Easy to Digest Foods

In today's fast paced lifestyle, we don't pay much attention to the food we eat and are quite often plagued with a compromised digestive system, not to say, long term health problems like diabetes, heart disease and obesity. To have a healthy body, consuming a well-balanced diet is as much important as having a good digestion. If you suffer from digestion problems, it's important that you review your daily diet. Normally, the digestion process takes a couple of hours in human beings. However, different persons can have different experiences with the same foods. This may also be due to age; young people have strong digestion, but as we age our capacity for digestion is lessened. If you belong to either age group, knowing which are the easy to digest foods for you will ensure you don't compromise your digestive health. Let's find out how and why.

What are Easy to Digest Foods?

All foods that you eat do not digest at the same time in your body. Certain foods are easy to digest, that is, they pass through the digestive system quickly, while some are slow digesting. Foods that digest slowly, ferment or putrefy in the stomach burdening the body with toxins. Consuming wrong combinations of foods (also overeating or consuming one type of food in excess, let's say fast foods) can disrupt digestion and result in digestive problems. The following broad tips may help you understand your digestive system.

Each food category, that is proteins, starch or carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits have different requirements for digestion. Foods that belong to the same or compatible group are easy to digest. Generally, water-based foods are easier to digest as compared to proteins. Vegetables, when combined with either proteins or starch/carbohydrates are a good food combination, however the latter two should not be consumed together in the same meal. This is because, proteins digest in acidic environment, while starch/carbohydrates require alkaline media for digestion. When both are combined the alkaline media cancels the digestive acids, retarding the process of digestion, thus undigested food rots and ferments causing health problems. Combinations of high and low starches, vegetables or greens with sprouted grains or low starches or proteins would be easier to digest.

Live or raw foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains in the form of sprouts and fresh juices are easy to digest foods and provide vital nutrients like minerals, vitamins, amino acids and enzymes. Ideally, the daily adult diet should include 65-75% raw food content that could be in the form of fresh vegetable salads and fruits. Fruits are divided into the following categories, viz. sweet, acid, and melon. Fruits are best consumed separately or when combined with other fruits. Melons are the easiest to digest in this food category. However, if you're eating sweet and acid fruits at the same time, intake of the latter type first will ensure proper digestion. Fruits should not be consumed with vegetables as both cancel each other. Frozen fruits and vegetables or frozen juices are not as healthy as fresh foods.

Cooked cereals, raw honey and baked potatoes are all easy to digest foods that provide for the body's energy requirements. Uncooked fats, in the form of oil, butter or cream are other easy to digest foods, but only when they are used as seasoning. Nowadays, you can find refined and quick-fix, microwavable processed foods stacked in every supermarket. Foods that are refined are unnatural foods because they have lost their original nutrients and fiber, while processed (packaged) foods have no nutritional value whatsoever and are loaded with preservatives and food additives; both food types stress your digestive system. So, in order to avoid digestive problems, steer clear of these foods as much as you can.

Easy to Digest Foods - Diarrhea

If your digestion is compromised, keeping the diet simple i.e. eating easy to digest foods is beneficial. Easy to digest foods are low in fiber and fat, and they give the body time to repair digestion.

Recovery from a digestive problem, for example diarrhea, requires change in diet. This not only will minimize any further complications of diarrhea, but also make up the lost fluids and electrolytes (potassium and sodium) , and help the body regain strength. Children as well as adults can suffer diarrhea. It is important that you don't push the patient, especially your child, into taking advanced foods on the first signs of recovery. As the infection dies down, the tender tissue of the stomach lining should be given time to heal. For this purpose, easy to digest foods are the best option.

Change in diet to repair digestion means that not only the type of foods you consume is important but also how they are prepared. Limit your dietary intake to bland, easy to digest foods. Diarrhea is a condition which requires that you give your stomach time to readjust. Bland easy-to-digest foods have light seasoning and are low in residue, so they will not irritate your stomach lining or increase the production of stomach acid.

While including easy to digest foods in your diet, you must also ensure that they supply adequate nutrition that your body needs to recoup fast. Certain fruit juices, soft fruits or vegetables are easy to digest and contain required potassium to help maintain the electrolyte levels. Raw vegetable juices are also easy to digest. Clear soup or broth is also recommended over water, the latter which though is helpful in preventing dehydration, does not provide the essential electrolytes. Fresh fruits are natural cleansers and detoxifiers but unlike green leafy vegetables, they do not help flush out the toxins from the body. So restrict the intake of fruit. Fruits like banana are recommended for people with a weakened digestive system. Other easy to digest fruits include cantaloupe, apricots, grapes, and honeydew melon. Avoid fruits like orange, strawberry, tomato, tangerine, and blackberry. Though they're good detoxifiers, they should be avoided in case you suffer from diarrhea due to stomach flu. Other foods that can make the condition worse are dairy products, high-fat and greasy foods. Avoid fried or cold foods and beverages till you're fully recovered. Red meats like pork and beef are hard to digest and may cause complications, so it's best to keep off them.

Some easy to digest foods that you can have as you begin to improve from diarrhea are:

• Oatmeal
• Dry toast and plain, unsalted crackers
• Plain boiled rice
• Lightly seasoned, white noodles
• Vegetables like carrots (cooked) and mashed potatoes
• Steamed or baked chicken (without the fat) or chicken broth
• Soups like cream of wheat or rice cereal
• Fruits and vegetables, cooked without skin or seeds
• Yogurt
• Ginger tea
• Fruits like bananas and squash
• Mild fruit juices like apple or grapes

Children recovering from diarrhea can have low-fat, easy-to-digest foods consisting of applesauce and toast, rice, mix of fruits, vegetables, tender meat, and yogurt. Among the low-fat, easy-to-digest foods, lentils soup is very nutritious.

It may not always be possible to consume combinations of what are easy to digest foods for you, but following healthy food habits will go a long way in keeping your digestion in proper shape. Remember to chew your food properly, keep a gap of at least two hours between dinner and bedtime, if you find that a food that causes discomfort it's best to avoid it altogether. It is also essential to space out your meals. Keep at least four hours gap between meals. Moreover, think before you eat and make healthy food choices. Healthy eating is, perhaps, the best way to lead a happy and fit life!