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6 things that ruin your digestion, and are not related to food at all

It's great that you eat healthy and balanced, really, but if your digestive system is still having problems (and who's not?) - you probably need to improve in a few other areas

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• diet

• Digestion

• constipation

• Diarrhea

• Digestive System

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Wednesday, 21 October 2020, 07:22

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It does not just depend on what you eat.

Food (Photo: Giphy)

Imagine for a second you were transposed into the karmic driven world of Earl. Imagine for a second you were transposed into the karmic driven world of Earl.

If you, too, immediately thought about your stomach, you are not alone, and it's not just because the title of the article has already pretty much revealed the answer to you.

In fact, the activity of the digestive system is greatly affected by both the mental state and other factors of which we are not at all aware.

For example, for some people it is enough to just think about a cigarette or black coffee to feel awake activity in the digestive tract.

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To the full article

In order to improve the activity of the digestive system and prevent various problems that may develop in it - it is important to first understand exactly how it works and what are the mechanisms that affect its activity.

While it is difficult to explain all this complexity on one foot, here are some of the relationships of digestion with other processes in your body that may surprise you:

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1. You exaggerate with the water you swallow

We know what you are thinking - any expert who understands a little about nutrition recommends drinking large amounts of water to improve the digestive process and the health of the body in general.

Indeed, adequate drinking of water is an important component in improving digestion, but many of us quickly ingest large amounts of water along with food - in a way that also causes large amounts of air to enter the digestive tract.

A quarter of an hour before the meal, not during.

A glass of water (Photo: Giphy)

This kind of thing not only causes gas and bloating in the stomach that will accompany you for the next few hours.

In some cases it can impair the production of hydrochloric acid and enzymes that are essential for the digestive process.

Such a thing can manifest itself in a slowdown of the whole process.

To avoid this, it is recommended to drink water about a quarter of an hour before a meal and only half an hour after you finish eating.

And if you must drink with the food, try to do so in small sips.

2. You are taking antibiotics or exaggerating with probiotics

Antibiotics are an essential drug that has been a significant leap forward in humanity’s ability to deal with dangerous bacteria.

The problem is that antibiotics harm many bacteria in our body - even the good ones that keep us healthy.

In the digestive system we all have huge amounts of intestinal bacteria that contribute among other things to the proper breakdown of food.

Studies have found that the use of antibiotics can harm these bacteria in a way that manifests itself in diarrhea and difficulty in absorbing nutrients.

To avoid this, it is recommended to take probiotics and foods that increase the rate of good bacteria in our body such as yogurt, pickles or different types of tea during antibiotic treatment.

But it is important to remember that contrary to what people think, when it comes to good bacteria, too much is also dangerous.

If you exaggerate with the probiotics, this too can produce an imbalance in the digestive system that will actually slow down the process and digestive problems.

3. Your posture is incorrect

We know that posture greatly affects problems like back or shoulder pain, but its connection to the digestive system is certainly surprising and quite amazing.

In 2003, researchers were able to demonstrate that proper posture improves gastrointestinal activity, with an emphasis on intestinal gas production.

According to the researchers, people with proper posture suffer less from gas and constipation.

They also enjoy "on the go" less back and neck pain - so by and large this is a pretty lucrative deal by all accounts.

Another good reason to be more upright.

Man improves his posture (Photo: Giphy)

4. You are not moving enough

There is no doubt that the corona crisis has made many of us less active than before - and this has implications for almost every aspect of our conduct and health.

Lack of exercise affects the mental state, the risk of disease and also, it is important to understand, the digestive system.

A study published in 2014 in the journal Gut found that physical exercise has a positive and important effect on the bacterial tissue in the gut, which as mentioned contributes greatly to the digestive process and many other processes in our body that we are only now beginning to recognize.

Exercise at any level, the researchers emphasize, can contribute to improving digestive activity and also strengthening the immune system - two aspects of health that we will all be happy to strengthen during this challenging period.

5. You're stressed

And speaking of challenging times, these days it seems that even the mental stress that has increased in most of us in recent months is not exactly going to disappear in the foreseeable future.

In fact, long before the Corona crisis, the World Health Organization defined mental stress as the real epidemic of the 21st century and stressed that stress can lead to health damage, which will also be reflected in increased risk of various diseases.

So how does stress affect digestion?

Well, the digestive process is governed by the parasympathetic nervous system that takes control of our body at rest.

In a state of stress, the sympathetic nervous system takes control.

The purpose of this system is to prepare the body for an emergency and it does this by delaying or slowing down processes like digestion and some of the thought processes.

First of all, calm down.

Sheldon from the Big Bang breathes into a paper bag (Photo: Giphy)

Adopting sedative tools such as meditation, professional therapy or exercise that we have already recommended here in another context - may certainly help to form a healthier relationship with stress and reduce its impact on health.

6. You are not sleeping enough

If when you are tired you feel that your self-control is undermined and you snack more than usual - it is not just in your head.

An interesting study has found that a lack of sleep of even one hour can significantly impair our self-control and increase the incidence of hunger attacks.

Lack of sleep, it turns out, increases the production of a hormone called ghrelin, which affects our hunger and cravings for fat, sugar and caffeine.

All of these not only cause obesity but can also produce digestive problems like gas, discomfort and bloating.

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