Tips to Follow for Better Digestive Health

What you eat and how you live your everyday life has a lot of bearing on your digestive function. Eating a diet rich in fiber, drinking a sufficient amount of liquids to keep yourself hydrated and exercising regularly all contribute to good digestive health. Your digestive system functions to break down the food you eat into nutrients and then absorb them into your body. If you neglect your digestive health, you could end up nutrient-deficient which could leave you feeling weak and more vulnerable to illness. How do you improve your digestive health? Here are a handful of tips to consider –

• Limit your fatty food intake – Food items rich in fat take a toll on your digestive function as they take more time to process. They can leave you feeling constipated. If you must eat fatty food, pair them with food rich in fiber to balance it out.
• Eat a fiber-rich diet – High fiber food products are easier to digest and keep the food you consume moving through your digestive tract, so you don't get constipated. They help you prevent digestive impairments and also help with maintaining body weight. Try to incorporate as many whole foods and fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet as you can for the best digestive function.
• Include lean meats – If you are a meat-eater, avoid the fatty cuts as they are more difficult to digest. Choose lean cuts instead such as skinless poultry and pork loin.
• Eat both soluble and insoluble fiber – Both kinds are necessary for proper digestive function. Insoluble fiber/roughage isn't absorbed into the body but works to add bulk to our stool. Soluble fiber is water absorbent and prevents watery stool. Think a combination of nuts, seeds, vegetables, and whole bran.
• Consume a healthy amount of probiotics – Probiotics resemble the good bacteria already present in our guts. They enhance our digestive function and should be ideally consumed daily. Probiotics also work to strengthen immune health and treat IBS.
• Don’t overdo smoking, alcohol and liquor consumption – Excessive smoking, drinking or caffeine consumption can wreak havoc on our digestive health. If you must, exercise moderation.
• Drink plenty of water – Water is necessary for the functioning of almost every bodily system for us, humans. It isn’t any different for the digestive system. Staying hydrated helps create soft and bulky stool which we can pass more comfortably.
• Control that stress – Stress is part and parcel of modern life. However, this doesn't mean that you let it hamper your bodily activities. Excessive stress can interfere with your digestive functions, so it is a good idea to find ways to relieve the stress you accumulate daily.
• Exercise – Exercising works wonders for our digestion. It helps with metabolism and keeping our weight under control. You won’t have to worry about being constipated if you practice regular exercise.

Follow the tips aforementioned, and you should be able to tell the difference they make on your digestive health.

Phoenix Family Medical Clinic is here for all your digestive health troubles. If you are experiencing any problems in digestion, just walk in to our clinic. But why let it get to that?

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