Table of Contents
1. Chew your food
As simple as it sounds, good digestion actually starts in the mouth.
When you chew your food well, it eases the work required from your digestive system, so your body can focus on other tasks instead.
2. Support your digestive enzymes
There are a variety of enzymes found in the body that work to breakdown the foods we eat.
Sometimes our bodies need a little help though. If you start to feel bloated, constipated, tired, and just all-around sluggish you might need a boost of digestive enzymes or digestive bitters to jump-start your digestion.
3. Eat real foods
Processed foods and fast-foods are typically high in refined salt, sugar, and processed oils that are difficult for your body to breakdown and digest. These foods also don’t provide any nutritional value either.
Your body can have a tough time digesting all of these chemical-laden, high-fat foods. Eliminate the junk (that includes processed “healthy” foods as well) and focus on eating whole foods for optimal digestion.
4. Be good to your liver
When it comes to digestion your liver plays a major role. Almost all of the nutrients from the foods you eat go directly to the liver after they’ve been absorbed in the digestive tract.
This is because the liver is responsible for storing and releasing energy, vitamins, and minerals to different parts of the body. Without it your body wouldn’t be able to function!
Keep you liver healthy by consuming foods such as dark leafy greens, dandelion tea, and milk thistle. Doing so will help gently cleanse and support this major digestive organ and keep your digestion on point.
5. Optimize Your Magnesium Intake
This mineral is your digestive system’s best friend. The body uses magnesium, along with other electrolytes, to send electrical signals back and forth between muscles.
Having the proper amount of magnesium in your body helps the muscles of your digestive trace to relax and contract at the perfect rate. Too little magnesium could lead to constipation, cramping, and poor digestion.
Eat magnesium-rich foods such as nuts, spinach, figs, dark chocolate, and pumpkin seeds to help keep your magnesium levels up or use a topical spray.
6. Keep hydrated
Constipation, gas, bloating, cramping, and bowel obstructions can all be caused by being dehydrated.
Shoot for at least 8 cups of water per day and eat lots of liquid containing foods like fruits, vegetables, soups, and salads.
If water is to boring try spicing it up with some herbal teas, a splash of fresh fruit juice, or digestive bitters.
7. Move more
We’ve all heard what wonders exercise can do for your heart, weight, blood sugar, etc. but did you know that it also aids in proper digestion?
Continual movement actually helps foods travel through the digestive system at a healthy rate.
A sedentary lifestyle puts a kink in the digestive process and can actually make normal digestion more difficult.
The solution is easy – just move! You don’t have to be running marathons or powerlifting to gain these digestive benefits. Just get up every couple of hours to stretch or take a 5-minute walk. A little movement can go a long way.
8. Detox as needed
A gentle detox on a regular basis can be a great way to reset your entire digestive system.
A daily dose of chlorella, spirulina, and greens powders are a potent way to get rid of toxins in the body without being harsh on your system.
9. Get your glutamine
Glutamine, an amino acid, is one of the most important nutrients that you can give your body.
It supports the repair and regeneration of the intestinal lining in your body while normalizing inflammation, helping to increase digestion.
Foods like parsley, beets, beans, fresh cold-pressed vegetable juices are wonderful sources of glutamine.