Want to flatten your tummy? Improve your digestion and gut health.

Did you know that there is a direct relationship between the health of your digestive system and your overall look, feel and physical performance? Especially when it comes to the way your tummy looks.

It is impossible to have a flat, toned belly if you are feeling bloated and struggle to engage your muscles all the time.

But the look is not the only issue. Digestive problems weaken our abdominal wall, which affects our posture and healthy, safe movement. It can be a reason of lower back or hips problems and pain. Continuing inflammation in your bowel will eventually lead to inflammation in different areas of your body, like muscles and joints. Finally, it is now being linked to anxiety, low mood and even depression.

Symptoms of digestive dysfunction are:

gas, bloating, headache, burping, reflux, neck, shoulder, middle and lower back pain, fatigue after eating, abdominal distension, constant hunger, bowel irregularity, muscle and joint aches.

Some of those symptoms like bloating, if happen pretty rarely, only after eating certain foods that you can easily identify, and disappear as soon as the food exits our digestive track, are easy to avoid and should be avoided as much as possible. But if these foods are just triggers to a few days of digestive problems, irregular bowel movements without feeling a sense of complete evacuation each time, continues bloating, discomfort and fatigue, it is a sign of digestive problems.

The thing is that we cannot just accept these symptoms as our own ‘unique’ characteristics and do nothing about that. But we must remember that all that is just our body telling us that something is going on and it needs our help to recover. Unless you have been diagnosed with bowel disease, the root cause of your digestive problems is not your body malfunction but external factors, that are fully in your control.

The common causes of poor digestion are:

• Dehydration

• Toxic bowel

  • Processed foods

  • Pasteurised dairy products

  • Processed juices

  • Dehydrogenated fats

  • Tap water

  • Caffeine

  • Drug use (recreational and medical drugs)

• Stress

Paying attention to what you eat as well as staying hydrated will make a significant difference. I know that it may be challenging to give up sweets or fast foods, but that is the only way. Reducing bowel toxicity should become focus to anyone who cares about their physical and mental health as well as their family and carrier. When you improve your digestion, you will improve much more than just the way your tummy looks.

Check out these symptoms of toxicity. How much your life, performance and relationships with family, friends, work colleagues, clients, etc. can change if you reduce it?

• Fatigue

• Headaches

• Low back pain

• Asthma

• Gastrointestinal upset

• Acne, rash or other skin problems

• Pain between the shoulder blades

• Pain in upper right abdominal region

• Sciatica (pain down the back of leg)

• Allergies and food intolerance

• Eye, ear, nose and throat problems

• Nervousness

• Arthritis

• Neck pain

• Cardiac irregularities

Since early age I have had a few food sensitivities that forced me to avoid certain foods. But I made the most nutritional changes to help my partner improve his health, rather than for myself (it is actually very common, we do more for other than ourselves).

We stopped eating bread and replaced it with rice, quinoa and potatoes. When I started, I felt stressed out because of the required planning and preparation, but after few weeks it just becomes another habit.

I stopped eating diary, as it got to the point when just a little bit of cheese would give me a massive allergy rush around my eyes. I replaced milk with coconut milk, I can have small amount of raw (non-pasteurised) cheese and goat’s cheese.

I gradually (not all at once) reduced my coffee intake, and now have one cup of decaf a day, planning to reduce that soon as well.

We try to buy good quality meet and organic vegetables. Not everything is organic but not everything is non-organic. In the winter frozen veggies are much better than fresh, out of season ones, and can be much cheaper.

We use organic body care products (Organic Life provides a great range of different products at very competitive prices).  

We drink good quality water and plenty of it. We should drink your body weight (in kg) x 0.033 in liters each day.

It seems like a lot of changes, but we introduced them one by one. Unless your symptoms are severe, you can take the same approach. With severe symptoms you must make big, immediate changes…

Here are three tips that will help you support your gut and improve your digestion:

Drink half a liter, good quality water, 15 minutes before each meal to ensure proper hydration

Try fresh ginger tea

Boil the water first and then, with the heat off, drop in a few thin slices of unpeeled gingeroot (about one tablespoon per cup of water). Allow to steep for five minutes, then strain.

Sip during or after meals to aid digestion!

Recipe from "Perfect Health" by Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Start your meals with raw (live) foods

All raw foods, i.e. fresh ingredients from salad, contain enzymes that are beneficial for digestion.

PINEAPPLE and PAPAYA contain enzymes powerful enough to assist in the digestion of meats and are often very tasty in salads.

SOURCE: "How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy!" by Paul Chek