How Can I Heal My Digestive System Naturally?

We all know that a healthy digestive system is super important, but it can be tough to know where to start when improving your gut health. The entire digestive system covers from the oesophagus to the bowel, this is responsible for breaking down food into essential nutrients that help us run our bodies. That means if anything goes wrong, you may be at risk of diseases. Next time you're eating a meal and suddenly feel like you have the runs, it may be because you're having an early warning sign of a leaky gut.

The stomach is where the real action takes place. The first step mixes the food with powerful chemicals in the gut. Bile, hydrochloric acid, and digestive juices are essential for this mixing and if there is a shortage of any of these the process is off to a poor start. Regular, soft, bulky, and comfortable bowel movement is vital to health. However, as 4 million Americans say they are constipated most or all of the time, something is going seriously wrong.¹

Constipation is referred to as passing stools less than 3 times per week. Proper bowel movement includes concepts of proper transit time and regularity, which are important for healthy bowel movements. However, the longer products of digestion stay in the colon, the more chance that they have decomposed into unhealthy components called stool impurities.

Eating a high-fibre diet is important for your digestive system. A high-fibre diet helps keep your digestive system healthy and functioning properly. Fibres such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains will help prevent constipation while they also contribute to weight loss. High-fibre foods also help treat conditions like diverticulosis, irritable bowel syndrome, haemorrhoids, and more.

Source: National Library of Medicine

Tips to heal your digestive system naturally

The best way to counter the effects of a bad diet is by adding probiotics to your routine. Probiotics help preserve a good state of health, promote digestion, and maintain proper hydration in the body.

Chances are, our day-to-day routine involves a lot of work and stress. This eventually pressures us to consume more food than necessary. It is believed that 70% of your diet should consist of high-quality foods that can benefit your body.

Our bodies need food to function properly. You also have to have a healthy lifestyle as well, which includes healthy eating habits along with regular exercise to prevent muscle wasting and promote weight loss.

Some of the tips to heal your digestive system are listed here as follows:

• Eating more fibre- vegetables and fruits, yogurt, probiotics, and fermented foods
• Exercising for 30 minutes daily - Mild to moderate physical activity
• Drinking more water and cutting down on meat
• Cutting down on sugar and artificial sweeteners 
• Reducing stress and getting enough sleep

Signs of an unhealthy digestive system

There are these two variables that influence the gut, namely the gut microbiota and the gut barrier.

When the structural integrity of the gut barrier is compromised, large proteins and other molecules escape from the gut into the blood; this phenomenon is referred to as a “leaky gut.” The leakage of undesirable and incompatible substances from the gut into the bloodstream causes the immune system to launch an inflammatory response. The chronic inflammation resulting from a leaky gut is an underlying cause of many chronic health conditions. A leaky gut could, therefore, be playing a role in many health conditions.

Too much sugar, trans-fats, and processed food can cause your gut to become unhealthy. This also creates a leaky gut, causing inflammation in various parts of your body. Left untreated, a leaky gut can lead to a wide variety of health issues including autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurological issues, and more.

The gut microbiome gets disturbed due to a number of reasons:

1. Processed and Inflammatory Foods - According to the Standard American Diet, foods such as refined carbohydrates and industrial seed oils are a risk to the gut. This particular diet reduces the bacterial diversity in the gut and induces inflammation thereby leading to adverse health effects
2. Low Fiber Intake - A diet poor in fibre is likely to cause the gut microbiome to be derived from it and lead to reduced beneficial bacteria
3. Stress - It alters the gut and leads to health conditions
4. Chronic Infections - Bacterial, fungal, and viral infections alter the gut microbiota
5. Antibiotics and other medications - Antibiotics, birth control pills, NSAIDs, and proton pump inhibitors all alter the gut according to research²
6. Abnormal sleep schedule - It is really important to sleep well for the gut to function properly. Disruption in the circadian rhythm causes an imbalance in the biome

How does an unhealthy digestive system affect your overall health?

An unhealthy digestive system is characterized by gut bacteria becoming potentially harmful when the body's ecosystem undergoes abnormal changes. An imbalance in the gut bacteria causes symptoms like bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea. Many other diseases are linked to an unhealthy digestive system namely inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, liver diseases, HIV, cancers, and autism.

The gut and liver have a close interplay based on the evidence that the gut absorbs beneficial substances produced by the liver, which affect the metabolism of other organs in the body. A high-fat diet may be associated with obesity and insulin resistance, which contribute to type 2 Diabetes T2D.

The gut microbiota is an important part of the human body and is considered a reservoir of harmful microbes. Cancers such as gastrointestinal and prostate cancer are caused due to the presence of microbial pathogens or disorders in the intestinal bacterial community.

The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing globally. The cause of IBD remains to be unknown but intestinal dysbiosis as a result of inflammation has been proposed to be involved in its development. Another type of inflammatory bowel disease is Crohn’s disease (CD).

Summary

Our modern lifestyles are stressful, busy, and fast-paced. Food is too often processed with added fats and sugars, additives in processed foods or fat-free hassles on the way to work. When you simplify your diet, you are making it easier to digest food properly and so get more energy out of it.

The digestive system is essential because it transfers energy which is needed to fuel the body and survive. The nutrients won’t be absorbed and energy won’t be provided if the digestive system isn’t strong. Consuming food in its natural form and single-ingredient foods are easily broken down by the digestive system. Avoiding foods that are high in sugar, added preservatives, emulsifiers, saturated fats, and convenience food can ease the load that the digestive system faces when these are taken in.

The health of your gut bacteria is essential for maintaining a healthy metabolism and their role in controlling inflammation and fighting infections. A diet rich in fibre can help boost digestion along with a healthy microbial population in the gut.

An epidemiological study has shown that eating yogurt can prevent age-related weight gain.⁴ Dietary probiotic consumption provides good intestinal health by altering gut bacteria. Since the digestive system has an important impact on human health and diseases, it should be considered a centre point in preventing and treating chronic diseases.

Food is food and if it doesn’t nourish and support you, it doesn’t matter how much you love it. Our bodies need to feel good, so why would we feed them empty, un-nutritious calories? Feeling healthier, more satiated, and having more energy is the best way to protect your health and well being.