Do you always have uncomfortable bloating and gas following meals? You're not alone. Millions of Indians have digestive problems day after day, but the answer is not as hard to find as you may imagine. With the help of gut-healthy foods in your diet and learning how to enhance gut health in a natural manner, you will be able to change the state of your digestive wellness and feel lighter, more energetic, and comfortable all day long.
Things to Know for a Healthy Gut
Trillions of healthy bacteria reside in your gut, and these are extremely beneficial in digestion, immunity and good health. Bloating and gas are some of the impacts of the disturbance of this delicate ecosystem when disrupted. To learn how to heal your gut, you have to first learn what your digestive system requires to be healthy.
Best Foods For Gut Health
The traditional Indian ingredients are many and are the best foods to improve gut health. These might be some of the potent options:
Fermented Foods: The Probiotics of Nature
Probiotic super foods such as dahi (yoghurt), buttermilk, kanji and pickled vegetables are gut-healthy foods. These foods that are good in your gut fill your system with good bacteria, which helps to reduce gas and bloating on its own. A bowl of fresh dahi with your meals or a glass of chaas in the afternoon may do miracles for digestion.
Fibre-Rich Whole Grains
Add daliya (broken wheat), brown rice, jowar, and bajra into the list of your gut health foods. It contains prebiotic fibre that nourishes the good gut bacteria due to these whole grains. They are digestive-promoting, unlike refined grains, and help in keeping the bowel tracts regular.
Ginger and Turmeric: The Spice Combine
These are the anti-inflammatory spices that are found in every Indian household and are also the best foods to have a good gut. Post-meal ginger tea facilitates digestion, whereas haldi doodh (turmeric milk) is relaxing to the digestive system. Both assist in reducing bloating and, in the process, assist in improving gut health naturally.
Legumes (Cooked in the correct manner) Lentils
Dal is a protein source and one of the most important foods that are healthy for the gut when it is cooked properly. You can soak your lentils overnight, and add hing (asafoetida) whenever you cook them to reduce the creation of gas. The moong dal is very good for sensitive stomachs.
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Papaya, bananas, bottle Gourd (lauki), pumpkin and spinach are also great additions to any gut health diet. These contain nutrients and fibre, which are necessary without excessive bloating. Papaya especially has digestive enzymes, which aid in digesting food.
Indian Herbs and Spices
Common spices like jeera (cumin), ajwain (carom seeds), fennel seeds and coriander are also traditional remedies which also serve as gut-healthy foods. One of the oldest methods of improving gut health is drinking water with ajwain or chewing fennel seeds after eating.
Worst Foods for Gut Health
In some instances, it is equally important to be aware of foods that are the worst foods to eat as far as gut health is concerned. Common culprits include:
- Extremely processed foodstuffs: Snacks, instant noodles, and pre-cooked meals.
- Too much sugar: Confectionery, sodas and sweet drinks.
- Deep-fried foods: samosas, pakoras, and puris (when taken often)
- Refined flour (maida): White bread, naan and pastries.
These are the most terrible foods for gut health as they cause disruption to your gut microbiome, resulting in inflammation, bloating, and gas. It is essential to reduce or get rid of them as a part of understanding how to mend gut health.
Tips to Keep Your Gut Healthy
Developing a successful gut health diet does not imply a complete change in lifestyle overnight. The following are ways of enhancing the health of the gut using basic lifestyle modifications:
- Eat first: Take warm water with a splash of lemon water or ajwain water to boost the digestive system.
- Eat consciously: take your time, eat slowly and do not hurry with food. This is a very basic practice that will decrease the formation of gases.
- Eat gut-healthy food with every meal: Add some dahi, a vegetable curry made with fibre-rich foods, or a handful of soaked nuts.
- Keep yourself hydrated: Take sufficient water during the day; however, do not drink too much during meals.
- Get used to portion controlling: Bloating may be the result of overeating, even of food that is good for gut health.
Role of Traditional Wisdom
Ayurveda has always focused on digestive well-being by eating gut-healthy foods and practices. Ideas such as eating to your constitution (prakriti) and eating to the season are concepts that are squarely consistent with the current knowledge of gut health. These principles are holistic in their approach to wellness, and when added to your gut health diet, they give you a holistic diet.
When to Seek Medical Advice
Although diet and the most suitable foods to maintain gut health can greatly enhance the symptoms, chronic bloating and gas can be signs of underlying conditions such as IBS, food intolerance, or SIBO. In case symptoms prevail despite a proper diet of gut health plus the avoidance of the most inappropriate foods to maintain gut health, seek medical advice.
Conclusion
Bloating and gas are caused by unhealthy foods in the gut; thus, it is a process and not an overnight solution to the problem. Through knowing how to repair gut health using natural processes, how to select the most suitable foods to benefit gut health, and how to avoid the most unsuitable foods to harm gut health, you are able to make a lasting change.
It should be noted that your digestive system is an individual one, and you should follow your body and make changes in your gut health diet. Through time and tolerance, you will learn the process of making your gut health more natural and spend your days feeling comfortable and energetic. To improve your gut health, you only need to start small, be consistent, and you will see your gut improve meal by meal.