Digestion is a normal physiological mechanism that your body undergoes on consuming food, in the form of solids or liquids. It is a process that your body participates in every day, every time you intake anything. There are two types of mechanisms involved in your process of digestion- mechanical and enzymatic actions. These two processes allow your body to utilize nutrients and energy from the foods that you consume. Energy gets stored in your body in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) molecules, helping you to carry out work.
If the digestion process is not proper, a lot of metabolic actions happening within your body cells gets disturbed. You not only end up with different digestive issues but also digestion associated various other health problems. Occasional symptoms may include- gas formation, acid reflux, constipation, nausea, heartburn, and diarrhea. If you experience such signs, then there is definitely a problem with your lifestyle. Your daily diet and lifestyle choices have a major impact on the health and functioning of your gut.
There are multiple factors that guide your digestion that you need to improve for proper breakdown of food. By following the guidelines given below, you can easily pace up and improve your digestion to make it more effectual.
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Natural ways to improve your digestion
Find out the non-medicative ways to improve digestion:
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Proper mastication of food
When you consume solid foods, it is very important that you chew them properly to help in better digestion. It is one of the most basic things that you can start off with. The better you chew, the more you officiate digestion effectively. The first place where your digestion initiates is in your mouth. The saliva that you secrete from salivary glands aids in the initial breakdown of the food into smaller, digestible pieces. Therefore, do not swallow large food pieces directly. Take your time in chewing your food properly, and then only swallow the smaller pieces.
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Go frequent mini meals
There is no point in eating heavily at one meal, and then not eat anything throughout the day. Avoid consuming large portions of food at one go. Try eating mini meals at frequent time intervals. You may not know this, but doing so actually improves your digestion to a great extent. Do not overwhelm your digestive tract by eating big plates. To make your digestion process faster and better, take small snacks in every 3 to 4 hours. In this way, you can keep your hunger levels under control.
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Keep your body hydrated.
Drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep yourself hydrated as much as possible. There are a number of health benefits of drinking ample water all day. You can not only improve your digestive power but several other functions of your body like skin health, excretion, etc. You may experience constipation as the most prominent health issue when you have water deficits in your body.
Constipation is a problem that primarily results from dehydration and dietary fiber deficiency. You feel difficulty in passing stools, which may lead to further serious bowel disorders. When you have an adequate water supply in your body, it aids in better and faster digestion. Water breaks down a number of nutrients for better absorption by your body. Some of the cool hacks to improve your water consumption rate per day are
- Every time you drink water, preferably using a big cup
- You may add different flavors to your water to make it more drinkable
- Consume flavored or herbal tea every day
- Instead of ordering soda drinks, prefer ordering water at restaurants
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Eat products that contain ample probiotics
Probiotics are basically live bacteria that help you in improving your gut health, by aiding in healthier digestion. These are good bacteria that do not mess with your overall health, instead improves it. The food products that supply a lot of probiotics are kefir and yogurt. If you are not very sure of which product has probiotics present in I, check its label properly. When you see the names of bacteria on products such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium Infantis, blindly buy them.
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Be active
Avoid leading a sedentary daily life. It makes your overall health worse, including both physical and mental states. Get into something energetic and full of actions. Go for regular morning or evening walks to keep your body active and strong. Take out sometime from your mundane routine and dedicate that to physical exercises like yoga or aerobics.
Such activities not only improves your digestive mechanism but also your overall wellbeing. However, do not exercise right after having a meal. Give some time for the food to settle down and then only start off exercises. It will help to stimulate your bowel functioning in a much better way, than a usual inactive lifestyle.
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Get proper sleep every day
This is a very important factor that drives your digestion process in either a good way or the worse. Proper sleeping cycles are extremely necessary to monitor when it comes to digestion. You should use the rest button at the right hour of the day, to physiologically keep your body under-relaxation. This will undoubtedly help in better digestion. Although, do not hit the bed straightaway after consuming your meal. Give some time of around 2 to 3 hours to confirm proper digestion, and then only rest your body.
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Monitor your food habits
Avoid taking beverages with a high amount of caffeine (like coffee), and smoking cigarettes. These two factors can affect your digestion in worse possible ways. Do not exceed your caffeine consumption limit of 400 mg per day, otherwise, it will alter your bowel functioning.
Final words
If you think that rapid digestion can aid you with weight loss results, you may be wrong. When the metabolic rate increases with increased digestion, it aids in weight loss but there are other factors as well. Stress on what you are eating and how right the balance is of various macro and micronutrients in your body. Restore your metabolic function with a healthy diet.