Best food for digestion problems – Your body is a machine comprised of many systems and compartments that collaborate together for your greater good.
One of these important systems is your GI or gastrointestinal system.
This is the port of call of all your input needs aside from oxygen. Any form of nutrition is gained and accessed through your gut.
Suffice to say keeping it healthy and functional nothing to question.
Aside from being the portal to essential nutrition, our gut also influences many other aspects of your health.
Hormone balance and effectiveness, as is the case with insulin. Immune response and activity when considering the tight junctions that allow substances to cross the gut-blood barrier.
Even your mental health is influenced by your gut.
Importance of Good Gut Health
As we mentioned, there are many aspects of your health besides just food in and waste out that your gut is involved with.
Your mental and cognitive state is one with little discussion behind it, so let’s delve a little into it.
Your gut, and specifically the colon, hosts an entire ecosystem of microbes that coexist with us and actually provide some health benefits.
These include the manufacture of some vitamins and the production of short-chain fatty acids.
It is now believed that the activity of the gut microbiome has an impact on mental health, mood and cognitive function.
Talk about food for thought!
Things to Avoid For A Healthy Gut.
This article is going to shed best food for digestion problems on what you should try and include for good gut health, but before we do that, let's put a tab on what you should try and avoid.
Right away you’ll want to avoid trans fats. These hydrogenated fats are a one-way ticket to inflammation town.
Chronic inflammation, especially in the gut, can lead to a litany of bad conditions including IBS and leaky gut syndrome.
Any food that you are sensitive, allergic to or intolerant of. You’ll obviously avoid serious allergies, but most of us have mild and somewhat tolerable intolerances.
Lactose is one where a large proportion of those who have an intolerance tend to brush it off since the symptoms are mild.
The problem is, even if the level of discomfort isn’t that bad, the effects are still pretty negative on your digestive system.
Other things to avoid include:
- Excess alcohol
- Processed foods
- Refined carbs
- Excess saturated fat
With those out of the way, let's now take a look at some of the things you might want to include for good gut health
5 Good Gut Health Foods For You to Try
Ginger
Ginger is one of the best food for digestion problems, that is almost better known for its medicinal and therapeutic qualities over its culinary value.
That’s because ginger has been used as a treatment for many ailments throughout history.
It contains the active ingredient gingerol which has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant qualities.
These properties pack quite a punch when it comes to keeping your gut healthy, acting as both a safeguard from gut ailments and treatment when they arise.
Kimchi/Sauerkraut
Fermented foods are quite well known as good gut food. That’s because they contain probiotics that add to the population of good gut bacteria in your colon.
Think of fermented foods as an immigration program for skilled technicians.
When it comes to fermented foods, kimchi and sauerkraut stand out. These respectively eastern and western fermented cabbage dishes not only come with a probiotic load, but they also contain dietary fiber.
Fiber is essential for a healthy digestive system by allowing the efficient removal of waste.
Fiber also acts as a prebiotic, which basically means it is a food source for the good gut bacteria you already have.
Leafy Greens
Leafy greens are first off, high in fiber, this means you’re getting all the aforementioned benefits as with the fermented veggies.
Leafy greens also come with an abundance of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, all of which contribute to a healthy gut, lower inflammation and a boost in your gut protecting the immune system.
Whole Grains
Whole grains is best food for digestion problems a great source of gut enriching fiber. Most commercially available grains such as rice and wheat have the husk removed, which is where all the fiber and a lot of the nutrients are found.
Opt for wholegrain next time you’re out shopping for bread or pasta
Prunes
Prunes are a great gut cleanser. Not only do they come packed with fiber, which you know by now is essential for your digestive health, they also have another trick up their sleeve.
This trick is known as sorbitol.
Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol. It’s in the same class of compounds as xylitol, erythritol, and mannitol. These sugar alcohols are commonly used as sugar alternatives owing to their very similar sweet taste.
Another interesting thing about these sugars is that they have laxative qualities.
As a natural laxative, sorbitol in prunes can help cleanse the gut or unblock an episode of constipation, offering much-needed relief.
Conclusion
And there we go, 5 amazing food, easy to access and at a great value for your money, that you can incorporate for the good health of your gut.
Just remember, if you have or suspect any GI-related complications, contact a doctor first before administering and self-treatment.
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