The key to a person's well-being is proper nutrition, first of all, this factor affects the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Those who want to provide the body with the necessary substances, but at the same time not harm it, are interested in the question: what foods are good for the intestines?
List of the most useful products
Gut-healthy foods are usually plant-based, easy to prepare, and delicious. Nutritionists have compiled a list of products recommended for systematic use:
You can find thousands of products that promise to help regenerate or maintain intestinal flora, but the key is to identify the main difference between probiotics and prebiotics. They also help control the nervous system of the intestinal tract. On the other hand, prebiotics are lifeless substances that stimulate the growth of these colonies of beneficial bacteria that can be added to different foods. They increase the activity of the probiotic, that is, they are complementary to agave igulin.
If you're looking to improve or restore your intestinal flora, after you've been on antibiotic treatment, stomach ailments, or bad food strips, it's time to take probiotics. Although a standardized dose of probiotics has not yet been identified, it is recommended to consume them 1-4 times a week, although there are few cases where there is side effects if we exceed them as an increase in intestinal gas, bacterial infections of the population and a decrease in the absorption of vitamins or minerals, it is therefore important to consult a doctor. With supplements for sale in pharmacies and vitamin stores. . Remember that to maintain good digestion and intestinal balance, it is important to consume daily a large number of fiber.
- fiber-rich vegetables (pumpkin and beets are the most abundant);
- various fruits and berries, bananas and plums are especially useful;
- natural juices;
- cereals and bran;
- oil with a reduced amount of fat;
- chocolate containing little cocoa in its composition;
- dairy products;
- dried fruits, namely figs and prunes.
In addition to what a person eats, how he does it is very important. Heavy meals can only be consumed in combination with light ones, for example, meat with vegetable salad. You should try to eat at the same time, 5 times a day in small portions. It is also recommended to chew food thoroughly, in which case it will be digested faster and will not damage the mucous membrane.
Remember to drink enough water because without it you will get the opposite effect with fiber and it will cause intestinal discomfort. Exercise also activates the intestines, which will make transit and your metabolism speed up, avoiding constipation. Also burn the fats that build up after excesses and improve your mood due to the hormonal changes that occur after physical activity. So, to restore and prepare our body for what is to come!
Nutrition Specialist. Do you know that, according to statistics, our country is one of the countries with largest number people suffering from constipation? Spain, Colombia and Turkey are the countries with the highest rates, with prevalence ranging from 20% to 21%, although other statistics show that it affects more than 30% of the population. We also know that 3 out of 10 women suffer from it, so out of the 9.5 million people who have intestinal transit problems, the majority are women.
How to restore the intestinal microflora?
The intestinal microflora is a kind of combination, and when exposed to certain factors, the number of pathogenic microorganisms increases, resulting in dysbacteriosis.
As the main reasons, experts consider the use of junk food or certain drugs, such as antibiotics.
However, prevalence increases with age equally in both men and women. When constipation occurs, we have a delay in bowel movements, which is mainly characterized by a frequency of bowel movements less than three times a week. Among other aspects, there may not only be a need for greater evacuation efforts, but also an increase in stool consistency, making it extremely difficult.
Among the main causes that aggravate intestinal transit and can have a more or less decisive influence on the occurrence of constipation, we find stress, following an unhealthy and proper diet or diet, little exercise and following a sedentary lifestyle.
The symptoms that accompany the imbalance are expressed in bloating and rumbling of the abdomen, diarrhea, etc. In order to get rid of them, you must adhere to the following rules:
- Adhere to a special diet and try to eat foods that are beneficial for the intestinal microflora.
- Take medications that are aimed at restoring the number of beneficial bacteria.
From the whole variety, experts distinguish the following products:
Therefore, the key to improving intestinal transit is changing lifestyle habits. And what can we do in 1 week to improve our intestinal transit in just 7 days. Fiber is a very useful ingredient when it comes to avoiding constipation and effectively improving our intestinal transit. Of course, you don't consume much. Therefore, it is interesting that throughout this week you are adding the following foods to your diet.
Choose probiotic and prebiotic foods
All foods are non-refined foods and help improve your dietary fiber intake in a very positive way. For example, you can have a bowl of whole grains at breakfast with vegetable milk and accompany it with a piece of fruit or a glass of orange juice or grapefruit. Fruits: Fruits and vegetables and vegetables are also very rich in fiber. This week you can consume apples, bananas, peaches, pears, tangerines, figs, plums and berries. Vegetables: As we said, vegetables are also very rich in plant fibers. Basic salads, Swiss chard, spinach, raw carrots, artichokes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, broccoli, asparagus, beets and turnips. Legumes: It is recommended to eat between two and four servings of legumes per week. This group includes foods such as lentils, peas, beans and chickpeas. Nuts and Dried Fruits: Both nuts and dried fruits are becoming a traditional remedy that prevents, cures or prevents constipation. Nuts include almonds, pistachios, walnuts and pecans. Although dried fruits cannot miss dried apricots and rice.
- Whole Foods: You should not be confused with foods known as light.
- Highlights whole grains and brown rice.
- You can not miss the essential bread.
- 1 apple a day, eaten on an empty stomach;
- garlic;
- kefir, fermented baked milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.;
- cheeses;
- raw vegetables and fruits.
It is not recommended to eat potatoes, flour products, sugar, biscuits, marinades, canned foods, soda and milk. Honey can be used as a sweetener instead of sugar, sausage is replaced with a piece of boiled meat, and it is advisable to eat bread dried.
It is also recommended that you visit your regular herbalist, health food store, or supermarket and choose probiotic products that help when it comes to regulating your intestinal transit. The benefits of probiotic foods. These are foods containing acidophilus bacteria that protect against bacteria that cause certain diseases. Therefore, this type of product is recommended for Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation and vaginal infections, improving the proper functioning of our immune system.
It is also very important to drink water 30 minutes before or after meals.
Dairy products
Dairy products that are good for the intestines are best fermented on their own and made from them yogurt (using a special yogurt maker), yogurt or kefir. You can also purchase such products in the store, but in this case, you should pay attention to the expiration date, the product must be fresh, and the storage time itself must be short. This indicator will indicate the absence of preservatives, in addition, the composition should not contain flavors, dyes and other chemicals.
You can find them on the market, especially in yogurt form, although some soy products like tempeh or miso contain small amounts of the probiotic. You can also buy them in tablet, capsule, and powder form. Benefits of prebiotic foods.
Also known as prebiotic products, they are made from ingredients that come from fiber. For this reason, they are also suitable for improving traffic and increasing fecal bolus volume. They can be consumed within a few days or over several weeks. However, some nutritionists advise continuing to take them daily, as the bacteria are already in your body.
The lactic acid contained in the products described above helps cleanse the intestines from putrefactive microorganisms. If you drink kefir and eat cottage cheese daily for a week, then intestinal health will improve significantly. Cheese is considered another product that contributes to the normalization of the digestive process. This cheese is not only tasty and healthy, but also well suited for diet food.
The truth is that this is a habit that you should do not only this week, but every day: it is advisable to start the day by drinking a large glass of water, and during the day drink at least one and a half liters of water. Of course, if you live in hot climates or summer we recommend drinking some water.
Get moving, do some exercise!
This will help you keep your stools soft, making it easier for the stool to pass through the colon and be easier to remove. Practicing regular exercise helps to improve constipation in a completely natural way. Why? When to practice exercise?
Very often on store shelves you can see yogurt or cottage cheese with some kind of fruit filling, unfortunately, such a product loses its properties. This is due to the fact that fruit acid neutralizes lactic acid.
Colon cleansing with diet
Products useful for cleansing the intestines are several blocks, each of which has its own effect:
You can practice this in the morning or during the day. Of course, it is recommended to always wait a few hours after you have eaten. In this way, you will avoid that the digestion process does not interfere. Which physical exercise practiced? If your goal is to improve bowel transit, choosing aerobic exercise is key, especially those that are maintained over time, and its practice is associated with repetitive movements, which in turn have an additional digestive effect.
Other Tips to Help You Improve Your Bowel Transit This Week
Therefore, they emphasize exercises such as walking, running, swimming or cycling. If you only go when you think it's convenient, you may lose your bowel movement reflex. Bowel re-education: go to the bathroom at least once a day, always within 10 minutes. This way you will avoid anal fissures and hemorrhoids.
- Go to the bathroom when you feel the need.
- Avoid sitting for long periods of time.
- When you go to the bathroom, don't put in too much effort.
- To remove bile from the body, it is necessary to consume natural fats daily on an empty stomach, such as lard, egg yolk, sour cream or cream. You can enhance their effect with cumin, coriander or fennel. Honey has the same effect, but to get the expected result, it must be eaten for several weeks.
- Vegetable juices, kvass, whey and mineral water help to effectively cleanse the intestines.
- People who want to clean up their body as soon as possible are advised to make their own menu, including bran, millet, various cereals, mushrooms and nuts with a high protein content.
- Vegetables such as pumpkin, cabbage, beets or cucumbers are useful both raw and pickled.
- To speed up peristalsis, you need to include grapes, apricots, plums, melons, peaches and various dried fruits in your diet.
- Intestinal motility is activated by cold dishes, for example, cold drinks, ice cream, okroshka, etc.
This is interesting! There is an opinion that it is necessary to eat food as often as possible, but such actions can seriously harm the body. It is best to eat 4-5 times a day at the same time so that the undigested food does not mix with the freshly received.
At the same time, stress and poor handling of emotions can lead to jittery eating in large quantities, at odd times, and with few nutrients. In addition, according to the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity, the awareness of weight itself is not connected to reality, since 82.2% of obese Spaniards do not admit that they are overweight.
Mindful eating aims to increase the concentration and reflection of the food and nutrients of each meal and determine what the body needs and how it can be provided. It consists of eating slowly and without distraction, in silence and conscious chewing. According to the expert, "it is to eat slowly, breathe, enjoy, observe sensations, colors, shapes, smells and tastes." Thus, the digestive system has more time to work in a balanced way and the digestive process that starts in the mouth develops better.
What foods have a laxative effect?
Considering healthy foods for the intestines, you can not go past the various natural laxatives.
Constipation is caused by a weakening of peristalsis and is accompanied by unpleasant symptoms such as discomfort, bloating, and cutting pains. To get rid of this condition or prevent it altogether, you must regularly consume the following products:
Its absence suggests a double effort for the body in the decomposition of food and slower digestion. In turn, more long time is synonymous with eating only what the body needs. By eating more slowly, the feeling of satiety comes to the brain earlier, and the body does not receive more calories than it needs to function. Unconsciously, additional food intake is reduced, giving the body only what it requires.
On a psychological level, food reduces stress more slowly, creating a better general mood. Create space for meditation and relaxation around food that activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for stimulating the state of rest after effort. This causes, among other things, a lower heart rate and more salivation in favor of digestion. That's why activating it will be key to face the afternoon with more energy and release accumulated stress.
- Vegetable fibers are found in large quantities in pumpkin, dried apricots and prunes. When using these products, the laxative effect occurs as soon as possible.
- Surely many have heard about the salad, which is called "Panicle". It consists of coarsely grated carrots, beets, celery and cabbage. Such a vegetable mixture very quickly removes all toxins from the body.
- You can also get rid of constipation with unpeeled apples, peaches, plums, bananas, or dried fruits.
- Many experts on folk medicine Honey is believed to act as a mild laxative.
- Onions are considered an excellent remedy for prolonged and recurring constipation, it can be used in absolutely any form.
- A glass of cucumber pickle helps a lot.
In addition, increased awareness of food allows you to better distinguish between true hunger and emotional problems, anxiety, or simple overeating. This will make it easier to deal with being overweight or having a poor diet due to poor management of physical and emotional needs.
In silence and without interaction with others
To implement the practice of food awareness in everyday life and enjoy its benefits, some guidelines will need to be followed. Reflect before eating: The starting point of full consciousness is to reflect on how much time has passed since the last meal, and whether there is really a feeling of hunger. This allows you to restrain emotional impulses, which, as a rule, are not saturated with food.
With proper nutrition, intestinal problems disappear by themselves, and taking any special means becomes unnecessary. After all, it is much easier to prevent a disease than to treat it.
High fiber foods
Fiber contributes to the rapid emptying of the intestine, as it mechanically affects the receptors and irritates the mucous membrane with bile. These actions improve colonic motility.
Useful products for the intestines, including fiber in their composition:
- fruits, especially pears, apples, plums and bananas;
- vegetables such as beets, cabbage, carrots and pumpkin;
- dried fruits;
- bran.
As mentioned earlier, the main function of fiber is to mechanically cleanse the intestines from feces. This effect is achieved due to the complex composition, which does not break down during digestion.
Doctors distinguish the following types fiber:
- Pectin - very important for people suffering diabetes because it reduces the absorption of sugar. Included in strawberries, apples, green peas, potatoes and cauliflower.
- Gum - lowers cholesterol, found in oatmeal, beans, dry peas, etc.
- Lingin - helps in the process of digestion, activates bile acids. Such a substance can be found in radishes, eggplants, cereals and potatoes.
- Cellulose is an excellent remedy for the prevention of intestinal disorders. Found in wheat flour, grains, bran, cabbage, carrots, green peas, peppers, cucumbers and apples.
What to do with constipation?
Healthy foods for the intestines can help the body cope with constipation and remove all toxins in time. Gastroenterologists have developed a scheme that must be followed when stagnation occurs in the intestines:
- Drink at least 2-3 liters of water a day.
- Eat 100 grams of prunes daily.
- Include bran in the menu both in raw form and as part of cereals or pastries.
- There are as many greens as possible, cabbage, beets and carrots.
- Drink fermented milk products, such as kefir or fermented baked milk.
- Allowed to drink coffee, chocolate or cocoa.
- Drinking a tablespoon of olive or castor oil on an empty stomach helps to cope with constipation.
- A decoction prepared on the basis of flax seeds also helps.
During the treatment of constipation, you need to stop eating junk food, such as chips, crackers, french fries, etc.
In the chronic course of the disease, it is best to completely abandon rice, smoked and fried foods. With the right diet, you can get rid of even the most obsessive
harmful products
If there are useful products, but at the same time not to exclude harmful ones, from proper nutrition there will be no effect. Very harmful:
- alcohol;
- fast food;
- fried and smoked;
- sweet sodas.
You can not eat a large number of flour products at a time, they greatly overload the intestines. It is also not recommended to combine meat, legumes and eggs with each other. Eaten together, these foods take a very long time to digest and can cause inflammation in the intestines. With diarrhea, milk, fresh fruits and vegetables, described above, should be excluded from the diet.
Dry food can harm the body. It is also worth remembering that even the most healthy foods for the stomach and intestines can be harmful if eaten spoiled.
Outcome
In conclusion, we can name the most useful products for the intestines:
- Yogurt, kefir and other dairy products.
- Apples, plums and dried fruits.
- Bran and various cereals.
- Cabbage, carrots, pumpkin, onions and herbs.
Also, useful products for the intestines need to be able to properly cook and combine:
- Instead of frying and smoking, it is best to resort to boiling, stewing, etc.
- A large amount of salt and hot spices can significantly worsen the condition of the body.
- You need to give up unhealthy foods.
- Give preference to lean meats and fish.
If you make your menu correctly every day, problems with the intestines and stomach will cease to worry absolutely any person. The absence of discomfort will help you look at life anew and make it much happier.
Most of the digestive disorders are caused by malnutrition. If for a long time we neglect the rules healthy eating, then the appearance of these problems is just a matter of time. Learn about which foods are suitable for improving digestion.
Vegetables and fruits
In general, vegetables and fruits are the most useful for improving digestion, as they are high in fiber.
Fiber is the indigestible parts of plants that pass through the stomach and intestines almost unchanged.
Fiber reduces the residence time of toxic substances in the gastrointestinal tract, reduces inflammation, protects against damage and potential mutations.
In addition, using fiber, our friendly bacteria produce short fatty acids, which are a powerful anti-cancer agent. According to studies, for every 10 grams of fiber, the risk of colon cancer is reduced by 10%.
Nutritionists recommend eating about 500 grams of vegetables and fruits every day. Moreover, 2/3 of this volume should fall on vegetables. Diversify your vegetable diet as much as possible, eat vegetables of different colors. This way you will be sure that you are getting everything your body needs.
Whole grains
To consume more whole grains, buy whole grain cereal for breakfast, replace regular bakery products whole grains and White rice- brown, wild rice or bulgur. Photo: Taken/pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
Whole grains, including brown rice and wheat, are also high in fiber. Using whole wheat flour can add up to 6.2 grams of fiber to your diet. 30 grams of oatmeal contains 12 grams of fiber, while 30 grams of grain bran contains 22 grams.
Whole grains also contain isoprenoids and other beneficial substances that can increase the overall anti-cancer potential of fiber fibers, so they are optimal for improving digestion.
Bananas
While fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can optimize the digestive process, bananas show up in a different area. First, banana protects the stomach lining.
Substances present in the banana contribute to the production of a thick protective barrier by the cells of the gastric mucosa, and by inhibiting enzymes, they help to suppress the vital activity of bacteria in the stomach, which contribute to the occurrence of ulcers.
In addition, bananas help with intestinal disorders (diarrhea). Accelerated removal of masses can significantly increase the loss of precious electrolytes. Due to the content of pectin (soluble fiber), bananas normalize the movement of masses through the digestive tract and have a fixing effect.
Water
Water is the foundation of the foundations. As a rule, our body does not receive enough water, which affects digestion. Drink to improve digestion more water, because it promotes the movement of chyme (food masses) through the intestines.
I think it's no secret to anyone that the human body is 60-70% water, and the consumption of this element in sufficient quantities is the basis of our existence. Photo: Olichel/pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
Ginger
This product is well known in traditional Chinese medicine where it has been used to treat gastrointestinal disorders. Modern scientific research confirms that ginger does indeed have many beneficial effects, including the ability to suppress inflammation, as well as to have a direct anti-inflammatory effect.
It cleanses the body of toxins. Chewing fresh ginger after a meal will freshen your breath for a long time and relieve many problems in the oral cavity.
Probiotics
one more necessary condition good digestion are probiotics. They contain beneficial bacteria that force out pathogens from the gastrointestinal tract.
Normal microflora is an important condition for adequate immune protection and the intake of essential nutrients into the body. To improve digestion, consume more fermented milk products such as yogurt and kefir.
