‘You are what you digest’: Expert shares key points to improve digestion

Your gut health is significant in maintaining overall health as healthy digestion keeps a host of illnesses at bay. Food, when not digested well, can lead to issues such as bloating, nausea, mood swings and an overall decline in immunity, compromising your health and fitness. As such, for the smooth functioning of your digestive system, you must make certain lifestyle and diet tweaks.

The simplest way to tap into the full potential of what you eat is ensuring that you also digest it properly, according to Ayurvedic expert Dr Nitika Kohli. “While what you eat is important, how you digest what you eat is more important! In Ayurveda, we say: you are what you digest not what you eat.”
She explained, “When you eat foods that you digest well, your body is able to optimally pull nutrients from them which, in turn, allow it to build good-quality blood to irrigate your vital organs with — resulting in overall ease and wellbeing.”

Here are some key points for improving your digestion, according to Dr Kohli.
Daily exercise
For good digestion, the expert recommended exercising every day. “Exercises that make you perspire a little, that get your heart moving and your lungs working will really improve your digestion.”
Daily yoga
Regular yoga is suggested to clear the body channels of toxic ama. She said, “The effect is to help repair a poor digestion and improve our health”.
Consume cooked food
To improve your digestion, prefer cooked food over raw. She explained that the body finds it easier to assimilate nutrients from cooked food. “No more than 25 per cent of your meal should be raw food,” Dr Kohli said.
Regular yoga is suggested to clear the body channels of toxic Ama (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
Avoid milk with food
The Ayurvedic expert strictly warned against consuming milk with meals that have mixed tastes — vegetables, meats, etc.
Evening foods to avoid
According to her, there are certain food items that shouldn’t be consumed in the evening. Yoghurt, cheese, cottage cheese and buttermilk are some of them.
Have the main meal at noon
Experts have, time and again, highlighted that one must consume their main meal in the afternoon. At noon, “the sun is strongest and the digestive fire reflects that strength,” she explained.
Eat six tastes
Each meal should include all six tastes – sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent.
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