Thanksgiving dinner commonly leaves us with the desire to unbutton our trousers and doze off to sleep. This urge is often due to an overindulgence of foods that raise your blood sugar and promote digestive distress & gut inflammation.
Instead of popping a Pepcid or Tums to deal with that 'food baby' gurgling inside you, here are a few natural ways to support your digestion this holiday season:
Drink 1 tsp of bitters or apple cider vinegar in 4 oz of water, 15 minutes before eating.
Bitter flavors help to prime your digestive system and stimulate the release of digestive juices in your saliva and stomach. Bitters before a meal will help to ensure proper break down of food so that you can alleviate symptoms such as bloating and gas.
Check out my favorite bitters elixir & travel bitters.
Rest to Digest
It requires A LOT of energy to metabolize meals. Therefore your body must be in a relaxed state so that it can focus on proper digestion.
Before you begin to enjoy your meal, take 3 slow deep breaths.
Chew each bite slowly and thoroughly.
Focus on and truly enjoy the scents and flavors of each delicious bite.
Sip liquids AWAY from meals.
Liquids dilute gastric juices and interfere with proper digestion. Therefore, limit liquids to no more than 8oz, 15 minutes before and 1 hour after eating.
*Do sip 1/2 your body weight in oz of clean water throughout the rest of the day.
Ease up on the three most inflammatory foods: gluten, dairy & refined sugars.
These foods cause an immune response within your digestive tract, leading to digestive upset, leaky gut and a weakened immune system.
Prone to heartburn?
Use bitters! This will help to SUPPORT DIGESTION by stimulating gastric juices rather than stopping digestion as acid blocking medications do (Pepsid, Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec). Stopping digestion only leads to worse feelings of bloating, gas and digestive upset.
If the heartburn is persistent, drink a strong glass of lemon water to help squelch the burn.
Keep my favorite natural heartburn support supplement on hand so that you can avoid using those toxic ant-acid medications >> Heartburn Advantage
Learn more about the importance of stomach acid HERE.
Enjoy these nutritionist approved recipes for a happier tummy this Thanksgiving:
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