The Secret to Great Digestion

Warming spices

Every natural healing system says that diet is the first and most basic building block of good health. It can even be an effective treatment for disease, even when used alone. Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and European naturopathy all have long, respected traditions of using food as medicine. Making dietary adjustments is very safe, so this approach can be used by anyone as path of self care. Of course, the results will materialize more slowly than more directed methods, such as herbal medicine.

And it all starts with digestion. You are not, in fact, what you eat. You are what you assimilate and what you then eliminate.

Digestion begins when you first begin to think of food. When you select your meal well, prepare it properly and present it beautifully, your senses will aid your digestion. Your body and your mind are receptive. Flavors, aromas, colors, and textures make the experience of eating an agreeable and creative time.

First, keep the dining table dedicated to eating. Only your food should be in front of you. Before sitting down to the main courses, start with an appetizer that gets the juices flowing. Small portions of pungent, bitter and sour tastes especially stimulate digestive juices. Chips and salsa, anyone?

Make a point to smell the appetizing aromas 30 minutes before your meal to get your digestive system ready. And then eat in a serene atmosphere so your body can give its full attention to making you healthy.

We should eat when the digestive tract is comfortably empty, when our emotions are calm and we are truly hungry. Since heavy, oily or sweet food is the most difficult to digest, if you will be serving these foods, eat them at the beginning of the meal, after the appetizer has had a change to rev up the digestive juices. Enjoy your easier to digest sour and salty courses in the middle and dry, light and bitter foods, which put less strain on digestion, at the end of the meal. After an appropriately-sized meal, the stomach should be half filled with food, one quarter filled with liquid and one quarter empty.

These herbs are good choices to use along with the meal to promote complete and proper digestion:
• Ginger root
• Fennel seed
• Black pepper
• Mint
• Cardamom

The Kitchen Doctor gives a good overview of digestion from the Ayurvedic perspective on her extensive website.

Anyone want to chime in with your favorite digestive aids?