Anyone else deal with unpleasant “after effects” of eating?We love good food. But it doesn’t always love us back. Sometimes after eating even the healthiest foods (I’m looking at you crunchy kale salad) we can end up feeling bloated and uncomfortable. What’s the deal?
Do we really have to choose between eating the foods we love…… or living in yoga pants so we have room to ‘expand’ after certain meals? We’d think digestion is easy. But in reality there’s a lot that goes into it… starting with how well we chew our food - 30 times per bite to be exact… who has time for that? If you’re like me, you’d rather spend more time enjoying the food you love without digestive woes like: Bloating, Gas, Burping, Feeling like you swallowed a rock, Or needing a big nap because all your energy is zapped when your body starts breaking down food.
That’s where enzymes come in…It’s true that your body should make many of the digestive enzymes needed to breakdown food. When food gets broken down into the good stuff like amino acids, vitamins, and minerals… the body is better able to use nutrients. In a perfect world, we’d have all the enzymes we need in our gut. But there are many factors that can affect our body’s ability to produce enough enzymes. Some of which include:
- Age
- Stress
- Poor gut health
- Chewing gum (crazy, right?)
- Genetics
- Lack of exercise
- Dietary changes
- Drinking alcoholic beverages
- Poor sleep quality
- Lack of variety in diet
