Digestive problems can happen when you aren’t eating the right foods.
As you grow older, your problems can get worse as digestion slows down.
The average American consumes around 34% of their daily calories from fat, with 12% from saturated fat. When you consume too much fat, your body rebels in protest.
When you don’t get enough of the nutrients your body needs to assimilate the various foods you eat, you can suffer from constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, heartburn and various other ailments.
What and how you eat can help control digestive problems. Your diet has a tremendous impact on how healthy your bowels are and the health of your bowel movements. Good digestion relies on a healthy diet full of a wide assortment of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
How to Avoid Digestive Problems
Keeping a food journal is a great way to figure out how much fatty food you’re actually consuming in a day. It also reflects how much food you’re actually eating. People who keep a food journal soon realize that they’ve been eating a lot more food than they thought.
Many American’s have digestive problems that stem from eating too much fat, processed foods, and fatty proteins. Lean protein won’t make you fat, but you need to monitor serving sizes and portion sizes too. Making some small changes in your diet can help you avoid many digestive problems.
You may also want to consider how you eat your food. If you’re used to wolfing down what you eat, you will be more prone to bloating and indigestion. Eating too quickly also increases the amount of air that gets into your system. The more air that gets in, the more gas you will have. Eating slowly in a relaxed atmosphere helps to eliminate these symptoms and aids in better digestion. Food is supposed to feed your body and nourish you. Its original intent was medicinal. If you look at the foods that are available today, you will find that foods have become quite the opposite and plays a vital role in the digestive problems of today.
Your eating schedule also plays a vital role in digestive problems. Most people eat three meals a day but its so much better for digestion, to eat more frequent small meals. Grazing is a popular term for this type of food schedule and makes more sense. Nibbling on foods throughout the day helps keep your appetite at bay. Of course, you’ll need to graze on healthy foods, such as veggies, fruits, nuts, and whole grain snacks. Grazing can help you better regulate your digestion and keep you from binging as much. People who graze tend to be thinner and tend to eat healthier foods.
If you’d like to try grazing to help with your digestive problems, try fixing this healthy snack to have on hand. (pictured above)
Healthy Snack
4 cups cereal, sweetened oat squares 1/2 cup nuts, almonds, sliced 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice Dash salt 1 cup cherries, dried, and/or golden raisins
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 300°F. In a 15x10x1-inch baking pan, combine cereal and almonds. In a small bowl, stir together melted butter, apple pie spice, and salt. Drizzle butter mixture over cereal mixture; toss to coat evenly.
2. Bake about 20 minutes or until almonds are toasted, stirring once during baking. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Stir in dried cherries or raisins. Cool completely. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to one week.
Yield: 5 servings Total Time: 30 mins Nutritional Info (Per serving): Calories: 82, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 58mg, Dietary Fiber: 1g, Total Fat: 3g, Carbs: 12g Cholesterol: 3mg Protein: 2g
Fiber should also be a large part of your diet and has a positive effect on your bowel movements. Most people only eat around 10 grams of fiber a day but 25 – 50 grams is recommended by experts. Insoluble fiber is the key in helping digestive problems and is easy to do by eating more whole grain, veggies, and bran.
Insoluble fiber increases the bulk of stools and works with soluble fiber, which promotes regular bowel movements. Soluble fiber attracts water, which is important in making waste softer and larger. To add soluble fiber to your diet, eat beans, lentils, nuts, and the skins of fruits such as apples and pears.
Some foods contain both types of dietary fiber, and you’ll find benefits beyond digestion when you eat them. A diet high in fiber can help you manage your weight and overall health. Most fiber rich foods are low in fat and calories and full of vitamins and minerals. Fiber also stays in your stomach longer than other foods, which makes you feel full longer and helps you avoid binging. If you're not getting enough fiber, take natural fiber supplements to help your body's digestion.
Most people don't get nearly enough fiber in their diet. To avoid digestive problems, incorporate more soluble and insoluble fiber in your diet.
Serving Size
Total Fiber (g)
Soluable Fiber (g)
Insoluble Fiber (g)
Breads, Cereals, and Pasta
Cornflakes
1 cup
0.5
0.0
0.5
White bread
1 slice
0.53
0.03
0.5
Rye bread
1 slice
2.7
0.8
1.9
Whole grain bread
1 slice
2.9
0.08
2.8
French bread
1 slice
1.0
0.4
0.6
Dinner roll
1 roll
0.8
0.03
0.8
White rice
1/2 cup cooked
0. 5
0.5
0.0
Brown rice
1/2 cup cooked
1.3
1.3
0.0
Egg noodles
1/2 cup cooked
0.8
0.3
0.8
Spaghetti
1/2 cup cooked
0.8
0.02
0.8
Bran (100%) cereal
1/2 cup
10.0
0.3
9.7
Rolled Oats
3/4 cup cooked
3.0
1.3
1.7
Oat bran
100g
-
5.0
Psyllium husk
10g
8.0
7.1
0.9
Oats, whole
1/2 cup cooked
1.6
0.5
1.1
Corn grits
1/2 cup cooked
1.9
0.61
0.3
Graham crackers
2
1.4
0.04
1.4
Rye wafers
3
2.3
0.06
2.2
Popcorn
3 cups
2.8
0.8
2.0
Fruits
Apple
1 small
3.9
2.3
1.6
Apricots
2 medium
1.3
0.9
0.4
Banana
1 small
1.3
0.6
0.7
Blackberries
1/2 cup
3.7
0.7
3.0
Cherries
10
0.9
0.3
0.6
Grapefruit
1/2 fruit
1.3
0.90
0.4
Orange
1 medium
2.0
1.3
0.7
Peach
1 medium
1.0
0.5
0.5
Pear
1 small
2.5
0.6
1.9
Pineapple
1/2 cup
0.8
0.2
0.6
Plums
2 medium
2.3
1.3
1.0
Strawberries
3/4 cup
2.4
0.9
1.5
Tangerine
1 medium
1.6
1.4
0.4
Vegetables
Broccoli
1 stalk
2.7
1.3
1.4
Carrots
1 large
2.9
1.3
1.6
Corn
2/3 cup
1.6
0.2
1.4
Lettuce
1 cup raw
0.5
0.2
0.3
Parsnips
1/2 cup cooked
4.4
0.4
4.0
Peas
1/2 cup cooked
5.2
2.0
3.2
Potatoes
1 small
3.8
2.2
1.6
Squash, summer
1/2 cup cooked
2.3
1.1
1.2
Tomato
1 small
0.8
0.1
0.7
Zucchini
1/2 cup cooked
2.5
1.1
1.4
Legumes
Green peas
2/3 cup cooked
3.9
0.6
3.3
Kidney beans
1/2 cup cooked
4.5
0.5
4.0
Lentils
2/3 cup cooked
4.5
0.6
3.9
Lima beans
1/2 cup cooked
1.4
0.2
1.2
Pinto beans
1/2 cup cooked
3.0
2.2
0.7
White beans
1/2 cup cooked
4.2
0.4
3.8
Data from Anderson JW, Bridges SR. Dietary fiber content of selected foods. Am J Clin Nutr 1988;47:440-7; Bowes AD. Bowes and Church's Food values of portions commonly used. 14th ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1985 and Internet resources
Fatty food consumption causes a wide variety of digestive problems. People who eat a lot of fried and fatty foods do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. When you fill up on fatty foods, you rob your body of the healthy components which are necessary for digestion. Greasy foods especially, can also contribute to diarrhea.
Instead of filling up on deep fried foods, try baking, broiling, steaming, or pan frying with cold pressed olive oil.
Processed foods, like canned foods, packaged meals and snacks, and frozen meals have become a large part of the American diet. They are popular for their convenience but are often high in calories, fat, and sodium. Most importantly they don’t provide vital nutrients that are necessary for good digestion.
Processed foods also contain a lot of sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Refined grains, such as white bread and rice, have been stripped of their natural fibers and complex carbohydrates. When something is highly processed, it’s also full of toxins that your body simply doesn’t like or utilize well. Processed foods can cause swings in blood sugar as well as inflammation throughout your body, effects that are harmful to more than just your gastrointestinal tract.
Lack of the proper digestive enzymes your body needs to digest foods, can also cause major digestive problems. Enzymes are the substances that make all life possible. They are needed for every chemical reaction that happens in your body. Without them, no activity at all would take place. Neither vitamins, minerals, or hormones can do any work without enzymes.
Digestive enzymes are found in fruits, vegetables, and grains. Some are found in pigments such as the carotene (yellow-red), chlorophyll (green), anthocyanin (red-blue), proanthocyanidin (colorless) and flavonoid (colorless or yellow). Sulfur compounds, which give the cabbage family its distinctive odor, also contain digestive enzymes. Simply consuming cabbage more often can add many more digestive enzymes to your diet.
Bananas, avocadoes and mangoes are good food sources of digestive enzymes. In general, raw foods that have a higher calorie content are richer in enzymes.
One of the best solutions to control digestive problems is to take capsules/tablets of concentrated plant enzymes. (digestive enzymes) In the absence of contraindications, you should take from l to 3 capsules per meal. Of course, if you are eating all raw foods, then no enzymes will be necessary at that meal.
Digestive problems happen over a lifetime. They aren't something you plan for but they are something you have to deal with. To remedy them, eat healthier foods that aid digestion. Avoid foods that slow digestion down and only make you feel bad!
. Grazing can help you better regulate your digestion and keep you from binging as much. People who graze tend to be thinner and tend to eat healthier foods.
to have on hand. (
longer and helps you avoid binging. If you're not getting enough fiber, take 
to help your body's digestion.
are found in fruits, vegetables, and grains. Some are found in pigments such as the carotene (yellow-red), chlorophyll (green), anthocyanin (red-blue), proanthocyanidin (colorless) and flavonoid (colorless or yellow). Sulfur compounds, which give the cabbage family its distinctive odor, also contain digestive enzymes. Simply consuming cabbage more often can add many more digestive enzymes to your diet. 
