Healthy eating guide: 5 tips that improve digestion

You may eat a healthy and well-balanced diet, yet it is possible to not absorb all the essential nutrients from your meal. Just eating right does not mean that you are getting all the nutrients required by the body to function. Absorption of food by the digestive system plays an equally essential role in it. Only when the food you eat is digested properly, your colon can absorb nutrients from it and circulate them to different parts of the body to be used by the organs. Moreover, poor digestion may also lead to occasional digestive symptoms like stomach upset, gas, heartburn, nausea, constipation or diarrhoea. Here are 5 tested ways to improve your digestion process.

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Make sure that the meal is warm no matter at what time you are having it. Warm and freshly cooked food is digested easily by the body. Having cold food or something straight out of the refrigerator can slow down your digestive power also known as Agni. It can slow down the rate at which food is digested in the body, making you prone to digestive disorders.

Never force yourself to have a meal or snacks if you are not feeling hungry. It is indeed essential to have three square meals and two snacks in a week, but forced eating does not help much. Try to follow a schedule, so you will automatically feel hungry at the same time every day. Also, do not fill your plate with all kinds of food. Serve according to your hunger level. This would prevent the episodes of overeating and your body will get time to digest the food properly.

The process of digestion begins in the mouth. Our teeth break down the food into smaller pieces making it easier for the digestive enzyme to break it down further. Poor chewing is linked with low absorption of nutrients. Chewing also helps to reduce stress levels and improve digestion. So slow down while having your meal and chew your food properly.

Along with eating right you also need to be careful about pairing the right groups of food with each other. Having incompatible foods like milk with fruits or vegetables, beans with eggs or fruits can also disrupt your digestive health. Having incorrectly paired food can increase the risk of indigestion. On the other hand, pairing foods correctly can also speed up the digestion process.

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Water plays several functions in our body and the most common one is digesting food. Low fluid intake can lead to constipation and other health issues like headaches and kidney stones. Dehydration can also make you feel famished and can make you overeat. So, make sure you drink enough fluid in a day. That includes water, freshly squeezed juices and herbal teas.