7 Tips to Improve Digestion. Number 2 Will Surprise You, But Don't Skip It

1. Eat foods rich in beta-carotene

When the intestinal mucosa is healthy, it can produce enough mucus to lubricate the digestive system and allow for smooth passage of food. Lack of vitamin A may lead to a decrease in mucus secretion. Therefore, it is recommended to eat orange or yellow fruits and vegetables rich in beta-carotene, a precursor for this vitamin. For example: peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, melon, oranges, mangoes, zucchini, and carrots. It's important to know that the darker the fruit or vegetable, the more beta-carotene it contains.

2. Make sure to chew your food well

One of the important stages in the digestive system begins the moment you take a bite – the mouth. The food we eat undergoes chemical breakdown in the mouth during chewing, and the more you deliver it to the stomach in a "finished" state, the easier it will be for the subsequent stages in the digestive system. Try to chew each bite 20 times. Initially, it might be difficult and strange, but within three weeks, the action will become natural, and you will help your body absorb the food in the best possible way.

3. Engage in physical activity

Physical activity activates all muscles in the body, including those in the digestive system that rely on others to push waste down and out. Moreover, during physical exercise, heart rate increases, sending fresh blood and oxygen to the muscles along with all the other necessary materials to produce energy. Besides aiding normal digestive system activity, physical activity also helps maintain a healthy body weight. Any form of activity is beneficial, including moderate walking.

4. Make time for a good breakfast

It's not called "the most important meal of the day" for nothing. Breakfast kickstarts our metabolism and improves its function throughout the day. Even if you have no appetite, remember that you are doing yourself a huge favor by eating breakfast, and if you add probiotic yogurt to it, you can even get double the benefit.

5. Drink water, but not during meals

Water will contribute to a smooth and proper passage of food through the digestive system. Therefore, it is highly recommended to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day to maintain regular digestive processes. However, during meals, it is recommended not to drink water at all because water dilutes gastric juices and slows down digestion.

6. Maintain a calm and peaceful lifestyle

It's important to understand that emotions have a huge impact on the digestive system. Studies even talk about a brain-digestive system axis, due to the similarity between the nerve messengers of the brain and those of the digestive system. When we are stressed, the muscles of the digestive system generally make less effort, the body secretes fewer digestive enzymes, meaning that eventually, the digestive process and waste removal from the body slow down or even stop (constipation). Maintaining a calm and peaceful lifestyle will improve digestive system function. In general, when you are under special stress, avoid eating. Do not eat while reading the news, so as not to cause the brain to associate the stress of the news with eating.

7. Avoid smoking

Cigarette smoke contains about 7,000 different chemicals, about 70 of which are known carcinogens (cancer-causing agents, carcinogens). Two of them, benzopyrene and NNK, have particularly high carcinogenic potential. These substances pass along the entire digestive system from the mouth, through the esophagus, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and intestines themselves, and greatly harm them. Smoking also reduces blood flow to the intestines and weakens them. It's important to know that some of these damages are reversible, and at least some of the effects can be neutralized once smoking is ceased immediately.