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If you've identified that your digestion is a little sluggish then there are some tips you can employ to help speed things along:
- Drink more water
- Up your fibre intake
- Limit processed foods
- Get your stomach working properly
- Tackle stress
- Move more
Here I explore each of these points in more detail, detailing how you can help speed up your digestion.
How can you tell if your digestion is slow?
A couple of the main tell-tale signs of sluggish digestion can include constipation and not having bowel movements at least once daily. However, some other lesser-known signs of slow digestion could also include:
- Symptoms of heartburn or indigestion
- Feeling uncomfortably full after eating
- Bloating
- Alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhoea.
Listening to your body and being aware of some of the key signs, can be an important first step in managing sluggish digestion.
1. Drink more water
Remember that plain, still water (room temperate is also optimal, if you are wondering) is what your body will respond best to. Any additional sugar-based or artificial flavours could risk playing havoc with your good gut bacteria, and caffeinated drinks can also have additional complications, as I'll go on to discuss in a little more detail.
Fresh herbs or fruit are the best options in terms of additions to your water, if you're not a huge fan of the taste of plain water.
2. Up your fibre intake
If you suffer at the hands of slow digestion, it's worth trying to roughly work out your fibre intake for a typical day. Fibre is the undigestible carbohydrate portion of plants which is particularly good at keeping our guts healthy and food waste moving along the length of our digestive tract.
There are two types of fibre, soluble and insoluble fibre, and both are equally as good at helping to keep up regular digestion. Soluble fibre soaks up liquid (hence why water is so important, as above) which means it mops up some other substances as it goes, such as excess cholesterol, which helps give it substance to propel forwards. Insoluble fibre, on the other hand, is the roughage portion of fresh foods – this adds bulk to your stools, again providing the substance to move things along. You can get a good amount of both types of fibre simply by eating a decent variety of fresh fruit, vegetables and wholegrains.
Plus, variety really is the spice of life. By eating a wider variety of foods each week you can be sure you're consuming a wide variety of both pre- and probiotic food elements which, in turn, helps to feed and keep your good gut bacteria diverse and happy too.
A balance of good gut bacteria is also thought to be an important factor in the regularity of our bowel movements and research has confirmed that the balance of gut bacteria in people who are constipated is somewhat skewed compared with what we see in people with healthier digestion.1
3. Limited processed foods
One of the main reasons that processed foods can leave you feeling bagged up is the lack of fibre. As food is processed, the healthy fibrous portion is, unfortunately, one of the first things to go, hence why white varieties of bread, rice or pasta are generally lacking on the fibre front.
As the fibre content goes, so does the nutritive value of the foods, not to mention the obligatory, unhelpful additions that then often go into the foods, as the processing continues. Any added sugars, sweeteners, unhealthy fats or additives (in a desperate bid to make these foods more palatable and shelf-stable) certainly won't encourage better digestion. These elements will only risk clogging you up, slowing your digestion as your body tries to process it all and encourage the growth of unhealthy populations of gut bacteria.
Caffeine is another element of food and drinks that I promised I'd return to. I'd say caffeine definitely falls into the category of 'convenience' as many people rely on caffeine as a quick pick-me-up.
Whilst this sought-after effect is often achieved initially, ultimately, caffeine actually ignites your stress response. Unfortunately, this won't do your digestion any favours either. Caffeine actually risks switching your digestion off as a result of your 'fight or flight' response which could ultimately make your digestion less effective and in many cases slower – hello constipation!
4. Get your stomach working properly
When people are worried their digestion is 'slow', usually this means they've noticed that they aren't pooing enough. Now, whilst this is certainly a good indicator, treating this issue directly, such as with the use of laxatives, arguably isn't always the best approach, or at least a sufficient long-term solution.
Firstly, let's take a step back and look at the stomach. With digestive issues, if something isn't quite right, often a useful tactic is to step back and look at the stage before. In constipation, sometimes the stomach isn't working optimally which can then have a domino effect. If you experience symptoms in addition to the constipation, including acid reflux, heartburn or indigestion, it could suggest that your stomach could do with some support too.
My advice to help ensure that the more initial stages of your digestion are working properly, are as follows:
- Eat slowly and chew – Eating slowly and deliberately helps prime your stomach properly for the incoming food, and helps to ensure that each mouthful is broken down into sufficiently small units, meaning that your digestive enzymes can be ready to attack more effectively.
- Support your stomach with some bitters – Bitter herbs, including those artichoke or boldo can help to encourage the stomach to release its gastric juices more readily. Bitterness helps encourage good stomach functions which, in turn, will initiate more complete gastric emptying which means we have a better chance of having efficient peristalsis (movement) in the latter parts of your digestive tract. Remember, low stomach acid can often be a key driving factor in constipation.
For more on how low stomach acid (which isn't widely recognised) could be a key driving factor for constipation, watch my self-care tip video below.
My Self-Care Tip: Support your stomach with bitters to help manage constipation
Here I explain how taking a step back up the digestive tract and supporting your stomach, could potentially help manage constipation.
5. Tackle stress
When it comes to stress and constipation you might not have put 2 and 2 together but actually, underlying stress can be a common cause of digestive dysfunction too.
Chronic or persistent stress risks 'switching off' our digestive functions to some degree, as these processes aren't considered essential when your body is in a state of emergency.
Research has backed this idea finding that chronic stress, and, crucially, failing to use coping mechanisms in order to manage the stress effectively, can be associated with on-going constipation.2
This could also explain why sufficient sleep is so protective against constipation and general digestive upset.3 Whilst sleeping our body is relaxed and our digestion is able to function more freely. Also, a lack of sleep can be a driving force behind more stress and anxiety which can easily become a tricky vicious cycle!
6. Move more
Finally, if your gut is sluggish, moving more could also be beneficial. As your digestive tract is lined by smooth muscle, moving more can literally help massage these muscles into action. Please also note, gentle movement is the key rather than putting any extra perceived stress onto the body by doing too much which, as we know, could risk inhibiting your digestive functions further (as detailed above).
Walking, stretching or more direct massage techniques are all suitably relaxing, especially when done routinely, and could help keep your gut happy.4
References
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6379309/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4622810/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3093001/
4. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090193
