Did you know that 70% of your immune system is found in the digestive tract? This means that maintaining the good health of your digestive tract can really uplift your body’s health and contribute to an improvement in your well being. Digestion is the breaking down of the food you consume into nutrients that can be absorbed by your blood and cells to provide you with energy and nourishment.
To improve your digestive health there are some foods and healthy snacks you should have more of and these are:
High fiber foods
Fiber is the part of food that passes through your body undigested. There is soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber bulks up your stools and sweeps through your digestive tract cleaning out waste. It is excellent at regulating bowel movement. Examples of insoluble fiber are whole grain, and non-starchy vegetables such as celery, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber and dark leafy vegetables. Soluble fiber captures water and turns into a gel that fills you up. This helps to keep hunger pangs at bay and balance blood sugar levels. Examples of soluble fiber are oatmeal, nuts, seeds, apples and berries. Use these fiber foods to make healthy snacks such as oatmeal cookies or vegetable sandwiches.
Food high in water
Foods and vegetable that have high water content are great for your digestive health. The water helps in ensuring the metabolic processes in the digestive tract work as required. These foods are also diuretics thereby promoting the health of the urinary tract by flushing it out regularly. They are also good high volume and low-calorie foods because you only need a small quantity of them to feel full and they are easy to digest thereby reducing the work to be done by your digestive system. High water content foods are also an alternative source of water for the body. Good examples are watermelons, tomatoes, cucumber, leafy green vegetables, berries and eggplants among others.
Probiotic- rich foods
Taking foods rich in probiotics will greatly improve your digestive system. This is bacteria introduced into the body that has a beneficial effect such as fighting off harmful bacteria and improving food digestion. You get probiotics from fermented foods and cultured foods. These foods will replenish the healthy bacteria and get rid of excess amounts of bad bacteria making sure things in the digestive tracts are balanced. This will boost the body’s immune system and greatly improve digestion. Food such as sauerkraut, kimchi and natural yoghurt are good examples of these foods. Ensure that the yoghurt you choose is free of sugar and filled with live and active cultures. Yoghurt and fruit can be used to make healthy snacks, as well.
Flavor food with herbs and spices
There are herbs and spices that will boost the health of your digestive system. One of them is ginger which helps in promoting the production of saliva for digestion. Garlic is a good inclusion because it promotes the health of the gut through its antibacterial and antiviral properties. Cinnamon inhibits overgrowth of unhealthy bacteria such as yeast and is also a reliever of bloating. Having lots of natural herbs in your food will, therefore, boost the health of your gut immensely. Others to look out for are oregano, thyme and sage. Use these herbs in healthy snacks such as guacamole dip with whole wheat crackers.