The Importance of Healthy Digestion for Well Being

• To understand healthy digestion, you need to realize that the process involves nearly all of your body starting with your mouth.
• Because of the length of the digestive process, many problems can occur.

Although our respiratory and circulatory systems seem to be discussed easily, most people don’t want to talk about their digestive processes very easily. However, healthy digestion is one of the most important processes to your overall well-being. Understanding how digestion works, what problems can interfere with your well-being thanks to digestion issues, and learning how to keep the process running smoothly are important if you want to maintain a good quality of life.

What Is Digestive Process?

To understand healthy digestion, you need to realize that the process involves nearly all of your body starting with your mouth. When you eat a piece of food, your saliva already begins breaking it down so that it will move through your body more easily. Enzymes in the saliva also help break down the food. After the food travels through the esophagus, it reaches the stomach where more enzymes and acids will continue working on breaking down the food. Food then leaves the stomach through a narrow passage known as the pylorus so it can start small intestine digestion. This stage of the process is one of the most crucial because nutrient digestion is done here. The nutrients from our food are absorbed back into our bodies through the small intestine which is part of our extracellular digestion.

Problems with the Digestive Process

Because of the length of the digestive process, many problems can occur. Reflux – the movement of stomach acid into the esophagus – can cause severe heartburn occasionally, but small people have to deal with these symptoms on a daily basis. Another common problem is the peptic ulcer which is caused by bacteria. The bacteria create sores in the stomach and small intestine which make digestion painful and which can lead to internal bleeding. Lactose intolerance, gallstones, and diverticulitis are other digestive complaints that can significantly reduce your well-being by causing pain, limiting what you can eat, and making you have to constantly be thinking about your digestion.

Maintaining Healthy Digestion

If you want to keep your digestion healthy, there are a few steps you can take. First, make sure you are eating plenty of fiber. Fiber helps keep the food moving through your body. That’s important because you don’t want a build-up in your intestines or stomach. Fiber also softens the leftover parts of your food which makes it easier to excrete. Make sure to combine fiber with plenty of water which is also essential for healthy digestion.

You should also avoid eating large meals. When too much food is consumed at one time, it has to stay in the stomach waiting its turn in the small intestine. That’s what causes the bloated and heavy feeling you get when you’ve eaten way too much food. Smaller, more frequently meals are better for digestion and for your metabolism.

Steer clear of high fat foods. Fat can actually make many of the digestive problems described above worse, plus it slows down the entire process. Sticking to a low-fat diet and avoiding high-fat oils in particular is going to be better for your digestive health and well-being.

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.