I’m sure you have heard the phrase “You Are What You Eat”.

It’s a great little reminder that the food we eat is, at its most basic level, the building blocks for our body, feeling its numerous systems. What we eat plays a HUGE role in our health, longevity and even our happiness (check out THIS POST for more information on the impacts of food on our mood!).

But “You Are What You Eat” is only part of the story…

You are also what you ABSORB

It doesn’t matter how nutritious the food we eat is, our bodies need to digest these foods and optimally absorb all of the health-giving nutrients they contain!

So let’s take a look at how our bodies digest the foods we eat:

I think the easiest way to do this is via videos, so here are my favourite ones:

This TED-Ed video is an excellent whistle-stop tour of how our body digests food:

For a slightly more detailed explanation of our digestive process, check out this awesome video by Khan Academy:

If you watched the videos you probably noticed that the liver and pancreas have a pretty important role to play, so check out the following TED-Ed videos:

On the role of the liver:

And the role of the pancreas:

So now you understand the importance of digestion and absorption…

What can we do to improve our digestion?

1. Chew your food well

Digestion of our food starts in our mouth! Chewing our food physically breaks down our food, and our salivary enzymes begin the process of digesting the carbs and fats we eat. If we gobble down our food without chewing it properly, we are short-changing our nutrient absorption, leaving more work for the rest of our digestive system.

Properly chewing food can also reduce the incidence of heartburn and indigestion.

2. JERF: Just Eat Real Food

Highly processed and convenience foods are notoriously bad for our digestion, and for our health in general!

Food colourings, preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners and other added chemicals, along with excess salt and sugar are associated with digestive irritation, inflammation and proliferation of unhealthy gut bacteria, whilst trans fats are associated with inflammatory bowel disease and ulcerative colitis.

3. Make sure you are getting enough fibre

Fibre keeps the food we eat moving through our digestive system. Insufficient fibre intake is associated with a number of digestive system issues including irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulosis/diverticulitis, ulcers, hemorrhoids and reflux.

The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council recommends that women consume 28g of fibre per day, and men consume 38g per day.

I recommend my clients consume a variety of insoluble and soluble fibre, as well as super-healthy, good-bacteria-feeding resistant starch. I wrote about how to create and consume resistant starch HERE and I highly recommend you check it out and start consuming resistant starch!

4. Reduce saturated fats whilst boosting healthy omega 3 fats

Consuming foods that are too fatty can slow digestion and transit of food through your digestive tract, and can also act as an irritant to our bowel and digestive system. So be mindful of how often you consume fatty cuts of meat and foods like cheese that are high in saturated fats.

Studies consistently show that consumption of healthy omega 3-rich foods like oily fish, walnuts and flax seeds are associated with lower incidence of inflammatory bowel disease and ulcerative colitis.

5. Make sure you are well hydrated

Even mild dehydration can cause constipation, so make sure you are eating foods that have high water content (like fruit and veggies) and are consuming enough water and other healthy beverages to meet your hydration needs.

6. Slow down and eat mindfully

Eating on the run and gobbling down our food places strain on our digestive tract.

Slowing down and practising mindful eating has been shown to improve digestion and relieve digestive symptoms in people with irritable bowel syndrome.

7. Manage your stress levels

I’m pretty sure most of us have experienced first-hand just how powerfully our stress levels can impact our digestive system! And it’s not surprising when you consider that if our body’s fight-or-flight instincts are activated our body puts digestion on the back-burner.

Studies show that taking steps to address and manage stress, whether via mindfulness meditation, cognitive behaviour therapy, massage, breathing exercises, acupuncture or yoga, can reduce symptoms of indigestion, irritable bowel and other digestive issues like indigestion, ulcers and diarrhoea.

8. Make sure you are getting enough exercise

A sedentary lifestyle is the enemy of good digestion! So if you are feeling sluggish, get out for a brisk walk or a swim. Not only is it great for stress management (which in itself can improve digestion!), regular exercise can improve the rate at which food moves through your digestive system, preventing constipation.

Exercise has also been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body, which can be very helpful to people with irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease.

9. Stay out of overnutrition

I wrote about the adverse impacts of overnutrition HERE. In a nutshell, eating more food than you body can easily process places strain on numerous systems in our body, including our digestive system. So make sure you are consuming sensible portion sizes when you eat. Practice Hara Hatchi Bu (eat until you are 80% full)

10. Don’t eat too close to bed time

Aside from the fact that eating too close to bedtime can disrupt your sleep, it can also leave you vulnerable to indigestion, reflux and heartburn, as you will be laying horizontal whilst the food you consumed at dinner is still being digested in your stomach.

If you find yourself regularly experiencing reflux, try eating dinner 3-4 hours before bedtime and see if that leads to an improvement.

11. Watch your alcohol intake

About 20% of the alcohol we consume is rapidly absorbed via our stomach, with the remaining 80% travelling through the gastrointestinal tract, and entering bloodstream via our small intestine. And as it transits through our digestive system, alcohol acts as an irritant. It causes increased acid secretion in our stomach and inflammation throughout our digestive system. Consistent alcohol consumption is associated with ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease and proliferation of unhealthy gut bacteria. You can read more about the impact alcohol has on our body HERE.

12. Speak to your doctor

If you have digestive discomfort, or suspect you may not be properly digesting or absorbing the food you eat, I recommend you speak to your family doctor. Ask them whether it might be worthwhile to have a referral to a specialist, who might undertake an endoscopy or colonoscopy, to get a clear picture of your digestive health.