Friday, December 2, 2011

Tips to Keep the Digestive System Perking

Lime juice and ginger
stimulate digestion. Herbs
make certain foods more
digestible.
Good digestion, according to Ayurveda, is the #1 way to keep ama at bay. Ama is undigested food, a gooey substance that takes up residence in the weak tissues of the body, leading to disease in those tissues. How to keep the digestive fires burning bright?
Eat when hungry. Develop a good appetite. If you never feel hungry, perhaps you are eating too often. Or, maybe you need to enhance your appetite with exercise. And remember, appetite and cravings are not the same thing! One comes from the belly, and the other from the mind. When a sense of hunger strikes, close your eyes and assess; do you feel content in the body, but anxious or bored in your mind? Or, is this truly hunger in the belly?
Give your digestion a little rest between meals to build appetite and allow digestion of previous meal to complete. Leave a little space in your belly from time to time. 
Chew completely. Chewing is the first step to digestion, and the more food is broken down at this stage, the more able your system is to utilize it.
Avoid cold drinks with meals. The digestive process is a heating process. The digestive juices work better warm and undiluted. Take sips of room temperature water with meals. Give up the icy drink habit and see if you feel less tired and bloated after a meal.
Stop eating before feeling 100% full 
Eat in a calm environment, and only when calm (stress affects digestion). Yes, having a family, I have an occasional laugh with this also. At least, take a slow, gratitude breath before diving in.
Use ginger as an appetite stimulant. Simmer a few slices in water to ingest as a tea. Or, make 1/8 in. thick slices, and eat with a little sea salt and lime. Also, soak 1/8 in. think slices in fresh lime juice for a few hours. Strain, and sweeten juice with a little honey to taste. Take a shot. Also, you can eat a slice or two of the ginger. Try these appetite stimulants 30 - 60 minutes before a meal to jump start the process.
Spices to use in cooking for digestion: cumin, coriander, fennel, turmeric, ginger, black pepper. Add these to a dish while cooking, the heat releases their digestive enhancing properties. These can be especially helpful to add to foods you find difficult to digest, like dairy, meat, or other heavy foods. But, they are delicious in vegetable and egg dishes.

And, yoga sure can help. Yoga can help increase appetite, especially a more vigorous practice. Standing poses help draw energy down, enhancing the downward flow of, umm, energy. And twisting poses tone and stimulate the digestive system.
Despite our best efforts, our digestion might cough and sputter occasionally, leading to the dreaded ama condition. Next week we'll look at this nasty substance to learn how to tell if we have it, and how to eliminate it before it settles in for a long stay.

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