Digestive Troubles? Try These 10 Simple Remedies to Improve Digestion
Your gut health is the most important when it comes to being healthy overall. When your digestive system is haywire, it can cause multiple problems. It would surprise you, but your backache, headache, skin problems, and more can be due to stomach problems. Yes, it’s because the stomach has multiple enzymes that help with immunity and keeping other body parts healthy. Due to any reasons, when gut microbes suffer an imbalance, you can have stomach troubles like
- Nausea
- Constipation
- Diarrhoea
- Heartburn
- Bloating, and more.
Thankfully, you can reverse most digestive issues through simple lifestyle and diet habits. A swap in these and quick home remedies to improve digestion works best (medications should be the last resort!). In this blog, we will list the best home remedies to improve digestive health. Let’s see this below now.
Top 10 Best Home Remedies to Improve Digestive Health
1. Start eating real food
One of the best home remedies to improve digestion is to eat real food. That means fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds. We must break off the relationship we have with processed and sugary food. These junk foods are full of sugar, unhealthy fat, and salt. These combined can inflame the gut lining, leading to an imbalance in gut microbes. That leads to multiple stomach issues and other health issues like acne or pigmentation.
Moreover, increase food rich in zinc and glutamine, as they help heal your gut. For zinc, you can eat sunflower seeds or eggs regularly. For glutamine, eggs and soybeans are good choices.
2. Reduce Stress and Relax
Have you noticed your stomach gets upset when you are stressed a lot? Yes? Then imagine, how many stomach problems you will have if you are in a state of chronic stress? Thus, take daily steps to relax your mind and keep stress at bay. There is a direct connection between stress and digestive issues.
To alleviate chronic stress:
Dance: People love to dance because it is more than moving your feet to that rhythm and swaying to the music. It’s a popular way to express yourself not only to others, but to yourself as well. It is considered a vital way to release your frustrations and anger, ultimately reducing stress and worries with every move you do. Dancing not only supports your physical health and being fit, but it also keeps your mental and emotional health strong. It helps in gaining self-esteem & confidence.
Meditate: One of the best ways to release stress is by meditating. It has been practised for thousands of years. Originally, meditation was practised to deepen knowledge of the sacred and mystical forces of life. But now, it is usually used for relaxation and stress reduction. It is a type of mind-body medicine that can produce a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind effectively. When you meditate you enhance your focus and eliminate the stream of confused thoughts that may be going through your mind providing stress. This way, you can improve your physical & mental well-being.
Walk on the grass: Walking barefoot on grass in the morning supports rejuvenating and calming your senses & mind. The exceptional blend of fresh misty air, green surroundings, warm sunlight, and the beautiful atmosphere not only depreciates the amount of stress but also enhances your mood. Fresh oxygen is vital for your organs, and the soothing atmosphere provides relaxation to your entire body and mind. Therefore, it helps you feel relaxed and reduces stress.
Exercise: Almost any form of exercise, be it aerobics or yoga, can work as a stress reliever. Even if you are out of shape and don’t feel like working out for hours, a small amount of exercise can go a long way to enhance stress management. Regular physical activity can improve the production of the brain’s feel-amazing neurotransmitters, called endorphins. You can get yourself involved in your choice of activity like a nature hike, playing sports like cricket, football, or simple jogging & stretching to enhance the production of endorphins.
3. Take probiotics
Probiotics are live bacteria that help increase the number of good bacteria in your gut. You must have foods rich in probiotics every day. It includes kombucha, buttermilk, or yogurt. There are fermented foods like miso or sauerkraut that you can also include in your diet.
Taking probiotic supplements can also help you improve your digestion quickly. The next time you feel your stomach is giving you trouble, one of the quickest home remedies to improve digestion is to have natural yogurt or other probiotic-rich food. Along with probiotics, taking prebiotics also helps your digestive system.
4. Chew your Food
We often eat our food in a hurry. And by that way, we are just gulping our food instead of chewing it properly. It is not ideal because when you don’t chew your food, your digestive system works extra hard to break it down into energy and more. Also, sometimes it can get stuck into our food pipe, giving us acid reflux or heartburn. Thus, be always relaxed while you eat your food away from distraction. Also, chew as much as you can to keep your digestive tract healthy.
5. Drink Aloe Vera Juice
Aloe vera juice is a natural home remedy to improve digestion that everyone can try. It is a traditional ritual that many people follow to extract pure aloe vera juice from the plant and drink it on an empty stomach.
You can mix it with water or amla juice for more benefits. Research says that aloe vera can help break sugar and fat better in your body and also relieve symptoms of Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and constipation. There are no side effects of drinking aloe vera juice. So, try adding this to your morning routine for multiple health benefits.
6. Eat more Fiber
Most people focus on protein and that is great as it helps with health, losing weight, and building muscles. However, focus on your fiber intake every day. When you eat fiber, it helps with continuous bowel movements and keeps you full. It is good for your digestion as well as weight loss.
Eating steel-cut oats in the morning for breakfast is a good way to add fiber to your diet. Similarly, eating gram-flour pancake (besan ka cheela) for breakfast gives you a good amount of both protein and fiber.
7. Ginger Tea and Lemongrass Tea
The best homemade drinks to opt for enhanced digestion are Ginger Tea and Lemongrass Tea. When you drink a warm ginger tea before or during a big meal, it supports digestive health and also prevents heartburn and stomachache. This is because the root stimulates the flow of saliva and supports the breakdown of the food appropriately.
In the case of lemongrass tea, it is considered to soothe the stomach and improve digestive function. In ancient times, it was used as a Chinese medicine remedy to lower certain stomach issues, i.e. constipation and bloating. Lemongrass consists of a compound called citral which gives anti-inflammatory benefits. As this drink is caffeine-free, you can also opt for this before bed.
8. Drink Enough Water and Take a Walk
One of the easiest home remedies to improve digestion is to stay hydrated. When you drink less water than what your body requires, you invite tons of digestive troubles. Thus, make sure you are drinking water throughout the day. (It doesn’t have to be 2-3 litres). Listen to your body for cues, and you will understand how much water you need to drink. Coconut water or adding lemon or mint to your water can help people who find drinking regular water mundane and thus avoid drinking it altogether.
After your meal, taking a small walk helps your digestion. It ensures that you do not feel bloated, and your digestive system works well. Always walk for at least 10 minutes after a meal. Sitting down or lying face down is the worst thing to do after a meal.
9. Practice Mindful Eating
Do not overeat, it is one tip that everyone shares with us. However, along with this, you should also practice mindful eating. That means realizing how much food to eat. Make sure your plate has different meals, colours, and varieties so that your body can enjoy multiple nutrients.
10. Fix Your Eating Time
Irregular eating habits, just like sleeping habits, can cause gut problems. So, eat your meals at the same time every day. Also, you can try eating smaller meals throughout the day at the same time instead of having big meals. That does make a difference.
Poor gut or digestive health can cause chronic problems because poor digestion can lead to malabsorption, making you deficient in multiple nutrients. That again increases your risk for chronic health issues.
Thus, try these simple lifestyle changes, move more, take natural supplements, and if your digestive health gets worse, see a health practitioner for help.