Improving digestion is essential to improving an individual’s overall health.
The digestive system plays an important role in your health. It is responsible for absorbing nutrients and eliminating waste.
Like other organ systems, the digestive system will also face many problems if not taken care of properly. More and more people are suffering from bloating, abdominal pain, acid reflux, diarrhea, and constipation for many reasons.
In particular, some conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease, diverticulitis, and heartburn can cause you to experience more serious digestive problems.
However, you can completely improve digestion with a regular diet. Here are the 12 best foods that help digestion.
Contents
1. Yogurt
Yogurt is made from fermented milk. It has many beneficial bacteria in the gut, especially lactic acid bacteria.
Beneficial bacteria are also known as probiotics. They live in the intestinal tract to contribute to the healthy functioning of the digestive system.
By natural mechanism, probiotics still make their own in your gut. However, increasing the intake of foods that are good for the digestive system like yogurt will increase the number of beneficial bacteria.
Besides, the probiotic content in yogurt can also help you improve digestion. Probiotics help with conditions like bloating, and constipation. Yogurt can also be one of those foods to eat when you have diarrhea.
However, not all yogurt contains probiotics. Therefore, you need to find the right product for your needs based on the ingredient list printed on the package.
2. Apple
Apples are a rich source of pectin, a form of soluble fiber.
Pectin will be broken down by beneficial bacteria in the colon to contribute to an increase in stool volume. This is also what makes it a popular ingredient in medicines or foods that can help with constipation and diarrhea.
According to Healthline, pectin has also been shown to reduce the risk of intestinal infections or colitis.
3. Dill helps you improve your digestive system
Dill is a plant with a soft, long, green stem. It is often used to add flavor to dishes. Dill is seasoned with dishes like scallions or coriander.
The fiber content in dill helps prevent constipation and improves digestion. It also contains an antispasmodic to the smooth muscles in your digestive tract. From there, it can relieve symptoms such as bloating, heartburn, etc.
4. Kefir is one of those foods that help digestion
Milk kefir is also known as Tibetan snow fungus. This type of food is cultured by adding kefir seeds to the milk and then fermenting it. Milk kefir is the result of mixing yeast, and beneficial bacteria with milk.
Like probiotics in yogurt, kefir has the function of supporting the digestion of nutrients found in sugar and milk. Therefore, it will help reduce some of the side effects related to sugar and milk intolerance such as gas, bloating, acid reflux, etc.
Several other scientific studies have also shown that kefir induces an increase in beneficial bacteria in the gut and a decrease in the number of harmful bacteria. Therefore, it is also one of the foods that have the ability to improve digestion.
5. Chia seeds
Chia seeds are an excellent source of fiber. When ingested, they contribute to the formation of a gelatin-like substance in the stomach. Once there, this substance acts like a prebiotic, supporting the growth of beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract.
Besides, chia seeds also help promote bowel movements so that you have regular bowel movements, avoiding constipation.
6. Fermented Tea (Kombucha)
Kombucha fermented tea is made by adding specific strains of bacteria, sugar, and yeast to black or green tea. They are then subjected to fermentation for a week or so.
During the fermentation period, a variety of probiotic bacteria are produced. These bacteria have the ability to improve the digestive system.
Not only that, some tests on rats have shown that kombucha-fermented tea can contribute to the healing of stomach ulcers.
7. Papaya
Papaya is one of the delicious, healthy tropical fruits. They have a digestive enzyme called papain.
When ingested, papain aids digestion by helping to break down protein fibers so that the nutrient is more easily absorbed.
Papain can also relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome such as constipation, bloating, etc.
8. Whole grains
The most common whole grains include oats, quinoa, and farro, and those made from whole wheat. The abundant fiber content in these grains can help you improve digestion in two ways.
Firstly, they contribute to softening stools to prevent constipation.
The second is to promote the activity of prebiotics and beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract so that the digestive system works more smoothly and easily.
9. Sugar beet
Beets are also a rich source of fiber.
About 136 grams of beets contain up to 3.4 grams of fiber. When introduced into the body, they travel to the colon to promote the activity of beneficial bacteria or increase stool size. From there, it helps you to defecate easier. This is also one of the ways to improve digestion that beets give you.
There are many ways to make beets into delicious and nutritious food such as stewing soup, salad dressing, pickling, or making smoothies.
10. Green vegetables
Green vegetables contain most of the insoluble fiber. This type of fiber has the ability to soften and accelerate the formation of stool to help you avoid constipation.
No, but dark green vegetables are also good sources of magnesium. It can improve spasms in the digestive tract.
In addition, a 2016 study confirmed that green leafy vegetables have the ability to feed beneficial bacteria in the gut. From there, it contributes to improving the digestive system and weakens the ability of some bad bacteria to work.
11. Salmon
Salmon is famous for its rich nutrition and great health benefits. The rich source of omega-3 fatty acids in salmon can help the body reduce or fight inflammation.
Therefore, nutritionists often recommend that people with inflammatory bowel disease, food intolerance, or some other digestive disorder increase their eating of salmon. Omega-3s in salmon can help them control symptoms and improve digestion.
12. Slow cooker bone broth
Bone broth is the result of boiling animal bones (usually pigs, cows, and chickens) for a certain period of time.
According to Healthline, there is gelatin in bone broth. This substance is derived from the amino acids glutamine and glycine in animal bones. It binds with fluids in the digestive system to make food easier to absorb.
Glutamine also has the ability to protect the functioning of the intestinal wall. It has also been shown to improve inflammatory bowel disease, one of the problems affecting the digestive system.
Final thoughts
Not only can these foods help your digestion get better but they also help you improve your overall well-being since they contain many vitamins that are good for the body. Make sure your daily diet includes one of those aforementioned foods in order to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Top News hopes you find the article helpful and we hope your health always gets better and better.