to digest.

Keep properly hydrated. Your digestive system requires adequate hydration to work properly. One-half your body weight in fluid ounces daily is the minimum recommendation. For example, at my weight of 150 pounds, I need 75 ounces of water daily at a minimum. Start each day with two glasses of water to get your organs and digestive system up and running after a good night’s sleep. Avoid drinking too much water during meals as it can reduce the stomach acid needed to break down the food. Also, watch daily intake of caffeine as too much causes dehydration. Keep in mind that eating fruits and vegetables also increases hydration.

Keep moving. Exercise along with fiber helps to keep food moving through your digestive tract in a timely manner. Physical movement along with water helps to relieve constipation, lower inflammation, and also reduce symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome (IBS). So regular exercise is a great way to improve digestion.

Manage your stress. Stress hormones directly impact your digestive system. Stress is directly associated with IBS, ulcers, diarrhea, and constipation. Blood and energy are both diverted away from your digestive tract when you are under constant stress. Exercise, walking, deep breathing, meditation and prayer, and anything you can do to manage your stress will improve your digestion. A hot bath always works for me, too.

Use gut-supporting nutrients and supplements. Probiotic foods such as kimchee, sauerkraut, and yogurt and probiotics supplements provide beneficial bacteria that improve our digestive health. Digestive enzymes are also useful for digesting food and getting the most nutrients from our food. My naturopathic doctor at the Cancer Center recommended a tablespoon of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar in water before each meal to aid in digestion.

What we eat and proper digestion and breakdown of food are key to staying healthy. Eating a whole foods diet with prebiotic fiber and probiotic foods is the beginning of good digestion. Chewing food thoroughly, proper hydration, and daily movement are also beneficial. We may also need to supplement with digestive enzymes or apple cider vinegar, and probiotic supplements to increase our digestion. Undigested food can cause decreased absorption of nutrients and sometimes even systematic inflammation. That’s why these six ways of improving digestion naturally are so important.

Do you have issues with digestion? If so, what do you do about it?

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Six Ways to Improve Digestion Naturally

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For Your Health,

Ginny

Ginny Dent Brant is a speaker and writer who grew up in the halls of power in Washington, DC. She has battled cancer, ministered around the world, and served on the front lines of American culture as a counselor, educator, wellness advocate, and adjunct professor. Brant’s award-winning book, Finding True Freedom: From the White House to the World, was endorsed by Chuck Colson and featured in many TV and media interviews. Unleash Your God-Given Healing: Eight Steps to Prevent and Survive Cancer was released in May 2020 after her journey with cancer and was recently awarded the First Place Golden Scrolls Award for Memoirs, a finalist in Serious Writers Book of the Decade, and Second Place in both Selah Awards for Memoirs and Director’s Choice Award for Nonfiction at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. It recently received the Christian Authors Network’s (CAN) Gold Award for Excellence in Marketing for reaching 62.5 million people with a message of cancer prevention and survival. It was written with commentary from an oncologist and was featured on CBN’s Healthy Living Show, Atlanta Live, and CTN’s Homekeepers along with over 75 media outlets. Learn more and cancer and wellness prevention blog and book information at www.ginnybrant.com. Ginny is on YouTube