Eliminate gas, bloating, constipation and more with these high impact habits designed to strengthen your digestive system
Improve and strengthen digestion with these high impact tips and best practices, so you can look, feel and do your best!
If you’re a regular on the blog, or work with me directly, then you know I like to create recipes with the intention of optimizing digestion so you can look, feel and do your best. That means eating to avoid symptoms of indigestion, such as diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, bloating, and flatulence.
But ingredients only make up half the story when it comes to feeling good. Our habits surrounding food and eating play a significant role in how we feel as well.
As I mentioned in my newsletter last week , improper eating habits lead to poor digestion, absorption and assimilation of foods. On the other hand though, the right habits generate the very opposite effect.
Today, I want to share a handful of these positive habits with you - ones that you can start to incorporate into your lifestyle now to start feeling an immediate change.
I’m also sharing the habits you’ll want to avoid in order to strengthen and improve digestion, so you don’t have to walk around feeling, well, like crap.
So without further ado, here are a list of high impact habits that will optimize digestion and have you feeling (and looking) your very best -
Wait until true hunger strikes before eating.
Aim to eat meals at the same time each day.
Eat simple food combinations. Certain foods pair well together, while others don’t. Check out this article to learn more about food combining.
Enjoy a glass of warm water before your meals. Add a squeeze of lime and a bit of freshly grated ginger for even better digestive function.
Slow down before and during meals.
Treat your digestive system to warm foods, like soups and stews, especially ones that include favored digestion spices like cumin, coriander, fennel, cinnamon, etc.
Chew your food 20-30 times for each bite you take!
Don’t eat until you’re completely stuffed. It’s ok to leave food on your plate or save it for later.
Eat a simple breakfast, hearty lunch and gentle dinner.
Don’t snack too closely before or after meals. Wait until 3 or 4 hours after a meal to enjoy a snack, and only if you’re truly hungry.
Sip on warm (or room temperature) water or herbal tea between meals.
Avoid or minimize raw, cold foods since they are harder to digest. If you enjoy salads, for example, try blanching greens and certain vegetables first in hot water for 3 minutes.
Favor warm liquids over cold.
Avoid eating too many fats and proteins.
Avoid excessive salt and processed oils - these lead to bloating real fast.
Avoid snacking at night
Avoid excessive eating if you’re experiencing digestive stress or discomfort (gas, burping, constipation, etc.). When this happens, focus on small meals made up of easy-to-digest foods.
If you find this list overwhelming - not to worry. Here are a couple of things to remember:
First, you don’t have to take on all of them at once.
If you’re new to this sort of thing, try picking just one habit to focus on at a time. Set a goal to do that thing for an entire week, build some momentum for yourself, and the next week, set a new goal to continue with this habit and pick a new one to try as well. Or pick a few at time to focus on - it’s up to you.
Second, don’t aim for perfection when it comes to your habits. Doing so is a great way to set yourself up to feel like a failure.
It’s ok if you enjoy raw salads and vegetables, or an ice cold drink. I do, too…all the time!
If that’s the case, what I recommend is to focus on other habits you can use in your toolbox to offset or mitigate the effect these things may have on your digestion. For example, if I’m craving crudités or a raw salad and vegetables, I’ll enjoy it but be mindful of not snacking before or after, choosing warm foods at my next meal, chewing my food excessively with each bite, avoiding oily and salty sauces or dressing, and so on.
Living with a weak digestion system isn’t fun, which is why I put this list together - because there are so many things you can do to help yourself avoid this kind of discomfort.
If you struggle with any of the symptoms talked about in this article, this list of high impact habits will certainly help.
If you liked this article, be sure to sign up for my newsletter to receive this type of content and other health and wellness tidbits delivered to your inbox every week!
