Food to Improve Digestion

Whether you want to prevent constipation, relieve stomach pain or correct other digestive-related problems, you can achieve it by eating certain types of food. To ease your digestion, choose foods that can help soften the bulk. If you have problems digesting milk, choose foods that can break down the “milk” carbohydrate. Choosing the right foods will help improve your digestion. But you should also remember to eat slowly since speed can interfere with the digestion process.

Water

Water — the zero-calorie drink — not only helps sustain your body, but acts as your digestive system’s assistant by breaking foods down into smaller components. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases reports that water also helps the fiber in your digestive tract work better.
Fruit juice, vegetable juice and clear soup also help prevent constipation by reducing dehydration -- one of the contributors to the condition. Drinks that contain alcohol or caffeine can dehydrate you and cause constipation, thus you should try to avoid these types of beverages, explains the NDDIC.

High-Fiber Food

Dietary fiber, a carbohydrate produced only in plants, helps move food through the digestive tract. Although your body can’t digest fiber, it needs this carbohydrate to build bulk. Fiber also prevents constipation and diverticulosis, a condition where an area in the intestine protrudes outward, forming a pouch, MedlinePlus states. The Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University explains that high-fiber food can soften and increase the speed of the bulk through the colon, thus reducing constipation. Excellent sources of fiber include navy beans, split peas, lentils, 100-percent wheat bran cereal, pearled barley, oat bran, artichoke hearts, spinach, Brussels sprouts, prunes, Asian pear, guava, almonds, pistachios and pecans.

Yogurt

Yogurt contains live bacteria, or culture, that can help break down lactose, a special carbohydrate found in dairy products of which many people of Asian descent can’t digest. According to Dr. Sylvie Rabot and colleagues in “The Journal of Nutrition,” research studies have indicated that consuming yogurt produces fewer symptoms of lactose intolerance than milk. The researchers concluded that the fermentation of dairy in yogurt coupled with its live culture, specifically L. bulgaricus, have attributed to the reduction of lactose intolerance symptoms. Although the live culture in yogurts can digest about 20 to 40 percent of lactose, the researchers warn that not every individual will experience a decrease in symptoms of lactose intolerance.