The scary truth about digestive problems and how to fix them
Published in
2 min readJan 2, 2023
Most digestive issues are related to lifestyle, diet, or stress. However, some digestive disorders such as celiac disease and inflammatory bowel diseases have a genetic background too. Changes in your lifestyle can help to achieve a healthy gut and improve many of these problems.
Tips to prevent or reduce symptoms of most digestive issues
- Eat more fiber and increase it slowly. If you increase too fast, there is a big chance you will be bloated from it. Your gut microbiota is not used to such large amounts of fiber and it will sit in your intestine for a long time. Aim for 35–50 grams a day.
- Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Basically, 80% of your foods should come from a whole-food plant-based diet.
- Include more Omega-3 foods. The recommended dose is 250–500 mg EPA/DHA per day. Eat more flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, and algae.
- Drink more water. The more fiber you take, the more water you need to drink since fiber absorbs a big part of it. You want to keep it moving!
- Reduce or eliminate caffeine, alcohol, dairy products, artificial sweeteners, and fried and sugary foods.
- Eat smaller, more frequent meals or try Intermittent Fasting (IF). Some people feel less bloated when eating smaller meals throughout the day. Others prefer to eat all their meals in an 8-hour period and fast for 16 hours, thus giving a break to the digestive system.
- Chew your food well. Really, chew it a lot.
- Keep a record of what foods you eat and which symptoms you experience.
- Try the elimination diet. Remove certain foods for an extended period of time (2 weeks at least) to see if your digestive symptoms improve.
- Exercise regularly. This helps to have regular bowel movements.
- Work on your stress levels. There are several things you can try meditation, going for a walk, yoga, or reading a book.
- Do not resist the urge to go to the toilet.
Digestive issues tend to be related to your diet and lifestyle but, if you follow these guidelines, you should be able to minimize the symptoms.
