Secrets of Maintaining Digestive Health

Maintaining a healthy digestive system, if some quackish websites and so-called health food stores are to be believed, requires an array of expensive products for cleansing, detoxing, toning, nourishing and nurturing your digestive system. That's a load of crap, if you will pardon the pun. The average woman's digestive system doesn't need tending like a hothouse flower or detoxifying like a Superfund site. Your digestive system can be kept in excellent health without much effort on your part.

There are no magic secrets for maintaining digestive health. I can't offer you a magic incantation, potion or pill, just the same tips about a balanced diet, exercise, and lifestyle that you keep ignoring when your doctor mentions them. What's amazing is that the same advice that will keep your digestive system in good health will also help keep the flab off your thighs, make meals more enjoyable, and improve your sex life.

Diet tips for digestive health:

Eat a balanced, nutritious diet. It doesn't mean popping a bunch of pills with so-called supplements. It means eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, less highly processed and "fast foods", less animal protein, and less high-fat and high-sugar foods.

Which would you rather eat to maintain what my grandmother referred to as "good bowel tone"? A big bowl of spinach and apple salad or a glass of slimy high-fiber liquid. A steaming bowl of Irish steel-cut oatmeal with bananas or a couple of fiber tablets? Where would you rather get some "phytonutrients"? In a pill or in a serving of whole-wheat pasta with fresh basil and tomatoes? The tasty choices are just as healthy for you.

Eat a moderate amount of food at each meal. Skipping meals and eating huge ones won't kill you unless it turns into anorexia nervosa or obesity but your digestive system will make you uncomfortable with hunger pangs or bloating.

Numerous studies have shown that people who eat breakfast - real breakfast, not coffee and pastries - are less likely to be overweight. Share breakfast with your family and help them get off to a good start, too.

Drink enough water, not soft drinks or alcoholic beverages, so your digestive system can do its job of getting rid of waste products. If you aren't producing a quart of so of urine a day, you are dehydrated.

Lifestyle tips for digestive health:

Exercise moderately and frequently. The contracting and relaxing of your abdominal muscles stimulates peristalsis. Exercise also reduces stress, and stress affects digestion. The toning it does to your figure is a bonus.

Get enough sleep. Just do it!

Stress will affect your digestion, usually in a bad way. Do what you can to minimize stress. A better diet helps, as does sufficient sleep, and moderate exercise. A relaxing massage won't directly contribute to digestive health, but the stress relief from the massage will.

Medical tips for digestive health:

Some medical conditions and medications either cause or interfere with digestive health.

The most common medications that interfere with your digestion are those you take because think are helping it. Laxatives, colon cleansers, and other "digestive aids" aren't necessary and if taken too often can make your system dependent on them. You can recover from the dependency, but it will take time. It's better to not start down that path.

Food allergies and the more common "food intolerances" will give you digestive problems. If some foods or even spices give you indigestion, figure out what they are and avoid them. If you suspect an ingredient or a spice, search for it at Google with the word "intolerance". A surprising number of common herbs and spices give indigestion to a small proportion of the population. Among the known culprits are soy, lactose, cumin, mangos, brazil nuts, and even eggplant.

Various medical conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, and vitamin malabsorption conditions are outside the scope of this advice. See your doctor and stay away from the websites that sell miracle cures.

And didn't I mention improving your sex life? Well, a well nourished, well rested, well-exercised, unstressed woman has to have a hobby, doesn't she. Grab your partner and go take a shower together. You'll like the results.