Digestive and Metabolic Health
How to Make the Digestive System Healthier with 7 Lifestyle Methods
Salubrious habits that might improve digestive health by reducing risks
Purpose of the Article
This article briefly introduces digestive disorders and provides practical tips for common problems to improve mild conditions using healthy lifestyle approaches. I excluded medical conditions.
This piece is not health advice and not a scientific paper.
The purpose is to create awareness and provide practical information by sharing my experience, reviews, and observations.
Why Digestive Disorders Matter
The World Health Organization classified digestive disorders under 93 headings. It is impossible to add them and comment on each disease in this short article. Interested readers might check this PDF document publicly available on the web.
Digestive disorders are widespread globally. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States:
“37.2 million people visit physicians for digestive disorders, 14,8 million people has ulcers, and 7.9 million people visit emergency departments for digestive issues.”
According to NIH (National Institute of Health):
“The digestive system made up of the gastrointestinal tract (GI), liver, pancreas, and gallbladder help the body digest food. Digestion is important for breaking down food into nutrients, which your body uses for energy, growth, and cell repair.”
Unfortunately, digestive disorders cause mortality and morbidity in very high amounts globally, affecting the healthcare system and reducing the quality of life for patients and carers.
Here are the seven practical tips that might lower digestive disorders and improve digestive health.
In this article, my focus is on the digestion process of food in the stomach and gut with interaction with the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder.
Instead of going into scientific or anatomical details, I’d like to cover practical approaches that contributed to improving my digestion process based on reviews and observations of others.
I exclude chronic digestive conditions requiring medical support and supervision, such as medicine, other therapies, or surgery. I only focus on lifestyle changes for everyday digestive disorders.
In this section, I introduce seven approaches I used to improve my digestive health. When I was suffering from digestive issues, I conducted a comprehensive literature review and collaborated with people who successfully solved their digestive issues.
The most common digestive issues for me were bloating/stomach distension and leaky gut. So these seven approaches helped me improve these conditions sustainably. Therefore, I feel obliged to pass along my tacit knowledge.
I present the following items first, briefly introducing relevant problems and explaining related solutions or helpful considerations.
1 — Remove the offending food from the diet.
Problems
From my experience, the most significant culprit causing digestive issues was offending food in my diet.
Different people can have an intolerance for different food groups. For example, I am intolerant of some plants.
A family member is allergic to seafood. A relative gets strong allergic reactions from nuts, even on other people’s plates. Some friends cannot handle dairy, especially raw milk. And some cannot eat nightshade vegetables or irritants like onions or garlic.
Solutions
A well-known approach to this problem is an elimination diet, preferably with the support of a professional such as a dietitian or nutritionist.
By using an elimination diet, I identified the problematic food in my diet and customized my diet to support my digestive health. It was a sustainable solution for many others in my circles and me.
As some allergies (e.g., nuts) might be life-threatening, it is crucial to get them checked and follow the advice from allergists or family doctors.
2 — Refrain from excessive food consumption.
Problems
Our stomachs can handle a certain amount of food at a time. This differs from person to person. Our age, fitness levels, and genetics play a role in the amount of food that we consume.
If we eat more than our stomach can handle, we will face digestive discomfort.
For example, a family member cannot stop eating cakes. Whenever we have birthday parties, this person gets sick and regrets it.
Solutions
Our brain is hard-coded to consume some food more than others. For example, consuming carbs are much easier than fats and proteins. The body senses when we eat too much fat or protein, but it takes longer to sense delicious carbs and sugary products.
Different people have an attraction to different foods. My weakness was nuts. I loved almonds, walnuts, and macadamia nuts. When I started eating them, I couldn’t stop. As you may guess, a few hours later, I got terrible digestive issues.
My solution was rather than eating nuts from a jar, I only selected a few put them on a plate, and ensured not to consume more than I allocated. In small amounts, nuts did not become a problem.
3 — Drink healthy beverages at the right time.
Problems
In my younger years, I used to drink a lot of water while eating food believing it would help me feel full faster and lose weight.
The problem is too much liquid during the eating period intervenes with the stomach acid reducing its effectiveness.
Some alcoholic beverages might cause digestive discomfort to some people. I was one of them.
Solutions
When I learned this fact, I consumed my drinks, mainly water or mineral water, after two hours of digestion. I drink very little water during my meal.
This solution significantly reduced my digestive discomfort. The less water I drank during mealtime, the better my digestion got.
I enjoy drinking plenty of water on an empty stomach, which never causes any problems. I use sipping water as a stress management tool at work.
Another life hack was adding a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to water and drinking it 20 minutes before the main meals. This powerful tip was introduced to me by an integrative medicine doctor when treating my leaky gut.
In addition, when I stopped drinking alcohol, I felt great comfort in my digestive system. However, alcohol does not affect some people's digestive systems in my circles. Some can tolerate it well, and some cannot. We need to know if it is a risk.
4 — Consider time-restricted eating.
Problems
In addition to the amount of food for some people, the frequency of eating also might cause digestive disorders.
When I was eating three meals and three snacks, I experienced significant digestive disorders.
Solutions
The best solution for me was to reduce the frequency of my eating windows. First, I skipped one meal, particularly breakfast. I had a noticeable comfort in my digestive system.
Then, my digestive issues sustainably resolved when I cut lunch and made the one-meal eating plan a lifestyle habit. I never had any issues with my one-meal eating regimen.
I believe that giving rest to the digestive system contributes to reducing the risks of digestive disorders.
5 — Eat slowly and when less stressed
Problems
I noticed this issue first time in a country, they gave us only 30 minutes of breaks for lunch, and we spent 15 minutes in the meal queue.
Eating lunch in 15 minutes added too much pressure on my digestive system.
Many colleagues complained that they had significant digestive issues after eating their food too fast during stressful times.
Solutions
Digestion starts in the mouth. In my childhood, our parents taught us to count our bites and made us compulsory to chew at least 40 times. Interestingly they encouraged us by rewarding those who chewed more.
So I always enjoyed eating slowly. During restrictive times like 15 minutes, I learned to eat half of my food and consume the rest in the second half.
Starting to eat during less stressful times was another great solution for me. Nowadays, I eat only one meal daily, and it takes me around two hours to consume it.
Gaining a fat-adapted body gave me the flexibility to choose my eating times as I don’t crave food and don’t feel any emotional hunger.
6 — Remain active but rest during and after the meals.
Problems
In my observations, sedentary people experience more digestive issues. I also noticed it in my life.
Like other organs, the stomach and the gut also need movement. However, we need to keep our stress as low as possible during and after mealtimes.
The body gives priority to solving stress and anxiety over digestion.
Solutions
I don’t do much exercise on a full stomach. However, I enjoy walking for one or two hours after my meal.
These walks contributed to my digestion process and kept my body insulin sensitive. Many people also mentioned the benefits of walking after main meals.
Solving complex problems or dealing with stressful matters during mealtimes might cause digestion issues. Therefore, eating our meals in stress-free environments might improve our digestive health.
7 — Consider supportive supplements.
Problems
Particular foods require specific digestive enzymes. For example, When I was transitioning to a ketogenic diet, my stomach struggled to digest fats. Some people cannot digest dairy or beans.
Solutions
There are various over-the-counter supplements. Some of them, like antacids, were harmful to the digestive system and other systems in the long term. However, I found digestive enzyme supplements very helpful.
I used lipase to digest the fat I ate more than usual, which gave me instant comfort. I also used protease to enhance protein digestion. Some vegan friends used alpha-galactosidase. Friends who had lactose intolerance used lactase enzymes.
They are available over the counter. So, no prescription is required in many countries. Besides, family doctors or specialists can prescribe more potent enzymes or other helpful medications for severe cases.
Interested readers might check my experience and perspective on digestive enzymes in this article titled Here’s Why Digestive Enzymes Are Important and How to Address Deficiencies.
Conclusions and Takeaways
The health of our digestive system is vital for our survival and well-being. These disorders affect both our physical and mental health.
By gaining healthy lifestyle habits, we can lower the risks of digestive disorders and improve digestive and overall health.
These seven approaches brought other people in my circles and me many digestive benefits. They improved our quality of life. Solving digestive disorders might also contribute to eliminating food cravings.
The most common advantage is digestive comfort contributing to better sleep and quality of life. For me, they contribute to solving my bloating problems and healing leaky gut syndrome.
In addition to these seven habits, carefully preparing our meals is important. Some foods require long cooking and some less cooking.
Some foods require refrigeration. So understanding our foods' cooking, preparation, and storage requirements is necessary.
Takeaways
1 — Subtract offending food from the diet using an elimination diet
2 — Prepare and store your food carefully.
3 — Abstain from consuming excessive food.
4 — Drink water after an hour or later at mealtime.
5 — Consider skiping snacks or a meal if you can.
6 — Eat your food slowly, chewing as many times as possible
7 — Stay away from stressful situations during mealtimes.
8 — Walk gently or perform mild workouts after an hour of the main meals to improve digestion.
9 — Keep regular exercises and remain active.
10 — You might consider taking relevant digestive enzyme supplements if you have difficulty digesting particular foods.
11 — You need timely support from qualified healthcare professionals when you have severe or prolonged digestive issues, including food poisoning.
Final Words
Alcohol and cigarette smoking can interfere digestive system. Thus, detecting risks and refraining from these substances can be helpful. Stopping smoking permanently helps many people to improve their digestion and other health conditions.
In addition to toxic substances, food poisoning caused by pathogens is a common and severe health matter. Therefore, seeking timely support from qualified healthcare professionals is necessary.
My go-to product for food poisoning in my family is activated charcoal, which immensely helped my family and me. I documented my experience and reviews in an article titled Here’s Why Activated Charcoal in My Emergency Bag.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
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