The digestive system is a major system of the human body that’s responsible for processing the food and beverages we consumed, then converting them into nutrients. It also helps eliminate toxins and other harmful substances or end-products not required by the body through fecal matter. 

Gut health is crucial to metabolism, and any injury or infection can impair the nutrient absorption capabilities of the stomach and intestines, causing different digestive and other health problems. Because of this, it’s important to learn ways on how to ensure that the digestive system is in good health. 

Take Probiotics 

Probiotics, which can also be called as good bacteria, refer to live yeast and bacteria that are helpful in keeping the gut healthy. Dr Ruscio explains that taking probiotics shouldn’t be complicated. While there are different probiotic strains and species, all you need to know are the main probiotic categories.

Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium probiotic species, which are also called lactic-acid producing bacteria, are the most well-researched. Saccharomyces Boulardii is a healthy fungus that can also improve gut health. The third probiotics species are soil-based probiotics that use different bacillus species.

This particular strain of bacteria is described by Healthcanal that it has an outer shell that keeps it protected against harsh environments like the intestinal tract.

Check out the health benefits of probiotics:

  • Increase healthy bacteria
  • Prevent bloating
  • Prevent diarrhea and constipation 
  • Reduce gut inflammation
  • Prevent leaky gut or gut damage 

Watch What You Eat

What you eat reflects your digestive health and your overall health. That’s why paying close attention to your diet is paramount in achieving a healthy gut. 

It’s highly recommended to eat a balanced diet to supply your body with the right amount of vitamins, minerals, and other key nutrients, ensuring the normal functioning of all organs and systems in the body, most especially the digestive system. 

Check these tips to ensure you eat right: 

    • Practice Healthy Eating Practices: Eat your three major meals a day–breakfast, lunch, and dinner. To reduce high-sugar cravings and obesity, avoid skipping meals. 

 

    • Develop a Meal Plan: Eating whatever is available or accessible will pose risks such as gaining extra pounds, binge-eating, and nutrient imbalances. By developing a meal plan, you’re able to prepare and cook healthy meals instead of constantly relying on meal delivery services. 

 

  • Create a Food Diary: If you have weight issues or your doctor advised you to strictly watch your diet because of an existing medical condition, creating a food diary would help. Doing so keeps you reminded and allows you to track all the food you’ve consumed in a day, making you aware of the possible consequences of going overboard. 

Enforce Strict Self-Discipline

When it comes to eating habits, enforcing strict self-discipline can be challenging. However, it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. You don’t have to undergo an extremely low carb diet, resist hunger, or never give in to your food cravings at all. Self-discipline involves thinking of other alternatives to unhealthy eating or poor diet to attain a healthy digestive system.

Here’s how you can enforce strict self-discipline for better gut health:

    • Create a Grocery List: Grocery or supermarket shopping can be tempting. Most often than not, people just put anything they can think of inside the pushcart. It would help to create a list of the food and ingredients you’ll need and limit food items that are not good for the body, such as liters of ice cream.
    • Know and Use Food Substitutes: You can replace unhealthy food items with healthier ones, such as using honey instead of white sugar to sweeten your coffee or pastries. Rice and pasta can be substituted by vegetable-based starches, like squash.
    • Use Your Creativity and Resourcefulness: Using your creativity and resourcefulness in meal preparation will take care of your digestive health. Watch tutorial videos or read online resources from food websites to get some bright ideas.
    • Measure: Measuring your food comes in different forms. You can count calories or be mindful of the number of cups or teaspoons for the ingredients you use in preparing delicious and hearty meals. Counting the plate, glass, or other food servings also helps.
    • Sleep and Exercise Enough: A part of taking care of your gut health is getting enough sleep and staying active as much as possible. Lack of sleep can alter nutrient absorption and cause hormonal imbalances that affect digestion and overall health.

See Your Doctor Regularly

It’s important to see your doctor regularly, not just to assess your digestive health, but your overall physical and mental health. You have to consult a specialized doctor or a gastroenterologist when you have gastrointestinal (GI) problems. Stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and the presence of blood in the stool can be manifestations of a major gut health problem.

Also, remember that emotional stress can also cause digestive health problems, such as ulcer and gastritis. It pays, then, to talk to a psychologist or a psychiatrist if you have unmanageable coping behaviors or you feel sad and hopeless for more than two weeks. These signs could be indicative of a psychological health problem that can also manifest along with GI signs and symptoms.

So, when do you need to see a doctor for your GI signs and symptoms?

  • See a doctor if you experience pain that’s not relieved by over-the-counter pain medication, which could be appendicitis or inflammation of the appendix. The best intervention for this digestive health condition is surgery or removal of the appendix. 

Never ignore extreme stomach pain because inflamed appendix, when burst, will cause sepsis or blood infection, which is life-threatening.

    • Alternating diarrhea and constipation with bloody stool can be signs of colon cancer.

 

    • Vomiting dark-colored material is a manifestation of intestinal ulcer, while fresh blood is indicative of an oral problem or gastric ulcer.

 

  • Stomach pain experienced before or after eating can also be a sign of major gut health issues, such as gall stones or liver problems. This can affect the ability of liver enzymes to metabolize the food you eat.

Conclusion

Ensure the good health of your digestive system by eating right, taking probiotics, and develop healthy eating practices. Self-discipline must be imposed at all times without being too punitive or hard on yourself. 

For more information on disorders that affects the stomach, such as bubble gut, head to the experts at Centre for Gastrointestinal Health.

Remember that the quantity and quality of food you eat reflect what’s inside. So, it’s best to eat healthily and wisely.



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