Six Tips To Aid Your Digestion on Thanksgiving
The beauty of the table.
So much beautiful food.
Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash
The beauty of the table, the family traditions. The Golden Roasted Turkey, your grandmother’s stuffing recipe, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce, green beans, rolls, gravy, and more. Let’s not skip out on the pumpkin and apple pies.
Your digestive system does a lot of work daily, but Thanksgiving may be more taxing than usual due to the amount of food you consume.
These six strategies are sure to help you digest your food so you can have a happy belly.
Drink Warm Water with Lemon. Start the day with a glass upon waking. Lemon water will set your digestive system up for the day. It helps to get things moving and aids in flushing toxins from the body. Continue drinking lemon water throughout the day as the lemon will stimulate proper digestive acid production and relieve indigestion symptoms - like bloating and heartburn.
Give digestion a bit of help with a digestive enzyme.* Taking a digestive enzyme before a meal helps break down food more efficiently and supports digestion and absorption.
Slow down and take a few breaths before diving into your meal. Digestion begins in the brain. Digestion works when the body is in the parasympathetic (rest and digest) mode. When we eat in a state of stress (which at times Thanksgiving can be a bit trying), the body will have difficulty properly digesting food, leading to overeating, bloating, burping, and abdominal discomfort.
Chew Your Food. A significant part of the digestive process begins in the mouth. Take your time, chew your food correctly, which means 12 - 20 bites before swallowing. Enjoy the savoring, salty, and sweet.
Stop when you are full. When you slow down, chew your food correctly, and put your fork down between bites, you will eat slower and notice when you feel full. Savor the flavor of every bite, and avoid feeling uncomfortable for hours after your meal.
Take a walk. Going for a brief 10-20-minute walk. Studies show a leisurely post-prandial walk assists in blood sugar regulation, assisting with blood sugar spikes, which is detrimental to heart and liver health. Bonus, it feels great to get moving after any meal. Put on a coat and get out there.
Digestive Enzymes