Reference: http://fitlife.tv/4-tips-for-improving-digestion/
Digestion is the process by which foods and liquids are broken down to their smallest parts so that the body can absorb them and nourish cells to provide us with energy. Without digestion we
wouldn’t be able to absorb the nutrients from our foods.
Eating processed foods can cause bloating, fatigue, and you might not get many nutrients from it. Eating foods that nature has given us helps us feel alert, satisfied and energized. Juicing
gives me tons of energy instantly because my body doesn’t have to work hard to digest and breakdown the juice.
Here are 3 tips for improving your digestion:
1. Lemon Juice and Warm Water
Starting your day with one cup of warm water and lemon juice (half a lemon) in the morning will do wonders for your health. The benefits of warm water and lemon juice are amazing and
include: a boost in your immune system, pH balance, aid in weight loss, natural diuretic, helps clear up skin, and it can hydrate you lymph system..
Warm water and lemon help with digestion by cleansing you stomach while moving left over debris and excess acid away. The warm water serves to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract and
peristalsis—the waves of muscle contractions within the intestinal walls that keep things moving. Lemons and limes are also high in minerals and vitamins and help loosen ama, or toxins, in the digestive tract.
THE BENEFITS OF WARM WATER AND LEMON
When I wake up every morning, the first thing I drink is warm water and lemon and before I sleep I do the same thing. I recommend this to my clients who go on the Alpha Reset as well.
Drinking warm water and lemon has so many benefits and at the same time it makes me feel hydrated. I also drink lemon water first thing in the morning to kick start my digestive system
The way you start each day is incredibly important. Whether you’re a coach, a writer, a small business owner or a yoga teacher, what you do first thing in the morning matters.
Here is a great article by Ashley Pitman. She goes over the benefits of warm water and lemon.
According to Ayurvedic philosophy, choices that you make regarding your daily routine either build up resistance to disease or tear it down.
Ayurveda invites us to get a jump-start on the day by focusing on morning rituals that work to align the body with nature’s rhythms, balance the doshas and foster self-esteem alongside
self-discipline.
Your mind may say you have to check emails, take the dog out, get the kids out the door, that you can’t be late for work or that you just don’t have enough time to cultivate your own morning
rituals.
But, if you can only make time for one ritual that will improve your health, let it be this…..
Start the day out with a mug of warm water and the juice of half a lemon.
It’s so simple and the benefits are just too good to ignore. Warm water with lemon:
1. Boosts your immune system
Lemons are high in Vitamin C and potassium. Vitamin C is great for fighting colds and potassium stimulates brain & nerve function and helps control blood pressure.
2. Balances pH
Lemons are an incredibly alkaline food, believe it or not. Yes, they are acidic on their own, but inside our bodies they’re alkaline (the citric acid does not create acidity in the body once metabolized). As you wellness warriors know, an alkaline body is really the key to good health.
3. Helps with weight loss
Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps fight hunger cravings. It also has been shown that people who maintain a more alkaline diet lose weight faster. And, my experience is that when I start the day off right, it’s easier to make the best choices for myself the rest of the day.
4. Aids digestion
The warm water serves to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract and peristalsis—the waves of muscle contractions within the intestinal walls that keep things moving. Lemons and limes are also high in minerals and vitamins and help loosen ama, or toxins, in the digestive tract.
5. Acts as a gentle, natural diuretic
Lemon juice helps flush out unwanted materials because lemons increase the rate of urination in the body. Toxins are, therefore, released at a faster rate which helps keep your urinary tract healthy.
6. Clears skin
The vitamin C helps decrease wrinkles and blemishes. Lemon water purges toxins from the blood which helps keep skin clear as well.
7. Hydrates the lymph system
This cup of goodness helps start the day on a hydrated note, which helps prevent dehydration (obviously) and adrenal fatigue. When your body is dehydrated, or deeply dehydrated (adrenal fatigue) it can’t perform all of it’s proper functions, which leads to toxic buildup, stress, constipation, and the list goes on. Your adrenals happen to be two small glands that sit on top of your
kidneys, and along with your thyroid, create energy. They also secrete important hormones, including aldosterone. Aldosterone is a hormone secreted by your adrenals that regulates water
levels and the concentration of minerals, like sodium, in your body, helping you stay hydrated. Your adrenals are also responsible for regulating your stress response. So, the bottom line is
that you really don’t want to mess with a deep state of dehydration!
Adopting just this one practice of drinking a cup of warm water with lemon in the morning for a month can radically alter your experience of the day. Don’t be surprised if you begin to view mornings in a new light. Like I said, the recipe is really simple – a cup of warm (not hot) water and the juice from half a lemon.
In the comments below, tell me which one of these benefits is going to get you to try this morning ritual. Or, if you’re already a lemon water junkie, what specific benefits have you noticed?
2. Apple Cider Vinegar
The wonders of apple cider vinegar and impressive. Add one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar to one glass of water or fresh apple juice can help stimulate hydrochloric acid (HCL) in
your stomach. Hydrochloric acid (HCL) breaks down food. If you don’t produce enough HCL than you can be classified as having an underactive stomach or hypochlorhydria. Symptoms of
this include: bloating, belching after meals, cramping and abdominal pain.
I love apple cider vinegar. I love the taste and the benefits. Apple cider vinegar is a type of vinegar that is made by the fermentation of apple cider. The sugar in the apple cider is broken
down by bacteria and yeast and turned into alcohol and then into vinegar.
There have been many scientific studies on the effects of apple cider vinegar. The benefits of apple cider vinegar is huge. Such benefits include helping with acne, allergies, arthritis, chronic
fatigue syndrome, diabetes, flu, gout, heartburn, high cholesterol, and sore throat.
Preventative care is the best kind of care. With diabetes, heart disease, and stroke as the top three killers in the United States, it’s important to know what can help you prevent these
diseases.
Here are 4 benefits of apple cider vinegar:
1. Diabetes
In 2007 a study, published in Diabetes Care, found that Type II diabetes patients who consumed two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar at bedtime showed favorable changes in blood sugar levels the following morning.
The biologically active constituent of vinegar is acetic acid, also the source of the liquid’s lip-puckering pungency. Nobumasa Ogawa, Ph.D., of Tokyo University in Tokyo, discovered that the acetic acid inhibits the activity of several carbohydrate-digesting enzymes, including amylase, sucrase, maltase, and lactase. As a result, when vinegar is present in the intestines, some sugars and starches temporarily pass through without being digested, so they have less of an impact on blood sugar.
2. Weight Loss
A study published in 2009 found that obese people who consumed acetic acid (found in apple cider vinegar) daily for 12 weeks experienced significant decreases in body weight, abdominal fat, waist circumference, and triglycerides. Most apple cider vinegar weight loss home remedies, like the one investigated in Vermont by Dr. D. C. Jarvis, M.D., call for the taking of one or two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water before each meal. Patricia Bragg recommends adding 1 or 2 teaspoons of raw honey to this mixture.
Whichever way you take it, don’t expect a rapid weight loss, the weight will be lost gradually, as it should be to allow the body’s fat cells to adjust to their new size.
3. Blood Pressure & Cholesterol
High blood pressure can lead to major health problems including heart attack, stroke, aneurysms, congestive heart failure and kidney damage. A normal blood pressure reading is considered to be 120/80. If yours is higher, consider apple cider vinegar as a normalizing agent. Studies conducted on rats found that acetic acid may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
4. Alkaline Acid Balance
The theory behind the alkaline diet is that our blood is slightly alkaline (with a normal pH level of between 7.35 and 7.45) and that our diet should reflect this pH level. Proponents of the alkaline-acid theory believe that a diet high in acid-producing foods leads to lack of energy, excessive mucous production, infections, anxiety, irritability, headache, sore throat, nasal and sinus congestion, allergic reactions, and increased risk of conditions such as arthritis and gout. Despite being an acidic solution, it is believed that apple cider vinegar has an alkalinizing effect on the body. One to two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in water as a daily is recommended.
* If you take ACV between meals or before going to bed, always rinse your mouth to avoid any prolonged vinegar contact with the enamel on your teeth. Undiluted apple cider vinegar, in
liquid or pill form, may damage the esophagus and other parts of the digestive tract. If you’re on any medication or have any medical conditions, check with your physician whether apple cider vinegar is right for you
3. Avoid Cold Drinks
Drinking cold beverages during a meal can slow down digestion. Food is broken down and digested more effectively at body temperature.
You can think of it as almost freezing your insides temporarily so that they cannot do what they need to do at that moment. So, instead, food goes by improperly digested, and your body’s unable to retrieve the nutrients and energy from it that it needs. By decreasing the activity of your digestive system, cold beverages rob you of the nutrition of the food you ate. Also, when you drink cold beverages, your body has to use energy in order to warm up that liquid inside your body. This is also robbing your body of the energy it needs to properly process the food you have eaten. Instead of working to get all the nutrition of the food, your digestive system is instead working on regulating the temperature of the cold drink. If you need to drink while eating, try warm water or herbal teas. Be careful with caffeine. Caffeine can cause excess production of stomach acid so it is wise to avoid caffeine. Cut sugars
4. Chew your food!
Chewing your food releases valuable enzymes in your mouth and lubricate the food allowing for less stress on your esophagus and stomach. Enzymes released while you chew your food, helps to break chemical bonds.
So what are some benefits to chewing your food thoroughly?
– Aids in the proper transport of nutrients in your body.
– Helps start the important digestive process which is important to being healthy.
– You are more than likely to not eat as much by eating thoroughly. When you are eating slower, your brain can tell you that you are full, causing you to eat less.
– Helps to prevent the heavy feeling that sometimes follows a meal and it also will help you lose body fat since you are not eating as much.
What are some of the side effects of not chewing thoroughly?
– Poorly digested food means poor absorption of the vitamins and nutrients that the foods you are eating provide.
– Eating rapidly and swallowing large mouthfuls contributes to the reflux which can damage the lining of the throat and esophagus. About 44% of Americans experience reflux or heartburn at
least once a month, 20% have it every week and 7% suffer from it daily.
– Other side effects include flatulence, indigestion, heartburn, gas, IBS, and other discomforts. Chewing each bit thoroughly allows less air to enter in which decreases gas and burping. With an
increasing number of individuals with IBS, constipation, abdominal spasms and bloating, chewing food could possibly prevent a number if these daily discomforts. (Getyouinshape)
6 Dangerous Acts after a meal: (By “Most Amazing Facts”)
1. Don’t smoke — Experiments from experts proves that smoking a cigarette after meal is comparable to smoking 10 cigarettes (chances of cancer is higher)
2. Don’t eat fruits immediately — Immediately eating fruits after meals will cause stomach to be bloated with air. Thre fore take fruits 1 -2 hours after meal or 1 hour before meal.
3. Don’t drink tea — Because tea leaves contain a high content of acid. This substance will cause the protein content in the food we consume to be hundred thus difficult to digest.
4. Don’t loosen your belt — Loosening the belt after meal will easily cause the intestine to be twisted and blocked.
5. Don’t bathe — Bathing after meal will cause the increase of blood flow to the hands, legs and body thus the amount of blood around the stomach will therefore decrease, this will weaken the
digestive system in our stomach.
6. Don’t sleep immediately —The food we intake will not be to digest properly. Thus will lead to gastric and infection in our intestine.
