Your Best Health Begins With a Healthy Digestive System

Do you struggle with heartburn, constipation, bloating or diarrhea? Or perhaps you’re always tired, crave carbohydrates or battle brain fog? Or are you one of the millions living with the pain of arthritis or battling chronic sinus infections?
What all these health conditions have in common may surprise you – an unhealthy digestive system.  An unhealthy gut is much more prevalent than you’d think – about 60 to 70 million people in America have less than optimal digestive health.1 As a registered dietitian, I’ve studied this topic, worked with many individuals to restore their gut health, and fully understand that a healthy digestive system is the key to keeping your entire body operating at its best.
How great does optimal health sound? You can find heartburn relief, have regular bowel movements, enjoy great energy and ditch your carb cravings for good! How? The first step to optimal health is looking at the lifestyle habits such as those listed here, and other factors that may be contributing to your intestinal problems.

• Drinking pop
• Drinking too much coffee
• Eating too much sugar (cookies, cake, candy, granola bars, pancakes, dried fruit, etc.)
• Taking anti-inflammatory medication (Ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin, etc.)
• Taking antacids (Tums, Rolaids, Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, etc.)
• Taking antibiotics
• < >Protein (chicken, bacon, turkey, eggs)
• Real carbohydrate (cucumber, broccoli, sweet potato, strawberries, brown rice)
• Healthy fat (olive oil, butter, nuts)

If you get one thing from this post, know that it IS possible to restore good digestion. Eating real food is the place to start, but there is so much more to learn!Cassie Weness, R.D., L.D.

Stop by my session at the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Health and Wellness Conference to hear practical ways to heal your digestive system and get you on the road to your healthiest self!

• What: Nutritional Solutions for Better Digestion Session
• When: October 3rd, 2017 at 11:15 am
   
• National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Opportunities and Challenges in Digestive Diseases Research: Recommendations of the National Commission on Digestive Diseases. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health; 2009. NIH Publication 08–6514.
  

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