The health of your digestive tract isn’t just about the food and drink we are consuming, contrary to what you may hear from many in the wellness space. Digestion is one of the most important and resource-intensive processes our body goes through on a daily basis and requires a lot more than just eating the right foods. A lot of things have to be going right for our gut to be strong and functioning how it should. Read on for some tips on how to improve your gut health that doesn’t involve food.
Prepare your body for digestion.
Bitter flavors stimulate the production of gastric juices and send signals to your digestive tract to know that food will soon be coming down the hatch. Here are some strategies to try:
Drink warm water with lemon. Half a cup of warm or room temperature water with a squeeze or two of lemon should do it.
Drink apple cider vinegar. Take one to two teaspoons diluted in about a half cup of room temperature water. The key here is raw, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar (preferably organic).
Take bitters before meals. Digestive bitters work to stimulate the digestive flow, increasing the production of saliva and salivary amylase and triggering stomach acid and other digestive juices. Take about ¼ teaspoon of bitters before your meal (or suggested serving size) straight or diluted in a half cup of water. Make sure to use real bitters (my favorite national brand is Urban Moonshine) that are made from organic ingredients and don’t contain fillers or additives.
Eat slowly and mindfully.
The parasympathetic nervous system is activated when our body is in a state of “Rest and Digest” and keeps our bodies in balance. It is also the state our bodies need to be in to properly digest our food. It is the optimal healing state and allows the body to relax, repair, and utilize the food we are giving it. Muscles relax and saliva is increased, which is the first part of the digestive process.
Deep breathing and practicing gratitude are one of the most effective ways to shift into a parasympathetic state.Try placing one hand over your heart and one hand over your belly and take 3 deep breaths nice and slow to start your meal. One of the fastest ways to slow down is to engage the senses. Closing your eyes for the first of couple bites and truly engaging in the textures, smell, and taste is a great way to appreciate what you are eating.
Chew your food well.
Digestion is a very demanding task for the body and actually requires a great deal of energy. Saliva contains digestive enzymes, so the longer you chew, the more time these enzymes have to break down your food, making digestion easier on your stomach and small intestine. Shoot for about 30-40 chews per bite. This may seem like a lot, but your food should be liquid before it goes down to your stomach where it is broken down further. If food isn’t broken down enough when it enters the stomach, food will remain there longer than intended and could lead to acid reflux, gas, or bloating.
Lastly, if you rush through your meal without chewing appropriately, you are not able to enjoy or even taste the food you are eating. Taking the time to properly chew your food, forces you to slow down and really enjoy all the flavors on your plate. Eating should be a relaxing, stress-free, and enjoyable time of the day.
Give your gut a rest.
I am not talking about an extended fast. I do have some thoughts on intermittent fasting (especially for women) here, but for the most part, an overnight fast is a great way to give your digestion a break. To practice this, try leaving about 12-14 hours between your last meal in the evening and your breakfast the next morning. This will not only give your body a break in digestive action but allow you to sleep better because your digestion won’t be in high gear throughout the night. Another way to practice this is to aim to snack less throughout the day so that your digestion has a break between meals. This usually requires eating enough at mealtimes and eating balanced meals so that you are satiated until your next one.
Manage your stress.
Stress can keep you from getting into that parasympathetic, relaxed state for eating and is linked to gut inflammation and dysfunction. Even 5-10 minutes a day can really help. If you’ve got 5 minutes, try breathing exercises like box breathing, a few sun salutations, a quick walk around the block, or some squats and jumping jacks. If you’ve got 10 minutes, try a meditation - Insight Timer (free!) and Calm have short, guided meditations, journaling for a few minutes, a 10-minute yoga session, or just sitting and listening to some calming music. I love this Spotify playlist of calming, healing frequencies tunes.
Move your body daily.
Moving our bodies daily is so vital for all aspects of our health and a necessary function that we need to do every day. If you have the time to layer on 3-5 days of moderate to vigorous exercise (even 20-30 minutes is great!), this is even better, but at a minimum, we should be getting outside and walking daily. Our bodies are meant to move often and doing so helps to regulate digestion and elimination. When we move regularly, we stimulate intestinal circulation which encourages regularity in elimination aka gut motility. When we become more regular, our body can rid itself of toxins much more effectively.
Regular movement also supports other digestive functions too like supporting the movement of lymph and other fluids produced and used by your body. Our lymph plays an important role in digestion as it supports the secretion of stomach acid which helps to break down protein, digestive enzymes, and bile which helps to break down carbs and fats respectively. Without these functions working properly you may experience stomach aches, heartburn, gas, bloating, constipation, or loose stools.
Movement and exercise may also increase microbial diversity. Microbial diversity refers to the amount and different types of beneficial microbes living in your gut. Research suggests that having a wide array of microbes in our gut makes our microbiome more capable and resilient.
Work with a practitioner.
Are you eating all the “right things” and doing supportive lifestyle strategies for good gut health, but still having annoying, ongoing symptoms? You may have some deeper work to do. Other issues going on in the body can cause digestive symptoms, but if you’ve got stealth infections like parasites or had a mold exposure, this can wreak havoc on the gut too. It may be time to work with a practitioner who can help to find the root cause of your digestive symptoms, has expertise in the area of gut health and can create a personalized roadmap and suggested protocol for healing. I’d love to help. Let’s chat!
Curious to learn more about your symptoms and where in the digestive process things may be going wrong, but not ready to work with me? Check out my FREE Gut Assessment. I provide some additional tips for troubleshooting certain symptoms.