Maintaining a healthy stomach is the hardest thing to do in today’s world because life in today’s world is fast and unstable. People look for ways to ease their work load, hence fast food joints are up while health is on a low. Fast foods make you happy, because they satisfy your taste buds, while healthy food is not always the best tasting food. Not to mention the fact that fast foods are easily available everywhere, on the go. While healthy foods may take some time to peel and prepare by yourself. So fast foods ease your troubles when you’re busy or just plain lazy. But they make your stomach really upset.
It’s not necessary for everyone to put on weight but there are other issues as well. Some of us are already aware of the long term side-effects caused by unhealthy eating, alcohol abuse etc. But there are some more factors which create an obstacle in your healthy living. So, here are 7 tips to help you avoid those problems and keep fit:
1. Eat 6-7 meals throughout the day
This is a very common habit. Many people have the tendency to stuff themselves like a pig. This is what happens when you take 2 or 3 large meals throughout the day. Stuffing yourself with too much food at one time puts a lot of strain on your stomach and stresses your digestive tract too much. This habit also bloats up your stomach and bulges out your gut. To avoid this bloating of the stomach with 2-3 large meals, eat 6-7 small meals throughout the day instead. This will help you to digest quicker and put no stress on your digestive tract. You will be at ease and will be able to move around better.
2. Drink small sips of water at a time
Drinking too much water while eating makes the water go into the liver and dilute the digestive acid, which in turn makes your digestion process slow down. Take little sips of water while eating and wait 20-30 minutes at least before drinking a whole glass or bottle. Don’t get the wrong idea here now! You should drink a lot of water, but give your stomach sometime to set the acid on the food. And do drink little sips of water while eating to help the food slip down to your digestive tract easily.
3. Eat whole grains and foods
When you eat 2-3 large meals with long time gaps, you are bound to feel hungry in between the meals or when you consume foods sufficient in quantity but not in quality. This creates hunger and consumption of snacks like chips, muffins, brownies etc. Eating whole grain foods keeps you fuller for longer time. Because whole grain foods provide with complex carbohydrate chains which take time to digest but keep providing calories to burn. So eat an oatmeal breakfast or cereals and milk in the morning to give yourself a healthy start.
4. Eat high in fiber foods
Consuming low in fiber foods can deprive your digestive system from the required immunity. Inadequate fiber can also cause many intestinal problems like constipation etc. According to the RDA, an adult human needs about 30-40 grams of fiber every day. To get this amount of fiber every day, include foods like cashew, almond nuts, hazel nuts, sweet potato, beans, apples, guava etc. in your daily food platter.
5. Consume pro-biotic foods
Most of us do not eat the good kind of fermented foods. These kinds of foods actually help boost the digestion and absorption. Pro-biotic foods like yogurt, kefir etc. contain many good bacteria which help in our digestion and absorption. Not that you’ll die without them, but these foods even out the negatives with their goodness.
6. Control your sweet tooth
Sugar can be the worst thing that can happen to your internals. Refined sugar produces bile acids and bad bacteria which can really harm your stomach and intestines. Keep your sweet tooth under control. You don’t need to give up on sweets completely though, just replace sugar with artificial sweetener in your coffee and eat a lot of fresh fruits like mangoes, peaches, strawberries – which can both provide fiber and satisfy your sweet tooth.
7. Get sleep and relax
Inadequate sleep and stress in the root of many health problems. Inadequate sleep and stress are somewhat co-related sometimes and they make your digestive system weak and can also cause you to gain belly fat. Get at least 7 hours of sleep every day. 7-8 hours of sleep is recommended to completely replenish your lost energy (not calories) and give your internal organs and good rest. Stress can too be slept off, because mostly they are co-related.
