If you find a hard time after finishing a meal and suffer from chronic digestion problems every time you eat outside, starting with stomachaches, heartburn, chronic constipation, and irritability. and these problems ruin your day and minimize your sleep hours, you shouldn’t wait so long to start to reconsider your eating habits and give your stomach and body a rest from high-calorie food.
It is not that late for you.
Some people think that changing the type of food they eat won’t have a strong influence, and can’t help to solve their problems and settle for medication to ease the pain.
well, after 28 days of healthy food style you can completely tell the difference:
1- In the first 2 days, you will have a more clear mind with better concentration.
2- After a week, you begin to feel more comfortable and your body is relaxed with its energy saved, thanks to the low fat and salt diet.
3- After 21 weeks, your skin will look shiny and pure with fewer puffy eyes and dark spots caused by bad nutrition. and for your weight, your clothes will start to feel looser.
4- At the end of the month, flatulence and annoying cravings will disappear, you will have a stronger immune system and less fluid retention giving you a thinner look.
The first step is to cut the fatty food
Fatty, fried and fast food 3 Fs you have to avoid to have better health and life.
Greasy food imbalances your body function by its 3 main inputs: fat, sugar, and water-salt levels.
Fat in greasy food just as: fried pies, pastries, pizza, crackers, and cookies is mostly from the harmful unsaturated type, Trans fat, which increases your LDL level and slows your digestion movement causing stomach bloat and makes you end up feeling lethargic and sated.
Your daily intake of added sugar ranges from 6-9 teaspoons a day according to The American Heart Association (AHA), the soft drinks served with fried food in restaurants only contain 8 teaspoons. These high spikes of glucose cause a sugar rush in your blood and high blood pressure, giving you a nausea feeling and increasing your risk of type 2 diabetes.
Fried food can contain half of your share of sodium, this increases your body water level and make level and makes you put on more weight.
These three major inputs should be controlled and taken naturally by healthy and easy to digest food:
- carbohydrates: bread, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, and whole grains
- dairy and non-dairy products
- meat, poultry, fish, and eggs
- heart-healthy oils
- condiments and spices.
CARBS: Our major fuel through the day
USDA dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest taking half of your calorie intake for the day from carbs and natural grains as it is simple, fast, easy to digest food that consists mainly of fibers, the joker in facilitating the digestion process.
Sweet potatoes
Nutritional value:
-Water: more than 70%
-Protein: 4 grams
-Carbs: 20 grams
-Sugar: 4.2 grams
-Fibres: 5 grams
-with 25% of the daily need for potassium and great amounts of vitamin A and C and beta-carotene antioxidants.
Ways to include in your diet:
-This great source of energy is very popular for its mashed stuff, mainly with butter, cream, and favorite sauce.
-fried sweet potato fingers as snacks is an excellent substitute for chocolate and candy in your diet.
NOWADAYS, people begin to rely on sweet potato flour as a healthy gluten-free ingredient instead of typical white flour.
OATs
Nutritional value:
-Oat is one of the healthiest whole-grain carbs, rich in beta-glucan, a prebiotic fibre, and slow resistant starch, which promotes your peristaltic move and enriches the environment of your stomach.
along with manganese, iron, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, and V1.
Ways to include in your diet:
-Oat is one of the easiest ingredients to make recipes that can be very useful during your night hunger attacks to boost fullness and reduce your appetite.
-Make a simple meal out of oats, milk, and honey if you are bored with your regular cereal meal.
a delicious pancakes of rolled oat, almond milk, vanilla, and cinnamon as a breakfast on a weekend morning.
-you also can make coconut oat muffins and famous jammy granola bars as snacks for a change.
White rice
Nutritional value:
People know white rice as a non-nutritional but necessary element in our life. It is highly processed and stripped out of its outer layer which contains the majority of minerals and nutrients, unlike brown rice.
Despite this fact, white rice is a low-fiber food that is easy to digest. It also contains Manganese 18%, Selenium 13%, vitamin B3 (Niacin)12% of the recommended daily intake (RDI).
Ways to include in your diet:
It doesn’t need a recommendation, you can use it with almost every meal and make changes by using different condiments and spices in your recipes.
Here are some additives that may blow up your mind when you try them:
-Butter and parmesan cheese
-Toasted sesame seeds
-Creamy gravy
-Cinnamon and brown sugar
-Sauteed garlic, mushrooms, peppers, onions, etc.
-Broccoli florets and cheese
-soy sauce, curry, saffron, ginger, chilli, and lemon.
White bread and Toast
Nutritional value:
Although it is unhealthy and poor in nutrients, white bread is an essential commodity worldwide. an average slice of bread has 76 calories and for a regular toast slice, 100 calories. TheThe wheat of white bread is high in carbs but low in fibre, fat, and protein which make it faster and better IN digestion for an upset stomach.
How to choose your bread?
For a better diet, you have to choose your bread carefully. For instance, the bread of sprouted grains contains beta-carotene and vitamins C and E while white bread has more fibre to promote digestion. You also have to choose enriched bread by adding vitamins and nutrients like iron, riboflavin, thiamine, and niacin to increase the nutritional value. you can also replace white bread with Corn Tortillas, Cauliflower Bread, or Rye bread if you have problems with gluten. [1]Studies on germination conditions and antioxidant contents of wheat grain – PubMed (nih.gov)
Semolina (farina)
Farina is the same as Semolina but made out of harder wheat while Semolina is made of durum wheat which makes farina have more granular endosperm and harder to grind it.
Nutritional values:
a ⅓ cup of uncooked Semolina contains:
Calories: 198 calories
Carbs: 40 grams
Protein: 7 grams
Fat: less than 1 gram
Fibre: 7%, Thiamine: 41%, Folate: 36% of the RDI.
These elements combined have a great effect on losing weight due to its high fibre content promoting fullness, controlling your blood sugar, and supporting heart health. [2]The Macronutrients, Appetite, and Energy Intake – PubMed (nih.gov)
Ways to include in your diet:
The pale yellow flour or semolina is used mainly in making Pasta in the UK. semolina also appears in many recipes, bread, cakes, pizza, and biscuit doughs and there is semolina pudding, a traditional English dessert made out of cooking semolina in milk and honey.
DAIRY PRODUCTS: A powerhouse of protein
The source of necessary proteins and calcium treasury. The main dairy products like milk, yogurt, cheese, cream, casein, and the custard should have a fair share in your new healthy diet as an easy-to-digest food comes with a lot of benefits.
Yogurt
It is the most famous easy to digest food ever. It has a high soothing effect on the stomach as it contains probiotics (good bacteria) that boost your body’s immune system and facilitate the movement of chyme in your digestive tract if you have heartburn or inflammatory problems.
A 100 grams of whole milk yogurt contain:
Calories: 61
Water: 88%
Protein: 3.5 g
Carbs: 4.7 g
Sugar: 4.7 g
Fibre: 0 g
Fat: 3.3 g
As well as the high amounts of calcium and vitamin D that help treat osteoporosis.
Ways to include in your diet:
This ingredient has countless benefits and uses. You can eat it at night with nuts and fruits or add it to your hot oatmeals or smoothies. And it adds a special taste to your potato or chicken salad.
Fermented milk
Nutritional value:
Fermented dairy products, more specifically milk, are good sources of protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B12, and folic acid. The absorption of lactose in it is enhanced by the presence of bacterial lactase. A100g of Fermented milk and low-fat milk has 64 calories. [3]Nutritional and therapeutic aspects of fermented dairy products – PubMed (nih.gov)
Ways to include in your diet
Besides drinking fermented milk you can heat it and use it in making pastries, cake, and muffins to add a special taste to your dough.
Ghee butter
Nutritional value
Ghee is a clarified butter driven from its water and milk content by heating. It has more A, E, and K vitamins than regular butter, and considerable amounts of butyric acid and essential omega-3 fatty acid that isn’t synthesized in your body and should be taken from outside.
Ways to include in your diet
Besides regular uses of butter, ghee maintains higher temperatures and is used as a cooking oil.
Easy to digest Cheese
Gouda cheese
It is a semisolid cheese created in the Netherlands, characterized by its Carmel and aromatic flavor. And the largest kind of cheese in probiotics promotes digestion and lactose adsorption.
Feta cheese
A white soft cheese made from sheep’s and goat’s milk. It is a low-fat and calories cheese in comparison with old types like parmesan and Halloumi cheese. And it contains Lactobacillus Plantarum bacteria that promote gut health for a better digestion process. cheese made in Greece only, called Feta.
Mozzarella cheese
One of the healthiest types of cheese, invented in Italy, with low calories and sodium intake and soft texture makes it easy to digest.
Easy-to-Digest Non-dairy products
It is a substitute for milk, butter, cheese, oil, and cream from vegetables and nuts (non-animal sources). It is used by people who suffer from lactose intolerance and poor lactase enzyme -the one responsible for dairy product digestion- or as a better alternative for dairies in losing weight.
Milk substitutes
Plant alternatives came from legumes (soy), cereals (oats, rice), nuts (almond, coconut), or other grains (quinoa, teff) enriched with Vitamin D and calcium.
Butter substitutes
It is made from vegetable and coconut oil or some kinds of nuts and seeds like almonds, cashews, and sunflower adding different flavors and consistencies to the butter.
Cream substitutes
This delicious but very fatty ingredient is usually substituted with whipped cream in cakes and desserts, coffee creamers, or other types of mixed vegetable oils.
Animal food sources
Salmon Fish
Oily Salmon, mackerel, and sardines are the best kinds of fish and meat generally when it comes to digestion. It contains omega-3 fatty acids, like EPA, and DOHA which protect you against inflammatory diseases and chronic irritable bowel syndrome (IBM) and lubricate your gastrointestinal tract for smooth food movement.
Health advice
Try to cook your fish without additional fat or oil to benefit the most out of it.
Chicken
Nutritional value:
Chicken, a type of food that should be found on any table on all occasions.it is a good source of protein with zero carbs and minimum fat. An average chicken breast with no skin and bones has 284 Calories and takes 2 hours to digest. The light meat(breast) in turkey and poultry is healthier and easier to digest than dark meat in wings and legs.
Health advice
1-The best way to eat chicken is to remove its skin to avoid excess fat.
2-Roasted, grilled, baked poultry sauteed with some oil is ok, fried chicken with excess salt, spices, and fat is definitely not ok for your stomach
3-keep yourself away from canned food especially meats and poultry like Rotisserie Chickengrill as processed food isn’t very digestible and lacks most of the nutritional value found in meat.
Egg
The egg is an easy-to-digest protein compared to red meats and legumes. You can digest a whole egg in 45 mins and an egg yolk only in 30 mins while a piece of red meat can take from 12 to 48 hours to digest it !!
It’s a good source of protein and important nutrients like iron, lutein, and zeaxanthin with fewer calories and digestive problems.
Health advice
A boiled egg is very good for your stomach, as heat breaks its protein bond from its shape and forms new ones easier for your stomach to digest. While frying an egg or adding oil to cook it, create new bonds more complicated for your digestive enzymes to break down.
Chicken noodle soup
soup is the second-best choice after yogurt for a disturbed stomach. A smart choice to feel full and eat well. It usually contains the nutrients of its components from meat and greens in a low-calorie hydrating food.it is a great healthy deal.
Chicken noodle soup is the most famous cure for a tired body. It contains poultry protein and vitamins of veggies in a warm broth that can help you with your cold too.
FRUITS: The source of natural sugar
Ripe bananas
Banana is known to be a soft food good for elderly people and infants as it contains fast-digesting carbs -like white bread and rice- which is easy to digest and promotes fullness. Besides, it is a powerhouse of potassium that provides you with a great deal of energy.
Applesauce
Cooked apple added to lemon juice and cinnamon stick, honey, or sugar as sweeteners is called applesauce. It is easier to digest than uncooked apples but less nutritious, but a better choice than butter or oil in cooking though, as it makes your meals lighter and easier to digest.
Apple peels contain antioxidants called phytochemicals, these antioxidants protect you from free radicals which attack your cells increasing risks of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease so make sure you use apple skin when you make the sauce.
Watermelon
92% of it is water which makes it very low in calories. A cup serving of diced watermelon has 46 calories.it is a very hydrating food, a cure for constipation, and cleaner for your kidney from toxic molecules by its antioxidant content. Watermelon is good for your stomach but keep in mind that eating so much watermelon in diets can cause flatulence and adverse effects.
Other easy-to-digest fruits include melon, Avocado, berries, and citrus fruits like lemon, orange, pineapple, and grapefruit which are lower in fructose, rich in vitamin C, and riboflavin decreasing capillary fragility.
Vegetables: The one with all NUTRIENTS
Spinach
Spinach is a miracle more than food, it is a great package of nutrients at a very low price (calories).
One cup of raw spinach contains:
–7 calories
-0.86 grams (g) of protein
-30 milligrams (mg) of calcium
-0.81 g of iron
-24 mg of magnesium
-167 mg of potassium
-2,813 international units (IU) of Vitamin A
-58 micrograms of folate
Folate in spinach helps your stomach to turn the food into energy which helps you lose your belly fat and consume calories instead of turning into fat.
Spinach is easy to digest due to its high water and fibre content. cooking spinach breaks oxalic acid bonds and allows better absorption and indigestion of spinach.
Pumpkin
it is delicious soft food on the stomach used in making pies and soups with a soothing effect on your GIT along with other pros:
- It is a natural laxative.
- One of the first introduced foods to babies.
- Clear your stomach and digestive tract from parasites.
- Helps to recover from colon inflammations.
- Low in fat, sugar, and carbs.
BEETS ROOTS
Beetroots are a type of veggie that is rich in vitamins, iron, and a good source of fibre to increase gut bacteria and add bulk to stool.
It has medicinal properties in treating inflammatory diseases and diverticulitis. It also proved to increase your fitness as it enhances the work of mitochondria -the powerhouse in cells- and increases the oxygen produced in cells by 20%. You can use it in salad, dips, juice, and sauces.
Easy To Digest Plants and Spices
Ginger
Ginger is a very common condiment used in soups and meat seasoning many medicinal uses that you should learn about:
- Ginger is a cure for nausea and motion sickness.
- Antimicrobial and anti-fungal for many parasites and bugs that may cause you serious digestive problems.
- Work as a digestive tonic improving gastric motility.
- Has an anti-inflammatory effect.
- Chewing ginger with lemon and rock salt can help to treat anorexia.
- Carminative to treat bloating, flatulence and indigestion.
Turmeric
Turmeric spice is an inexpensive substitute for saffron. Its main active constituent (AC) curcumin has recently proved a lot of Anti-inflammatory and medicinal uses especially in treating irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, diarrhea, and nausea. It also relieves inflamed esophagus and colon from indigestion problems, prevents the production of excess acid as a natural remedy for heartburn.
Fennel
It is a plant with a mild liquorice-like taste and crunchy texture. Most parts of the fennel are used in cooking especially bulbs and seeds while stems are treated as a vegetable. People use fennel in curries, stews, bread, desserts, and beverages
It has a great impact on the digestive system as its bulb clears up your intestine and colon from bacteria and relieves inflamed areas. It is also used as a carminative, chewing fennel seeds stops the gases and treats bloating.
Caraway
Caraway is a plant from the carrot family that has been a part of European and Asian cuisine for a long time, caraway seeds are a good substitute for fennel seeds, it is very effective in treating GIT spasms, heartburn, gas, loss of appetite and chronic colon inflammation. In addition to that, it is a rich source of antioxidants that protect you from dangerous free radicals.
Mint
It is the most popular carminative herb to treat flatulence and bad breath problems. peppermint oil as well is known to relieve abdominal pain and reduce cancer risks.
Along with garlic, coriander, cinnamon, rosemary, Dandelion, Camomile, and Licorice root.it is all herbs and plants that are easy to digest and have many benefits that can do wonders to your body.
