7 foods and drinks to boost digestion and health. What are the best foods to boost digestion and immunity? 7 foods to boost digestion
After taking food we forget the rest of the world and go to sleep or do our work. Let alone remembering our digestive systems. But when we are caught up with stomach pains, loose stools or gastric troubles we think about indigestion.
After having our food, the stomach produces acid called gastric juices to digest the carbohydrates and protein. The food we eat now and then are not able to get digested in our intestines due to a variety of reasons.
There are certain kinds of foods that boost our digestion process and keep us healthy right from the inside.
Certain foods that are listed below keeps you off from uneasy feelings and makes you feel light.
- Fruits: fruits are the best source of nutrients and Vitamins. They keep our immune system fine and help us best with digestion. Fruits that are listed below help you if you find a road to digestion on a daily basis.
Guava – One of the richest in fibre sources. This is really delicious and keeps your stomach off from problems.
Having constipation issues?
Try this.
Kiwi – Another healthy supplementary for digestion. This fibre loaded fruit keeps your colon healthy.
Apple – Apple has something called pectin fibre. The component called pectin helps us relieve constipation and diarrhoea.
Mango – My favourite. This contains enzymes that aids in breaking down proteins and fibre. Mango boosts our immune and keeps our digestion well off.
Apricot – Vitamin C rich fruit not only helps in digestion. But also keeps our skin and our colon healthy.
There are certain vegetables that have to be consumed along with skin for better nutrients.
Carrot: This tasty, crunchy and nutritious vegetable also contains loads of benefits. This aids in weight loss and improves our eye health.
Bell peppers: Every colour bell peppers are jam packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Like carrots this too improves our eye health and reduces the risk of chronic diseases.
7 foods to boost digestion
- Yogurt: Mention a healthy benefit and write yogurt under that. Right from digestive progression to weight management, this is something that should be on every one’s meal plate.
- Whole grains: corn, rice, oats, quinoa, bulgur, wheat are some of the examples of whole grains. These are loaded with vitamins and minerals. Healthy supplements for all right from babies to adults.
- Leafy green vegetables: Abundant source of vitamin A and provitamin A. A must in everyone’s plate.
- unsaturated fats: Olives, Almonds, Avocado’s, peanuts, pumpkins, sesame seeds are some of the examples of unsaturated fats. Fibres, minerals, antioxidants, vitamins keep us healthy, nutritious and energy full day.
- foods containing ginger: Ginger is the best food that has to be added in our everyday foods. Indians, Caribbean’s and Asians use this in all of their cuisines. This is the best medicine for cough and cold. Can be used in all forms right from fresh to dry.
Symptoms of indigestion:
When the food we eat does not digest properly, we are likely to get one of these following symptoms.
Bloating – makes us feel discomfort or ‘full’ kind even if food is not taken. Looks like a swollen stomach at times.
Acidic taste in mouth – GERD is the main cause of acid taste in mouth. Smoking, alcohol, oil food are all common causes for acid taste.
Nausea or sometimes vomiting – Uneasy feeling of ‘want to throw up’ is called nausea and bringing back all the food consumed and throwing it up completely is called vomiting.
Abdominal pain – Pain that occurs in lower abdomen or throughout the stomach
Growling stomach – Rubbing sounds inside our stomach are nothing but a part of digestion. When you are hungry it happens due to air.
Burning sensation in the stomach – certain foods causes the burning sensation like alcohol, spicy foods etc. Indigestion is also the main cause for burning sensation.
What causes indigestion?
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic medical condition that makes the stomach not to function properly.
According to the American College of Gastroenterology, more than 60 million Americans have heartburn and acid reflux symptoms at least once a month.
But when acid reflux symptoms occur often then we call it GERD.
Certain reasons for acid reflux and heartburn can be penned down as the causes
Eating spicy, greasy and fatty foods:
Fine, soon after reading the heading you would have taken an oath on not to eat fast foods regularly. Good. But let me give you a shocking truth, these are commonly found in our home cooked foods. Yes.
Love making French fries at home?
Make pizzas and doughnuts often with your children?
All the fried, cheesy, creamy comes under this category.
I can inscribe a few risk factors that come with these kinds of foods along with indigestion. High cholesterol, High BP, Heart diseases, Obesity, Acne etc.
- lying down as soon as we eat:
After a heavy meal lying down immediately is not a good option. Especially when you lie down straight or on the right side you are likely to get acid reflux and heartburn. Ayurveda recommends to relax us on the left side where the food can pass over to the intestines smoothly.
- Extensive alcohol:
After consuming alcohol, the stomach crops more acid. The stomach can resist this acid but the tissues or esophagus cannot. This will bring heartburn and acid refluxes. The main issue is after consuming alcohol you are likely to feel this to a great extent.
- Smoking:
When it comes to heartburn and acid reflux smoking plays the worst part. When you smoke, the saliva quantity becomes less and thus worsening the heart burn.
Ever wondered like, why is that I always have a heart burn sensation?
Even after quitting my alcohol and all greasy foods?
Got your answer now?
-
Medication side effects:
Certain medication causes heartburn as a result of acid refluxes. Antibiotics, anxiety medications, high BP medications, pain relievers etc can cause heartburn sensation.
You can avoid these situations by,
- Not taking self-medication
- Taking only prescribed level/amount.
- Taking medications only at right times
If you take certain medications prescribed by your doctors and still get a heart burn, you have to consult with your doctors again.
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Stress/anxiety:
A 2009 a health survey found out that over 40,000 Norwegians had
work-related stress was highly prone to GERD symptoms. People with low job satisfaction were also twice as likely to have GERD symptoms.
A more recent study, published in Internal Medicine, interviewed 12,653 people with GERD found the same kind of issues.
This explains the growling sound in our stomach during exams and interviews.
Above said all may be way too scary, but there are remedies too. In fact, more than remedies, these are precautionary ways to protect ourselves from indigestion.
Stop eating late at night – there is a timing to each of our organs during night time apart from digestion. When you interrupt that with food you will face the consequences.
Avoid alcohol – The reaction of alcohol consumption was already explained above. Check it out.
Avoid too spicy foods at night – By now you know what happens when you consume oily, greasy or spicy foods. Let alone at night.
Quit smoke – Once again a major cause for most of the ailments on Earth. Just quit and enjoy your life.
Chew your food properly, take time – Yeah! Take time, what’s the hurry? It is said that most of the digestion takes part in your mouth. Chewing the food properly saves you from stomach growling. A food must be chewed 30 times before swallowing. How far will you go?
Drink beverages after food, not during meal time – Most of us take a lot of water during meal time. Its ok to take before, because it holds up your hunger. But not while you are having your food. Even after your meals do not rush in water, instead sip a little and have water after an half an hour.
Always take time to relax after your meals – As I said in the beginning of the article don’t rush to sleep. Or even do not start doing manual work right after your food intake. Relax your body by sitting. This makes the way for a good digestion.
Foods worst for digestion are
- Spicy foods
- Fructose
- Artificial sugar
- Cabbages
- Beans
Disclaimer:This article is for educational purpose only and should not be took as professional advice.
Read also: Child nutrition and cooking
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