4 Ways to Make Food Easier To Digest

Happy Gut and Making Food Easy to Digest

We all respond to food differently. Sometimes foods can be extremely healthy but hard to digest. A lot of people experince digestive issues in symptoms like bloating, gas, constipation or diarrhea. That's our body telling us we need to prep that food differently or cut it out all together. Here are 4 helpful tips on how to make your tummy happier!

Sprouting or Soaking

Any seed can be sprouted or soaked, this includes legumes, grains, nuts and seeds. Naturally a seed would have a protective shell and only sprout (expose its full nutrients) when exposed to water because it's getting ready to grow into a new plant. Sprouting activates the phytase enzyme, which helps break down phytic acid and makes essential minerals more available for absorption. Meaning, sprouting actually increases the nutritional value of the food you're eating. Sprouting and/ or soaking can eliminate bloating, decrease inflammation, improve gut health and improve foods digestibility. Most foods now come available pre sprouted. But you can sprout or soak your food easily at home.

Grinding or Blending

Using a grinding process reduces the particle size of food and makes it easier to digest—particularly when it comes to nuts and seeds. This breaks down the hard protective shell and allows you to get more nutrients. Similar to soaking and sprouting, by breaking down the exterior protective shell your digestive system has an easier time processing the foods. The best part is the fiber content of the fruits and vegetables remain intact, which you tend to lose if you juice the fruits and vegetables. Fiber is very essential for regulating your digestion, lowering the risk of chronic diseases and helping you stabilize blood sugar levels.

Cooking or Heating

Applying temperature or heat to your foods can help break them down and make them easier to digest. Specifically when it comes to high fiber vegetables, fruits, legumes and beans. It's best to cook them for longer on a lower heat - helping breakdown it's hard plant cell walls and making it easier to digest. Essentially, the argument is that cooking predigests food. Therefore, when we eat cooked food we have to use less energy to digest what we eat. This can help with foods that may usually cause bloating or gas. Our stomach enzymes are doing less work to make break the food down. Steaming or cooking with water/ broth could also help with digestion rather than heavy oils.

Fermenting or Pickling

Fermentation is a process that involves bacteria and yeast breaking down sugars. Not only does fermentation help enhance food preservation, but eating fermented foods can also boost the number of beneficial bacteria, or probiotics, found in your gut. That's because when foods are fermented via naturally occurring bacteria, that bacteria predigests the food for us, making it easier for digestion. Good gut bacteria has been associated with a variety of health benefits, including improved digestion, better immunity, and even increased weight loss. The most common fermented foods are cabbage, radish, cucumbers, carrots, kombucha, yogurt, and tofu.

Ultimately your gut plays a huge role in your overall physical and mental health. Being very intuitive when eating is important. Knowing ways to help improve your digestion could be make a huge difference in how you feel after eating. Let's be honest we all love food, we don't always love the way some food makes us feel. Try these helpful tips and see if that makes a difference!