3 Important Tips to Improve Your Digestion
Ditch the ice water! Ice water constricts the blood vessels in your stomach slowing down the digestive process and impact absorption of nutrients. This is one thing just about every patient hears from me…whether they have digestive issues or not. Your stomach likes to be warm. It’s like a nice little campfire to cook your meal. When you drink ice water you put out your campfire and it takes a lot of energy to get it going again to cook your meal. Solution: drink room temperature water or hot water with lemon and notice how much better your feel during and after your meal.
Sip, don’t chug, water when eating. Here I go with the water again. Americans tend to drink a lot of liquid with our meals but drowning your meal with multiple classes of water (or other liquids) will just lead to bloating or indigestion. When food enters your stomach hydrochloric acid (HCL) is secreted to help begin the process of digestion. HCL is very acidic in order to break big chunks of food into tiny, absorbable nutrients. So if you gulp a lot of water with your meal, you’re going to dilute the hydrochloric acid leaving your food partially digested. Solution: Take small sips of [room temperature] water to help food along the digestive track.
Drink your food and chew your water. What? Along with sipping small amounts of [room temperature] water take time to chew your food thoroughly. I am as guilty of this as anyone. Having a lively conversation at dinner or rushing to eat between patients I chew a few times and swallow…leading to bloating and indigestion. Digestion starts in the mouth and chewing breaks your food down from large particles into smaller particles that are more easily digested. This also makes it easier for your intestines to absorb nutrients from the food particles as they pass through. When larger particles of incompletely chewed food enter your stomach it may remain undigested when it enters your intestines. There, bacteria will have to work to break it down potentially leading to gas and bloating, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, cramping and other digestive problems. Solution: chew until your mouthful of food is liquefied…hence drinking your food!
Lifestyle changes along with acupuncture and herbs can resolve many different digestive issues. Give us a call at 720-745-1120 to see if acupuncture is right for you!