The Weight & Digestion Connection

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My mother always says “You appreciate health when you don’t have it!”

And not having a healthy digestion can impact everything.  In Ayurvedic Medicine – the 5000 year old medicine of India, they place great emphasis on the role of digestion.  Not only digesting what you eat but also digesting your thoughts and experiences in a healthy way.  Processing everything you experience beneficially– so you are not overcome with, at the very least, indigestion.

If you do not break down your foods you will be more vulnerable to weight gain, infection, mental fog and down the road – many various diseases if left unchecked.

With my weight loss programs we are ensuring that proper digestion is attained.  By taking out foods that may be indigestible to you such as some of the biggies – distressing foods like dairy, wheat and soy.  Of course, not everyone has a problem with these foods but many do.  Gluten sensitivity caused by not only wheat intolerance but also other gluten grains like oats, rye, and oatmeal is sometimes difficult to recognize unless you take them out of your diet for a short period and then re-introduce them.  Congestion is often a sign of a dairy sensitivity and possibly an allergy.  Great examples of this occurrence would be sinus issues, scratchy throat, headaches.  These are typical of sensitivities but how about some of the other more common digestive problems such as GERD, indigestion, bowel issues, gas & bloating – these stress your body leaving you depleted and unwell.

My 5 Simple Tips to Get Your Digestion in Shape!

#1  Eat Slowly.  You will eat less and digest better.  You will allow for time to warn your digestive system that you’re sending food down.  Contrary to popular belief your digestion actually starts in your brain – you start thinking about food and Voila – suddenly you start salivating preparing your body for chewing and digestion.  If you eat fast you will gain weight of course, but also set yourself up for indigestion, heartburn, belching and other unhealthy symptoms.

#2 Take Probiotics Daily. This is a must and Yakult will not do it – neither will yogurt.  They may taste good but they actually have very little active probiotic ingredients in them.  Pro-biotic means pro-life as opposed to anti-biotics which kill everything in its path.  You want to ensure good digestion by giving your body good bugs to fight off the enemy – like infection.  It also helps with staving off sugar cravings – when your stomach has sufficient good bacteria and enzymes, not only will you break down your food better, but you’ll feel more satisfied and eat less and make better choices.

#3  Watch Food Combining. There has been some discussion for the last 20 years or so about mixing foods and which can cause digestive upset.  To let you know -it takes protein about 3-4 hours to digest, complex carbohydrates (like grains and beans) about 2 hours and fruit about ½ hour.  When you mix complex carbohydrates with protein they break down at different times often causing problems with lower bowel gas and discomfort.  You want to primarily pair protein with vegetables and complex carbohydrates with other higher water content vegetables like broccoli, lettuce, eggplant for example. This is a good suggestion when losing weight as protein and high water content vegetables are the best combination for initial weight loss.

#4   Wait Before Exercising Even though exercise is a good thing to do, especially if you want to lose weight, when you exercise immediately after eating all the energy in your body goes directly to your muscle system and not to your digestive system.  So the meal you just ate will simply be just waiting around to be digested after you finish your exercise.  This could take up to an hour or more.  Do you want food just sitting there – fermenting in your tummy?  No – you want it to go through the digestive process as efficiently as possible. When you rest after eating you’ll be giving your body a chance to make use of all the nutrients you just consumed.

#5  Biggest Meal At Lunch.  In Ayurveda they say “eat your biggest meal when the sun or “Digestive Juices” are at their height” which is usually midday. Most of the world eats this way – but not here in North America and, as I recall, the UK doesn’t uphold this tradition either.  This is THE best time for the hardiest meal. This doesn’t mean a 16 oz steak and potatoes – but you can have a great salad with protein or piece of salmon with mixed steamed veggies. This gives your body time to break down food slowly throughout the afternoon.  It may cause some sleepiness – witness “Siesta” time in many of our southern climates, a lesson perhaps we should learn to adopt. Start your day off light and end your day light, too with adequate protein and carbohydrates –  critical for overall health, weight loss and maintenance.  Happy Munching and Crunching!

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