Do you have cramps or a constant feeling of pressure in your stomach? This may indicate that the intestines can no longer properly cope with their tasks. Five habits in everyday life may be to blame for this.
The body is a complex organism that reacts to all sorts of external factors, including intestinal digestion.
Suddenly you are tormented by terrible pains, a feeling of fullness or flatulence. Often, a serious illness comes to mind immediately, but mostly it is the unconscious situations of everyday life that confuse the intestines.
“Often, excessive stress shifts priorities to areas other than the intestines, which creates serious problems for it. Lack of exercise or excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages can also provoke problems in the intestinal area,” says psychiatrist Alexandra Alisova, especially for MedikForum.
1. You don't waste time chewing
Either the lunch break is too short, or the appetite is too great – often you don't have enough time to really enjoy the food, and instead you swallow it.
The mechanism of chewing is also ignored, although in fact you should not chew less than 30 times. This condition greatly burdens the intestines, since food enters the intestines in large pieces – an impossible task for the body. Symptoms such as convulsions or flatulence may result, although this situation can be easily avoided.
Conscious chewing ensures that food enters the intestines in smaller pieces and that some sort of digestion is already taking place in the mouth.
“Saliva contains special digestive enzymes that begin digestion as soon as you chew. For example, the amylase enzyme ensures that that the sugar molecules are already broken down in the mouth.”
2. Limited bowel movements due to excessive stress
Chewing behavior is often associated with everyday stress, and this stress has a negative impact on the functioning of the intestines, as well as on the whole organism.
Even if short-term stress increases the efficiency of the body and brain, it causes a decrease in intestinal activity. In stressful situations, the body produces more adrenaline because it reacts with a fear and flight mechanism.
Because the body now uses its energy solely to produce adrenaline, the digestive tract takes a backseat.
If the stressful situation lasts longer, symptoms such as flatulence, bloating, spasms, or nausea may appear in the stomach and intestines.
“If the intestines repeatedly react to stressful situations, experts talk about irritable bowel syndrome, in which activity the intestinal muscles are especially sensitive.”
3. Empty Carbohydrates Promote Inflammation in the Gut
No matter how delicious slices of white bread or pasta are, these foodscan become a serious problem for the intestines. Foods made up of simple carbohydrates contain very, very little fiber and are therefore a particularly good breeding ground for viruses and bacteria.
These dangerous intestinal bacteria greatly disrupt the intestinal flora and cause digestive problems. Therefore, the intestines should be supported with fiber-rich foods to keep the intestinal flora in balance.
“If the diet consists mainly of high-fiber foods and healthy foods, the occasional consumption of simple carbohydrates is not a problem for the intestines – Here the effect is determined by the dose.
MedicForum has previously written about the benefits of parsley and sorrel.
Important!< /span> Information provided for reference purposes. Ask a specialist about contraindications and side effects and under no circumstances self-medicate. At the first sign of illness, consult a doctor.