The simplest way to tap into the full potential of the healthy foods you eat is to ensure you can digest them properly.

While what you eat is important, HOW you digest what you eat is more important! In Ayurveda, we say: you are what you digest NOT what you eat. Why is that? Simply put, when you eat foods that you digest well, your body is able to optimally pull nutrients from them which in turn, allows it to build good-quality blood to irrigate your vital organs with — resulting in overall ease and wellbeing.

Conversely, if you frequently eat foods that are nutrient-rich but hard to digest (think raw veggies, cold-press green juices, brown rice etc.) then, chances are you are not benefiting from them as much as you think and are feeling less than your best self, despite your best efforts to eat healthy! That’s because they require more power and digestive strength to extract nutrients from and properly nourish your body. Given our modern lifestyle, most people have a compromised digestive system that needs support before it’s able to pull nourishment from these hard-to-digest foods!

🌱 How to know if you’re not digesting a food? It’s simple: just watch for how & what you feel within a couple of hours of eating the food. If you’re experiencing gas, bloating, headache, hot flashes, fatigue & other unpleasant symptoms after eating the food, then it’s not for you at the moment.

TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR DIGESTION

1. Eat protein first: Try to eat protein before anything else. The stomach only produces a certain amount of hydrochloric acid at a time. Protein is the only food that requires hydrochloric to digest, so it’s best eaten first while you have an abundant supply.

2. Look at your food combos: Combining foods can help you digest your meal. E.g. Protein is drying, so eat it with healthy fats like ghee, coconut oil or avocado; avoid eating fruit or milk with/after your meals etc.

3. Cooked is better than raw: the body finds it easier to assimilate nutrients from cooked food. No more than 25% of your meal should be raw food.

4. Exercise that makes you perspire a little, that gets your heart moving and that gets your lungs working will really improve your digestion. It will also help you quickly metabolize any undigested food from previous meals, which has the potential to become toxic. But don’t overdo exercise – exercise to only half your capacity.

5. Regular meal times: Eat all 3 meals at the same time every day. If your body gets used to a regular routine, the digestive enzymes will prepare themselves before the meal, and will be more efficient in digesting. If you eat at different times, your digestion will be thrown off.

6. Cook with spices: just sprinkle ginger, cumin, coriander, fennel seeds in any and everything you cook. They will add wonderful flavors to your food while helping you digest your meal.