The proper digestion of food is critical to maintaining a healthy status. If you fail to properly digest your meals, you will fail to absorb the necessary nutrients.
However, several people suffer from digestive problems that prevent nutrients absorption/ indigestion. Such issues include bloating, pain in the abdominal area, constipation, and diarrhea.
It is also possible for such health conditions to worsen and lead to more severe issues like IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and Crohn’s Disease.
Nonetheless, healthy individuals may experience digestion issues if they lack foods that can serve as digestion aids.
Here’s a list of food that you can take to aid the proper digestion of foods.
Apples: 
Pectin is a soluble fiber that can help to improve your digestion of foods. Apples are one of the richest sources of pectin you can find around.
Here’s a quick look at how pectin can improve your digestive process.
Pectin skips the digestive process that takes place in the small intestine. Instead, your colon contains bacteria that can help you break down the pectin.
Once it’s broken down, pectin increases the volume of your stool. By doing this, it gets rid of the excess waste in your body.
As an added bonus, eating apples can help you cure constipation or diarrhea. It is also known to help reduce the occurrence of infections in your intestine.
Papaya: 
Papaya is a rich source of papain, a digestive enzyme. This enzyme helps the proper digestion of foods by breaking down the proteins in your meals.
Papain can also help treat symptoms of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) such as bloating and constipation.
If you are unsure of the effects of papain, you should know that it is one of the core elements of digestive supplements. Medical experts everywhere trust in its gastrointestinal capacities.
Salmon: 
Omega-3 fatty acids are abundant in salmon. These acids help treat inflammation in the body.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease and other disorders in the digestive tracts can cause inflammation in your gut. By adding omega-3 acids to your meals, you can slowly treat this inflammation.
Once the inflammation has been treated, you will experience a rapid improvement in your digestive process. So consider adding salmon to your meals to aid the proper digestion of foods.
Peppermint oils can be extracted from peppermint leaves and have been found to serve as digestion aids.
The oils contain menthol, a compound that can treat symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Menthol has also been known to cure stomach discomforts and resolve issues related to bowel movements.
Peppermint oil can also help you relax the muscles in your digestive system. This muscle relaxation has been known to help improve your digestion.
You can also use peppermint oil to cure indigestion. The oil accelerates the movement of the food through your bowels, aiding proper digestion of food.
Ginger: 
Adding ginger to your meals can aid the absorption of indigestion. Ginger helps you absorb the nutrients in your meals faster and better.
Ginger is also an excellent treatment for bloating and certain digestive issues. It is also used for treating morning sicknesses and nausea in pregnant women.
If you are constipated, treating heartburns, or suffering from stomach discomfort, then you should consider adding ginger to your food. It will help you empty your gastrointestinal tract even faster.
You can choose to add ginger to your meal as a spice or cut thin slices to go with your food. Some people also use ginger roots to make tea.
For best results, you should make sure that the ginger is as fresh as possible.
- Whole Grains:
Grains are the seeds of plants known as cereals. Whole grains are made up of 100% kernel. Some popular examples of whole grains are Oats, Farro, Whole Wheat, and Quinoa.
You can improve your digestive process by taking whole grains. The fibers in whole grains are fantastic as digestion aids. Simply adding fibers to your daily meals can help improve food digestion significantly.
Fibers can bulk up your stool and help treat constipation. They can also serve as prebiotics and serve as “food” to the bacteria in your colon.
Yogurt: 
Yogurt is extracted from fermented milk. This fermentation is usually caused by lactic acid bacteria.
Yogurt contains probiotics that are friendly bacteria that can survive inside your digestive system. These bacteria help the digestive process by keeping your insides healthy.
Your body naturally contains probiotics. However, you can increase their count by taking yogurt with your meals.
The probiotics inside yogurt help with constipation, bloating, and diarrhea. They are also known to aid the digestion of lactose.
You should keep in mind that not all yogurts contain probiotics. Make sure to check the packagings for “live and active cultures” while you are out shopping. This label is what indicates the presence of probiotics in the yogurt.
Green Vegetables: 
Insoluble fiber is excellent for bulking up your stool and accelerating food movement through your digestive tract. Interestingly, you can get quite a lot of it from green vegetables.
Green veggies are also an excellent source of magnesium, which can help you ease issues with constipation. It brings relief by strengthening the contractions of the muscles in your digestive system.
Common examples of green vegetables are spinach, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. You can also consume other leafy greens for insoluble fiber.
Additionally, it has been found that green veggies contain a particular sugar that feeds the bacteria present in your digestive tract. These bacteria are necessary for the digestive process, so feeding them is a great idea.
Sugar is also known to impair the function of harmful bacteria in your body. This impairment can help you prevent some illnesses.
Beetroots: 
These are also known as beets, and they are excellent sources of fiber.
As you already know, fiber is good for digestion. A single cup of beet, about 136 grams, contains over 3 grams of fiber.
The fiber heads straight to your colon, ignoring digestion. It then serves as food for the friendly bacteria living in the colon.
Fiber also bulks up your stool which is an indication of proper digestion of food.
You can choose to roast your beets to cook them. You could also mix it into a salad or blend it into a cold smoothie to accompany your main meal.
- Kombucha:
This is also known as Fermented tea. It is set up by adding certain bacterial yeast together with sugar to black tea. You’re welcome to try kombucha with green tea or dark tea. The tea is fermented for seven days. A few Kombucha drinkers leave it to mature for over seven days; some don’t. In the wake of going through maturation, probiotics help in assimilation is created in the tea. Drinking fermented tea has been found to treat stomach ulcers.
What not to eat
While some foods aid digestion, others can impair your digestive process. This is not to say that you should avoid such foods altogether, but you should take them in moderation.
Some foods, and some drinks, can cause bloating, diarrhea, constipation, and heartburns.
Examples of foods to take in moderation include
- Processed Carbohydrates. A typical example is a white bread
- Carbonated drinks or sugar-sweetened beverages
- White Chocolate
- Cheese, cream, and other foods rich in saturated fats
- Greasy foods
- Spicy Foods, particularly curry
- Alcohol
- Coffee and other caffeinated drinks
Taking these in excess can seriously hamper your digestive process. And in some severe situations, you may end up needing to take a trip to the hospital.
In addition, some of these foods can also lead to other medical conditions such as obesity and organ failure. Try not to be excessive with these foods.
You should also practice healthy eating habits. For instance, you should not eat too fast, nor should you lie down immediately after eating.
Larger meals also take longer to digest. Your digestive tract will be happier if you take several small servings rather than a single large meal.
Keep in mind that what works for your digestive system may not work for someone else. Allergies and intolerances are also worth considering while thinking about proper digestion of food.
If you are having issues digesting food, consider keeping a record of your meals. This can help you and medical experts identify the foods that trigger your digestion issues.
Conclusion
Most foods that are digestion aids are rich in nutrients. Others contain helpful enzymes and bacteria that can help out with the digestive process.
If you are having issues digesting food, consider taking small meals so that your digestive system can catch up. You should also include fiber in your meal on a regular basis.
Fiber helps with bowel movements and constipation. Taking any of the foods on this list can help improve your digestive process significantly.
If you are eating healthy and taking enough digestive aids and still have problems, please see a medical doctor. This could be an indication of an underlying medical condition.
