Simple things you can do to aid digestion

1. Just eat – Put your attention on the process of eating. Take time to have a meal, rather than catch your food on the run or whilst doing other things. When your attention is on the eating process, digestion isn’t a distraction, it’s the main event.
2. Eat slowly – This allows time for the signals from the senses to get to the brain and stimulate the production of digestive enzymes, muscular contractions and other processes necessary for digestion, before the food arrives.
3. Chew well – Chew your food until it is liquid before swallowing. Chewing shreds fibres, mashes and macerates food and mixes it with saliva. If the food is not chewed properly, digestion is impeded and digestion may take much longer because the food does not have sufficient surface area exposed to the digestive juices for digestion to occur efficiently.
4. Don’t wash your food down – Too much liquid with your meals may dilute your digestive juices. Try not to drink large amounts of fluid 30 minutes before a meal or an hour afterwards. A little liquid with the meal is ok and a glass of warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice ½ hour before a meal can promote secretion of stomach acid.
5. Don’t eat too much – Try to leave about 1/3 of the stomach empty. This leaves room for food to be mixed and churned with the digestive juices.

Foods that support digestive secretions

Bitter foods help to stimulate stomach acid and other digestive juices. Eating a small amount of these foods at the beginning of a meal helps to prepare the body to digest the rest of the meal.

• Aloe Vera
• Apple cider vinegar
• Bitter Melon
• Chicory
• Endive
• Green bitter vegetables
• Lemon juice
• Rocket
• Dandelion leaves
• Rhubarb
• Fresh Turmeric Root
• Fenugreek

Our tips for maintaining healthy digestion

1. Try having a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in water just before a meal
2. Add some grated bitter melon, chicory, endive, dandelion leaves or rocket to a side salad and eat these foods first
3. Take a tbsp of aloe vera juice before meals
4. Add fenugreek and turmeric to Indian dishes
5. Try to have one portion of bitter green vegetable with each main meal

Shop our range of high quality Digestive and Gut Health supplements today, or contact our team for advice. 

Disclaimer: No one diet or supplement regime works for everyone and you should always seek help from a qualified/registered health expert before making changes to your diet, or before introducing any supplements.