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Want to improve your digestion? I can help!
I hate to go into details about the digestive issues that I suffered from. And for those of you who suffer from poor digestion and elimination I know I don’t have to go into detail. You know what I’m talking about. Improper digestion and elimination can lead to embarrassment, pain, discomfort, depression, fatigue, weakened immune system, and some serious irritability.
I still have an irrational fear that they’ll return one day to make my life miserable despite my newfound healthy lifestyle, and plant-based diet.
From as early as I can remember something was wrong with my stomach. It hurt, it made noises, it cramped, it tossed and turned, it bloated, and what I put in had a hard time coming back out. I went to tons of doctors, and was told I had IBS, hiatal hernia, and weak gut flora. Despite the medications and probiotics, nothing seemed to work!
Then everything changed! I stopped eating dairy.
I became vegan about 3 years ago; I did it strictly for its ethical reasons because I had resigned myself to a life of being ruled by my gut and I didn’t think there was anything else I could do to win the belly war.
When I became vegan the last animal products I had to give up were yogurt and the occasional slice of cheese pizza. I had started eating yogurt a few years earlier in my effort to fix my stomach. Everyone, especially in the media and in commercials, tells you that yogurt is the cure to digestive problems. Well, not mine. Just 2 weeks after becoming vegan my digestive and elimination problems had disappeared. I was shocked! Could this really be happening? Is this still really happening, even 3 years later? Yes, yes, yes!!
It feels so good to feel so good!
So, my first tip for improving digestion would be go vegan!
My other tips for improving & supporting digestion…
1. Reduce your stress levels. Stress effects everything in our lives, and when the stress starts to effect your digestion and elimination a dangerous cycle may begin (I know it did for me). Stressing in life, begets poor digestion, begets stress about digestion, begets worst digestion, etcetera…
Reduce your stress level by sleeping more, letting go of projects that aren’t serving you, practicing yoga, exercising, spending time with friends…just do what you love!
2. Maintain healthy gut bacteria by consuming unpasteurized probiotic foods (kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, etc..) Pasteurization kills all bacteria, even the good kind, so make sure what you’re buying is the real live deal!
3. Remove the gluten. I’m sure you’ve been inundated with information about gluten these days. If you have a sensitivity to this glue-like compound it can weaken your digestive system. Take it out of your diet for a couple of weeks and see if anything changes. When you reintroduce it to your diet you’ll be able to easily tell if it upsets your body in any way.
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| gluten-free pumpkin pancakes. Better belly breakfast! |
4. Eat lots of fiber. This is easily done on a whole foods plant-based diet : )
When you’re finished with this post, check out the post I did all about fiber earlier this year.
5. You’ll thrive on a whole foods plant-based diet. This way of eating will supply your body with the vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, healthy fats, and probiotics that you need to maintain a healthy body. I think it’s easy to eat like this. You recognize a whole food when you see it, right? Apple, broccoli, almond. Eat that, and avoid overly processed foods. Well, you don’t have to avoid them all of the time, but enjoy them sparingly 🙂
