An alarming percentage of people suffer from minor but regular gastrointestinal problems such as poor digestion, heartburn (acid reflux) and reduced appetite. Despite the symptoms themselves being minor, these should be considered with more seriousness if they continue to occur frequently. Healthy individuals are not supposed to experience gastrointestinal health issues on a regular basis, even if they are minor to start with.
Frequent gut-related health problems could indicate a serious disease/condition, but it might still be possible to naturally prevent an underlying cause from growing worse with time. Quickly go through the following suggestions and learn how to naturally treat, heal and improve your digestive system.
Burn Calories with High Intensity Exercise
A regular exercise regimen helps us burn calories and stay fit but, more importantly, it also strengthens our digestive system. There are several physiological changes brought on by intense exercise which initiates this positive change:
– A higher need for energy naturally forces the digestive system to become more active and efficient.
– Regular exercise alters the gut microbiota to a degree where it can improve digestive capabilities much beyond the individual’s initial capability.
– Improved metabolic rate and decreased inflammatory markers are seen in people who have recently shifted from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one.
– People who exercise regularly experience a gradual decrease in bloating, constipation, and irregular bowel movements.
These are just a few examples of how exercise alters our gut health and brings about gradual but massive improvements. In fact, even scientists have not completely managed to uncover every positive effect that a proper exercise regimen has on our digestive system yet. What they have managed to discover is that intense but short workouts usually have the best effects on our overall health, which includes gut health.
Try high intensity interval training (HIIT) and 20-30 minutes of weight training/cardio combinations for best results. In case you have a health condition that prevents you from high intensity exercises, rest assured that even walking for half an hour a day is going to have a positive effect on your gut health.
Dietary Changes: Higher Intake of Magnesium
Integrative health specialists often find out that patients complaining of constipation, intestinal spasms, stomachache and headaches are suffering from a magnesium deficiency. At their core, these problems arise from irregular, insufficient and inactive enzyme secretions, which are supposed to break down the different types of food into micronutrients.
At a deeper level, the lack of digestive enzyme activity is a result of insufficient magnesium availability, because one of the many functions of magnesium is to activate these enzymes. A diet rich in magnesium should be able to counter the problem and improve the digestive system naturally. Some of the best natural sources of dietary magnesium are as follows:
– Pine nuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, cashew nuts, peanuts, chestnuts, and hazel nuts
– Sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseeds, and pumpkin seeds
– Peas, soybean, spinach, beans and lentils
– Swiss kale and chard
– Okra and quinoa
– Prickly pear
– Potato (with skin)
– Dark chocolate
– Turmeric, ginger and tamarind
– Bran, wheat, and wheat germ cereals
– Cheese and yogurt
Consult for an Integrative Health Approach to Your Digestive Issues
An integrative health approach is one where your doctor will combine several disciplines of natural and conventional healing to diagnose and then naturally heal your digestive health. Integrative health experts are of the opinion that most issues in a person’s overall wellbeing result from poor gut health, or undiagnosed digestive conditions.
Therefore, it is more than likely that a number of your other, seemingly unrelated health problems may also be alleviated after taking an integrative health approach. Consider the integrative health approach to be an informed combination of everything discussed here, along with additional, proven procedures of natural healing. Consult Dr. Ruscio’s Clinic for more information on integrative health and how it can improve your life naturally.
Understand the Role of Probiotics and Prebiotics in Your Diet
Both probiotics and prebiotics are essential for us to remain healthy as a whole, but an introduction to both is in order first.
Probiotics – probiotic is a common term used to denominate helpful bacterium which resides in the human gut. We can’t digest anything without probiotics; therefore, taking probiotics like Biotiquest’s Antibiotic Antidote can help restore the average balance of microorganisms in the stomach while promoting immunological health. Likewise, the situation can be improved by balancing our diet with fermented foods such as tempeh, kombucha tea, yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut.
Alternatively, you should be able to supplement your lack of probiotic intake with probiotic supplements as well. Don’t overdo it though, because the balance of microbiome must be maintained within our gut. Certain types of helpful bacteria may become unhelpful an even dangerous if that balance is lost.
Prebiotics – Prebiotics are not as popular as probiotics, but they are still just as important for naturally healing and improving our digestive system. Consider prebiotics to be nutrients that the helpful bacterium needs for thriving. A combination of probiotic and prebiotic might lead to overpopulation of bacteria within the gut, which is unhealthy. However, the same might be necessary to help patients who are running dangerously low on their gut bacteria due to unfavorable lifestyle choices, or an over usage of antibiotics.
For the rest of us though, focusing only on probiotic or prebiotic foods and supplements at a time should prove to be more beneficial and a safer choice. Prebiotics help the already existing probiotic organisms in your gut to multiply naturally, so try including more bananas, onions, whole grains, garlic, asparagus, artichokes, and chicory in your daily diet.
In addition to what we have already discussed, there is one additional aspect to consider, which is excessive stress. Excessive physical and mental stress can and will break down your entire physical constitution, and not just your digestive health. However, the digestive system is usually one of the first casualties of unreleased stress. If you lead a highly stressful life, you will need to find ways of letting some of that steam out.
Proven Methods to Naturally Improve and Maintain Our Gut Health
