Digestion and weight management go hand in hand and the stomach should be given first class consideration. Many people have difficulty when it comes to their stomachs... there is bloating, acid, and sometimes even pain. Ensuring a smooth transition from mouth to intestines requires special care in the stomach. Having enough acids and digestive enzymes will go a long way to settling things down. Often our bodies do not produce enough of these to handle the amount and type of foods we eat. So for starters here are a couple of simple rules that work.
1. Eat enough, not too much. Pay attention to when your body says it is full. Put the leftovers away to enjoy for another time.
2. Eat a plant based diet, and as much of it raw as possible. Plants contain essential nutrients that are vital to our health. Those nutrients drastically diminish when food is cooked. When cooked food is more than 49% of your diet your body's immune response is activated. A body on immune alert is more prone to allergies. Animal products: meat & dairy, slow down and clog your system.
3. Timing is everything. The stomach, pancreas and liver all need time to work on your food and then rest and restock their stores of enzymes. Best to eat meals at least 3 hours apart. Proteins, carbs, veges and fruit all digest at different rates. Most notable is fruit which can digest in as little as 20 minutes with other food taking between 2 and 3 hours. Fruit eaten with other food has a tendency to ferment and become toxic in the stomach while waiting for the rest of the food to be digested. Eat fruit as a between meal snack or as a meal of its own.
4. Use bitter herbs or a digestive enzyme to improve digestion and lighten the load on your stomach. Taking bitter herbs 20-30 minutes before eating can jumpstart your secretion of stomach acids and enzymes. Herbs considered bitter herbs: Angelica root, burdock, dandelion, gentian, ginger, goldenseal, milk thistle, wormwood and yarrow (http://www.herbal-remedies-at-home.com/bitter-herbs.html). Digestive enzymes such as Garden Essence, Protease Plus or Digestive Enzymes offered by Nature's Sunshine also are great digestive aids.
So Stand Up for your Stomach... a proactive approach means a more efficient system which translates into a body that ismo
1. Eat enough, not too much. Pay attention to when your body says it is full. Put the leftovers away to enjoy for another time.
2. Eat a plant based diet, and as much of it raw as possible. Plants contain essential nutrients that are vital to our health. Those nutrients drastically diminish when food is cooked. When cooked food is more than 49% of your diet your body's immune response is activated. A body on immune alert is more prone to allergies. Animal products: meat & dairy, slow down and clog your system.
3. Timing is everything. The stomach, pancreas and liver all need time to work on your food and then rest and restock their stores of enzymes. Best to eat meals at least 3 hours apart. Proteins, carbs, veges and fruit all digest at different rates. Most notable is fruit which can digest in as little as 20 minutes with other food taking between 2 and 3 hours. Fruit eaten with other food has a tendency to ferment and become toxic in the stomach while waiting for the rest of the food to be digested. Eat fruit as a between meal snack or as a meal of its own.
4. Use bitter herbs or a digestive enzyme to improve digestion and lighten the load on your stomach. Taking bitter herbs 20-30 minutes before eating can jumpstart your secretion of stomach acids and enzymes. Herbs considered bitter herbs: Angelica root, burdock, dandelion, gentian, ginger, goldenseal, milk thistle, wormwood and yarrow (http://www.herbal-remedies-at-home.com/bitter-herbs.html). Digestive enzymes such as Garden Essence, Protease Plus or Digestive Enzymes offered by Nature's Sunshine also are great digestive aids.
So Stand Up for your Stomach... a proactive approach means a more efficient system which translates into a body that ismo