Top 5 ways for perfect digestive health

Busy lives and pressing schedules can often find us scrambling to eat whatever is convenient and easy to prepare. With all that rushing around, we tend not to spare a thought for our torso region and important digestive health! Despite the fact that once we’ve enjoyed the food, it’s really up to our digestive system to perform well and provide us with the nutrients from the foods we choose to eat.

Unfortunately when our digestive system isn’t happy, it can lead to some unpleasant symptoms including bloating, abdominal pain and cramping, excessive gas and burping.

So how can we keep our digestive system in peak condition?

1. Probiotic foods

Consuming a wide variety of foods naturally rich in probiotic bacteria helps to ensure that we are filling our intestines with the beneficial bacteria needed for gut health, but also whole body health! A digestive system full of a range of beneficial bacteria help us to get the most nutrients out of our food, boost our immunity, and potentially help prevent a whole range of illnesses! You can get your daily dose from foods such as yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables, kimchi, kombucha and a high-quality, multi-strain probiotic supplement.

2. Daily fibre fix

Eat plenty of foods high in fibre. Fibre helps to increase transit time in the digestive system, meaning it helps remove excess waste and potential toxins quicker from our bodies like a broom sweeping our insides. Fibre is also an important source of food for the bacteria in our gut, which helps them to produce a range of compounds that benefit our health. Ensure you’re getting enough fibre by eating plenty of fruits, especially berries, and vegetables (keeping their skin on when possible). Choosing whole grain, nutrient dense sources of carbohydrates such as quinoa, millet, amaranth, oats and rye will also help boost your intake.

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Written by Larina Robinson from The Body Dietetics exclusively for The Goodness Magazine.

Enjoy reading the rest of this article – in Issue 3 (Sep 2014) of Healthy Mama Magazine.

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