3 HABITS FOR PERFECT DIGESTION

20/09/2022

Did you know that 74% of Americans are experiencing some form of digestive distress? With perfect digestion being the driver of a healthy immune system, balanced moods, steady energy, stable blood sugar, strong vitality and even healthy weight loss, this is a very disturbing statistic! (1)

Recently Dr John Douillard at Lifespa.com reported these simple tips below to improve our digestive health, helping to stabilize our blood sugar.

3 Habits for Perfect Digestion

1. Don’t Race Through or Eat a Meal While Angry

Traditional cultures would never consider eating in front of the TV or while driving or stressed. Sayings such as, “Don’t eat standing up or death looks over your shoulder” or “Better not to eat at all than eat while angry” are actually based on some hard simple science.

When you eat stressed or on the run, the sympathetic “fight-or-flight” nervous system engages to address the stress. The fight-or-flight response activates the muscles to “run for your life” and significantly inhibits proper digestion. When you take time to relax during a meal, the parasympathetic nervous system, also called the “rest-and-digest” nervous system, turns on. This increased parasympathetic activity while relaxing and enjoying a meal encourages your digestion, while stress during a meal literally turns it off.

2. Resting on the Left Side after a Meal

When you take a few minutes to rest after eating a meal or lie or lean on your left side, this allows your stomach to cradle the food and then to move along and empty in a more relaxed fashion. If you were to lie on the right side, gravity would force the food to potentially empty prematurely from the stomach, allowing undigested food to enter the small intestine. Studies suggest that when babies are fed and allowed to rest on the left side, they enjoy better digestion.

3. Lower your blood sugar levels

Taking a 15-minute walk after any meal can make sure your meal is digested well. Plus it boosts the absorption of nutrients from the food. Just the physical movement of the body promotes better digestion because of the movement in the various organs that are part of the digestive system.

It can also lower after-meal blood sugar levels. (2-4) In one study with pre-diabetic adults, an after-meal walk lowered blood sugar levels on average from 129mg/dL to 116mg/dL. (4) If you cannot get the walk in right after a meal, a longer 45-minute walk at either 10:30am or 4:30pm was also found to lower the average blood sugar throughout the day. In a culture with epidemic pre-diabetic blood sugar levels, a simple walk can help the muscles use up the excess sugar in the blood before any damage is done.

Studies have also shown that taking a walk shortly after a meal supports healthy weight loss compared to not walking or waiting an hour after the meal. Having to walk to and from your lunch break may make all the difference! (5,6)

References

3 HABITS FOR PERFECT DIGESTION

3 HABITS FOR PERFECT DIGESTION

20/09/2022

3 Habits for Perfect Digestion

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