One of the amazing wonders of the human body, digestion is how your body breaks down and absorbs the food that you feed it. It can play a huge role in your overall health and wellbeing, how you absorb nutrients and impact your immunity and brain health.
The “second brain”
Have you ever heard your stomach referred to as the second brain? This is because the health of your gastrointestinal system determines so many functions of the body!
For example, the health of your gut plays a role in the strength of your immune system. The good bacteria in our tummies helps to fight against the bad bacteria, disease and infection. Having a good microbial environment helps to reduce inflammation, keeping the immune response strengthened and regulated for when it’s needed to fight against disease (Wu & Wu, 2012).
A healthy stomach can also influence the health and condition of your skin. This relationship is often referred to as the gut-skin axis and shows that the condition of the bacteria in the gut influences the homeostasis of the skin, keeping it healthy to avoid conditions such as dermatitis, acne and psoriasis (Salem, et al., 2018).
The gut-brain axis is another important way that gut health influences brain health. The good bacteria in our tummies help to produce and regulate the neurotransmitters which are the feel good hormones responsible for influencing mood, sleep and energy to name a few (Harvard Health Publishing, 2021).
What influences the health of our digestion?
The difference between a healthy digestion and an impaired digestion can be one or many things influencing it. Some of the main factors that influence digestion include:
- The food you consume
- Bacterial balance in the gut
- Water intake
- Exercise
- Sleep
- Stress
- Eating habits
- Underlying health conditions
- Medications
- Lifestyle habits
How to improve digestion
Anyone can make little changes to have a big impact on the health of their digestion, one of the easiest places to begin is your food and water intake. The average adult requires at least 2L of water daily to stay hydrated, by ensuring adequate hydration you can reduce bloating, constipation and inflammation, helping to ensure a smoother digestion. Eating a balanced diet high in fibre, fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, anti-inflammatory foods and reducing highly processed, sugary and saturated fats not only supports your overall body’s health but eliminates digestive discomforts while improving the overall process of digestion (GANJ, 2017).
Having an audit of your lifestyle and habits is another great place to begin for digestive improvement. Looking at your stress levels and how you can reduce these, optimising your sleep, avoiding unhealthy habits such as smoking, drugs and alcohol, increasing your daily movement and spending more time in the fresh air and sun all contribute to a healthier digestive tract.
Some other ways to improve your digestion is by addressing the underlying issues. Taking a daily probiotic to help increase the good bacteria in your gut is a must and will help to rebalance the microbial environment. Taking apple cider vinegar before main meals is another way to help improve digestion, breaking down and absorption of nutrients and supporting gut integrity (Carter, A. 2019).
Natural super foods that are high in antioxidants with strong anti-inflammatory properties are a must have inclusion either through food intake or by supplementation. Some of the best functional foods to include in your daily intake include ginseng, turmeric, garlic and ginger.
Let yourself absorb this…
While the above is more than a mouthful of knowledge to digest, it is achievable and can be broken down into one small change at a time. Whether you choose to begin with taking a daily probiotic or cleaning up your food intake, start with one little change a week and keep adding as you feel ready. Remember the gut is the second brain, so a small improvement to your digestion can make a huge difference to the rest of your body’s health and wellbeing!
References
Carter, A. (2019). Leaky gut supplements: what you need to know to feel better, HealthLine. Accessed on 05/10/2022, <https://www.healthline.com/health/digestive-health/leaky-gut-supplements#supplements>
Harvard Health Publishing, (2021). The gut brain connection, Harvard Medical School. Accessed on 05/10/2022, <https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-gut-brain-connection>
GANJ, (2017). Digestion: How Long Does It Take and What Factors Influence It? Gastroenterology Associates of New Jersey. Accessed on 05/10/2022, <https://www.ganjllc.com/digestion-long-take-factors-influence/>
Salem, I., Ramser, A., Isham, N., & Ghannoum, M. A. (2018). The Gut Microbiome as a Major Regulator of the Gut-Skin Axis. Frontiers in microbiology, 9, 1459. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01459
Wu, H. J., & Wu, E. (2012). The role of gut microbiota in immune homeostasis and autoimmunity. Gut microbes, 3(1), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.4161/gmic.19320
