5 Tips for Better Digestive Health

Imagine a sheet of tissue paper as big as the floor plan of your house. Then imagine folding that tissue paper to make it fit inside a tube just 30 feet long and less than three inches wide. Now you can sense the engineering marvel of the human digestive system.

Such a system requires careful maintenance. The American Gastroenterological Association reports that approximately 30 percent of Americans experience at least one significant gastrointestinal (GI) illness or problem a year.

Symptoms of stomach cramps or pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, and indigestion usually can be eliminated by changes in diet and sometimes by adding supplements and medications. To keep your digestive system healthy, it helps to know a few key points.

Be wary of dairy

According to the National Institutes of Health, 30 million to 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant. The problem is very common in certain ethnic groups. For example, as many as 90 percent of Asian-Americans and as many as 80 percent of Native Americans and African-Americans can't tolerate lactose. (Lactose is found in milk, ice cream, yogurt, and cheese.) Common symptoms include diarrhea or constipation. If either is a problem for you, experiment by cutting out dairy and see if your symptoms improve. If dairy is an important part of your diet, you can take supplements to help digest lactose.

Protect with probiotics

Probiotics are supplements of healthy organisms that normally should be plentiful in our GI system. They include Lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacteria, and Saccharomyces. Probiotic bacteria are important in creating a healthy environment in the large intestine (colon), and they may keep more dangerous bacteria from flourishing in the GI tract. It's especially important to restore these healthy bacteria after taking a course of antibiotics or when under stress, since both may suppress these beneficial bacteria. It's now thought that one function of the appendix is to help store healthy bacteria in the event that an illness wipes out the normal levels. After the illness, the healthy probiotic bacteria can emerge and restore normal levels.

Feed on fiber

Dietary fiber plays an important role in the health of our digestive tract. Besides lowering cholesterol, fiber also feeds the healthy bacteria and helps them to flourish. A common misconception is that you can get fiber from eating any salad. The best sources of dietary fiber are actually whole grains such as whole wheat, brown rice, and whole oats, along with beans, peas, nuts, and seeds, then fruits and vegetables. If you're not accustomed to fiber, you should start slowly, adding more to your diet until you reach a target of about 25 grams a day. Start with a high-fiber breakfast cereal. Choose whole-wheat bread over white. Add nuts, beans, lentils, hummus, split peas, and at least five servings of vegetables and fruits daily. Add a tablespoon of ground flax seeds. If you're still not reaching your goal, try adding an over-the-counter fiber supplement.