Do you often suffer from a bloated feeling, stomach pain, or heartburn after eating? This may indicate digestive problems, something that unfortunately more and more people are suffering from. In this blog, we will talk about how digestion works, the symptoms of digestive issues, the influence of stress, and we will conclude with tips to improve your digestion.
What is digestion?
Digestion is the process by which the body breaks down nutrients from your food and drink, absorbs them, and converts them into usable energy and building blocks. This total process from mouth to anus takes about 24 to 48 hours and involves numerous organs. Think of your mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, large intestine, rectum, and microbiome.
In practice, human digestion does not always run smoothly. This is not surprising, as so many organs with different functions are involved. A small hitch can have consequences. The most common causes of poor digestion are chronic stress and an unhealthy diet with a lot of processed, sugary, and fiber-poor food.
Digestive problems? These are the symptoms.
Problems with digestion lead to unpleasant symptoms. These include, among others:
- Bloated feeling
- Stomach pain
- Heartburn
- Rumbling bowels
- Fatigue
- Flatulence
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Allergic reactions
- Poor absorption of nutrients
Do you regularly suffer from one or more of the above complaints? Improving your digestion starts with eating healthier and lowering your stress level.
In addition, it can help to support your digestion with enzymes that your own body may not produce enough of, or with enzymes derived from animals, plants, bacteria, or fungi.
Our therapists can also take a targeted look at your complaints during a gut consultation and gain insight into your gut microbiome based on a gut test, in order to draw up a targeted plan for improvement.
The influence of stress on your digestion
More and more people these days are in a continuous state of stress and high alert, also known as chronic stress. As soon as the brain signals stress, the entire system is geared to avert this impending danger. The result? Other important processes in the body, including digestion, are no longer a priority and are therefore put on hold.
Because your digestion works less well during times of stress, you may experience the following symptoms, among others:
- Esophageal cramps (also known as esophageal spasms)
- Heartburn
- Nausea
- Poor sleep
- A bloated stomach
- Diarrhea or constipation
- Gastritis
In addition, poor digestion can aggravate existing gastrointestinal complaints, such as:
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
- Stomach ulcers
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Stress can therefore lead to poor digestion and consequently to fatigue and poor absorption of nutrients. This in turn leads to higher sensitivity to stress, and thus the vicious circle is complete. Do you want to reduce chronic stress? Read how to do that in this blog!
Improving digestion
A poorly functioning digestive system can cause many annoying complaints. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do yourself to support your digestion.
7 tips for better digestion
- chew well
- reduce sugar intake
- eat whole and fiber-rich food
- reduce stress
- digestive enzymes
- drink enough water
- eat ginger and turmeric regularly
Improving digestion with enzymes
Digestive enzymes are proteins that are released into the digestive system when you eat. The pancreas and small intestine play an important role in this.
It is the job of digestive enzymes to break down food into nutrients usable by the body. The non-usable nutrients leave your body through stool.
When this process stagnates, your body can no longer properly absorb important nutrients, resulting in a nutrient deficiency. Gastrointestinal complaints can also arise.
When your body, for example, does not produce enough lactase, it has trouble digesting lactose. This can lead to complaints such as a bloated stomach and flatulence. It can then be pleasant to use a lactase enzyme with every lactose-containing meal.
