6 Possible Reasons Why Your Digestive System is Not Working

Lisa Franchi February 24, 2014

Most people struggle with digestive health issues nowadays, and there are many factors to it. Below are some of the possible reasons why your digestive system is not working.

You’re suffering from enzyme deficiency.

Enzymes play a vital role in your digestive health. Most essential enzymes your gut needs can be obtained from food. Otherwise, your pancreas needs to work harder to produce enzymes in order to break down waste products. To boost your enzyme levels, increase your consumption of raw, organic foods that are high in fibre, including pineapple, papaya, fermented vegetables, kefir and more.

You’re stressed out.

Stress creates all sorts of problem in your health, particularly in your digestive system. Too much stress strips your body of various vitamins and minerals, slows down your bowel movement, and inhibits the absorption of enzymes and probiotics, and other nutrients.

You lack probiotics.

Probiotics are crucial to your digestive health. Probiotics are friendly bacteria that are found in the small intestine and colon that can help prevent harmful bacteria from living in the intestines, lowering the risk of inflammation. Eating yoghurt regularly is one way to increase the probiotics in your gut. But make sure to choose plain Greek yoghurt that adds the active cultures after pasteurisation, because the heating process destroys most of the good bacteria thriving in yoghurt.

You’re not working out.

30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a day can significantly boost your overall health. There’s good reason for it. Getting your heart pumping helps increase blood flow and oxygen circulation throughout your body, because blood and oxygen are necessary to aid in digestion and keep muscles (even those in your intestines) healthy. Among the best exercises for digestive health are yoga, tai chi, and cardiovascular activities.

You don’t consume much fibre.

Daily fibre consumption is crucial to your digestive health. Fibre-rich foods include apples, pineapples, spinach, and many other fruits and vegetables, beans, legumes and flaxseeds. Supplementing with fibre is highly recommended as well. Fibre, particularly insoluble fibre, can help people prevent constipation. It bulks up stools and keeps food moving through the digestive tract. One study also found that insoluble fibre could reduce the risk of diverticular disease (the development of small sacs or pockets in the wall of the colon) by 40 per cent. Research has also found that fibre may help lower cholesterol, promote healthy blood sugar levels, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and help people lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

You suffer from food intolerance.

An inability to digest certain sugars and proteins, such as lactose and gluten, can cause digestive distress, leading to a host of issues like constipation, diarrhoea, and irritable bowel disorder (IBM).

Improving your digestive health is one step towards better health. But first, you need to understand the root causes of poor digestive health. If you have been suffering from a digestive health problem for quite some time now, you may need to see your doctor already. Incorporating healthy lifestyle changes is also important to prevent other gut problems.