Speed up your digestion

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Content

To step
Method 1 of 4: Adjust your lifestyle
Method 2 of 4: Eating things that are beneficial for your digestion
Method 3 of 4: Change your eating habits
Method 4 of 4: Take nutritional supplements
Tips
Warnings

Your digestive system breaks down the food you eat into smaller particles, allowing your body to take full advantage of the energy and nutrients from your food. Not all foods are broken down in the same way and some foods take longer to digest than others. While the speed of your digestion mainly depends on the natural mechanisms in your body, there are certain things you can do to make sure you digest your food faster and better. Below you can read what you can do yourself to speed up your digestion.

To step

Method 1 of 4: Adjust your lifestyle

Exercise regularly. By exercising more, you will help ensure that the food you have given continues to move through your digestive tract. This can increase the rate at which food is digested and can have a beneficial effect on the overall digestive process.
- Exercise can combat constipation and speed up your digestion by making food stay in the colon longer, reducing the amount of water absorbed from your stool and sent back into your body.
- Exercise also stimulates the natural contractions of the soft muscles within your digestive system, helping to break down food more quickly.
- It is better to wait about an hour after you have eaten before exercising. That way, your body's natural blood supply is allowed to concentrate within your digestive system instead of directly powering your heart and other active muscles.
Make sure you get enough sleep. Sleep gives your digestive organs the time they need to rest and recover, making them better able to digest food quickly and efficiently. Making a few changes to your sleep patterns can have major and lasting benefits for your digestive system.
- Do not fall asleep immediately after eating; wait two to three hours to make sure your body has had enough time to digest the food.
- Try to sleep on your left side. Research has shown that your body is better able to digest the food you have eaten if you sleep on your left side.
Drink enough. Drinking fluids, especially water or tea, during or after a meal stimulates digestion. Moisture helps your body break food down and water can help by hydrating you.
- Being well hydrated is essential for keeping your body producing enough saliva and gastric juices.
- In addition, water makes the stool softer, which helps prevent constipation.
- In addition, water is extremely important because it helps your body to efficiently use dietary fiber, an indispensable part of your digestion.

Method 2 of 4: Eating things that are beneficial for your digestion

Eat high-fiber foods. Fiber-rich foods stimulate your digestion in many different ways. Eating these types of foods can speed up your digestion. Fiber-rich food ensures that you are less likely to suffer from constipation and has a beneficial effect on the general health of your intestines.
- Fiber works by absorbing water, which adds weight and bulk to your stool. In order for this to work, you also need to make sure you drink the correct amount (and sometimes extra) water. If you don't, you can suffer from constipation.
- Because fiber-rich foods give your stool extra volume, they regulate your digestion. This can also help against gas, bloating and diarrhea.
- Examples of fiber-rich foods are: whole grain products, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds.
Eat yogurt. Yogurt is an excellent natural source of probiotics and other live cultures that are indispensable for your digestion. The benefits that yogurt has on your digestive system are thought to come from the way yogurt:
- Stimulates the growth of good bacteria thanks to the natural live cultures it contains.
- Helps you heal faster from infections and reduces the immune system response in people with irritable bowel syndrome.
- Ensures that the food is passed through your intestines faster.
Eat ginger. Ginger has been used to aid digestion for thousands of years and is still a popular remedy today. Ginger is believed to increase the amount of enzymes released in the digestive tract that make food digested faster and easier.
- Ginger has been shown to increase the contraction of your stomach muscles, causing food to reach the upper part of the small intestine more quickly.
Choose low-fat foods and avoid fatty foods and fried foods. Fatty foods and fried foods can cause acid indigestion and heartburn because they put too much strain on your stomach and prevent it from properly breaking down the food that gets into it.
- Such foods are difficult for your stomach to digest, slowing down the overall digestion process.
- Examples of fatty and fried foods are: cold cuts, chips, ice cream, butter and cheese.
Choose foods that have a mild flavor and avoid very spicy foods. Spicy foods can irritate your throat and esophagus, causing heartburn and acid regurgitation. Additionally, eating spicy foods can upset your digestive system, slowing down your digestion and causing diarrhea and other digestive problems.
Use little or no dairy. Most people benefit from yogurt, but if you show symptoms of lactose intolerance, it is better to leave yogurt in addition to all other dairy products. While the precise mechanism that causes dairy to cause digestive problems and constipation is unknown, dairy can most certainly hinder the digestive process. Lactose intolerance can cause bloating, gas and indigestion, all of which can be the result of slowed or malfunctioning digestion.
Eat little or no red meat. Red meat can clog you up and can block natural bowel movements necessary for fast digestion. The adverse effect of red meat on your digestion has several reasons:
- Red meat is high in fat and therefore your body takes longer to process it.
- Red meat contains a lot of iron, which can also lead to constipation.

Method 3 of 4: Change your eating habits

Eat several small meals throughout the day. An extensive meal will overload your digestive system, so to speed up your digestion it is better to eat smaller meals throughout the day. Try to eat 4 or 5 small meals evenly throughout the day. Try to eat every three hours to avoid getting too hungry.
Choose unprocessed rather than processed foods. Foods that have been processed a large number of times are difficult for your body to digest. Instead, opt for unprocessed foods that are not full of preservatives, colors, flavors, fragrances, and other chemical additives. Eat fruits, vegetables, brown rice, whole grain pasta, legumes, beans, nuts, seeds and other unprocessed foods throughout the day to make your digestion easier and more efficient.
Chew well. Chewing starts the digestive process, but we often don't pay enough attention to it. By chewing well, you increase the surface area of the food particles many times over and allow your enzymes to reach more of the food you put into your body. Exposing large areas of food to your saliva is an excellent start to smooth, efficient digestion.

Method 4 of 4: Take nutritional supplements

Consider taking nutritional supplements with probiotics. Probiotics are bacteria that help ensure that the natural balance of microorganisms in our gut is not disturbed. There is some evidence that taking extra probiotics in the form of nutritional supplements can help improve your digestion by increasing the number of beneficial bacteria in your gut. Probiotics are also found in many different foods, so if you prefer not to take supplements, you can also reap the benefits of probiotics by including foods containing probiotics in your menu.
- Because the composition of food supplements with probiotics is not legally protected as is the case with medicines, there are a number of things to keep in mind when choosing food supplements with probiotics. Make sure the following information is on the label:
  - sex, species and strain of the probiotic (e.g. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG)
  - the number of organisms that will be alive when the expiration date is reached
  - dosage
  - name and contact details of the company
- It is very important to know what different types of probiotic strains are in the supplement. Some people respond better to certain strains of bacteria than others. Therefore, choose a probiotic with a number of different strains.
Take digestive enzyme supplements. Digestive enzymes available from pharmacies without a prescription can help promote digestion by replenishing the enzymes found naturally in your body. Enzymes break the food down into smaller particles, making it easier for your body to absorb the food. When these enzymes do their job properly, they may promote the effectiveness and speed of the digestive process.
- Digestive enzymes are produced by four glands in the human body, the most important of which is the thyroid gland.
- While there are naturopaths and nutritional supplement manufacturers who claim that taking enzyme supplements has many benefits for the human body, many doctors say more human research is needed to confirm the potential effect of these supplements.
- Some of the commonly sold supplements are:
  - Lipase. Lipase aids in the digestion and absorption of fat.
  - Papain. Papain is said to be helpful in digesting proteins.
  - Lactase. Lactase helps digest lactose, the protein found in dairy products. People who naturally have low levels of lactase in their body therefore suffer from lactose intolerance.
Drink herbal bitters. Herbal bitters or simply bitters are tinctures (often alcoholic) made from a wide variety of herbs, bark and plant roots and are thought to aid digestion. The alcohol can act as a solvent for the plant extracts and makes the liquid stable. Drinking bitters before, during and after meals can help speed up your digestion. However, the beneficial effect of bitters on our digestive system has not yet been proven, and to find out how well they really work, further research needs to be done.

Tips

Try not to sit for long periods after eating a heavy meal because sitting for a long time slows down your metabolism.
Try nutritional supplements with peppermint oil. Based on some research, it has been suggested that peppermint oil capsules could help improve your digestion, but no definitive evidence exists yet to support these claims.