Improve & Boost Your Digestion

There are many ways to optimise digestion, and because our guts are controlled by their very own, localised nervous system (the second brain/Enteric Nervous System (ENS)) even our mental and emotional health can affect our gut function! We look at Stress + the Gut in the Mental Wellbeing section and we list a few ways to optimise digestion in Health + Beauty. To learn about the gut's nervous system and its relationship to the brain see the Gut-Brain Axis.

These exercises and stretches can help promote gut motility (peristalsis) in a gentle but effective way and can be done any time of the day - 

• Side twists. Swing your arms and shoulders from left to right, gently twisting your torso. Go slow and be careful that you don’t pull something by twisting too far
• Hip “figures of 8”. Move your hips in figures of 8. This move often incorporated into salsa dancing and the upper body is usually kept still. But we want as much movement and stretching as possible to get our guts moving so move with the hip rolls
• High knees. Bring your knees up as high as you can, alternating left and right. Use your arms for balance
• Semi-circle squats. While in the squat position, move torso in a semi-circle from left to right, massaging your gut with the tops of your knees
• Any cardio exercise. A short cardio and weights workout routine or simply dancing to your favourite tunes will do the trick :) We love dancing!
• Sit up straight! It’s super important to sit up straight, not just while eating but all the time. Slouching decreases the space in your abdominal cavity, restricting gut motility and you want to open up that space as much as possible to give the gut as much space as possible to move all undigested material through.
• Hoola Hoops. With or without a hoola hoop, moving the hips in circular motions is very effective
• Abdominal breathing. This is really powerful - breathing in deep with your diaphragm/abdomen, you suck air into the abdominal cavity which expands out like a balloon. Breathing in, you slowly draw in the abdomen as much as you can. Hold the breath each time. A great exercise to practice while meditating
• Yoga. There are many different kinds of yoga practices but they all have an impressively long list of health benefits, see On Movement. We often follow the free yoga session of Yoga With Adriene, who has dedicated some videos specifically to gut health and function - Yoga for Digestion
• Deep relaxation + meditation. As mentioned above, our mental and emotional health hugely influences our digestive capacity and function. Stress in particular can wreak havoc on the nervous system, including the ENS (see above). Deep relaxation practices such as meditation calms our internal systems down, switching us from “Fight or Flight” mode into “Rest and Digest” mode. See Mental Wellbeing and Meditation + Neuroplasticity for more. 

Play around with the list we’ve created below to see which work best for you and feel free to check out our Recipe pg for ideas on how to incorporate the below into your diet. See Essential Supplements page for full list of natural supplements and agents included here.

• HCL (Hydrochloric Acid). SIBO sufferers often have low stomach acidity so when consuming animal protein, ensure you take multiple digestive aids/stimulants including HCL. We recommend
• Digestive Enzymes. It’s important to conduct your own research before purchasing any DEs, as numerous medical articles(2), (3) discuss some of the issues which surround them and the research which has still yet to be undertaken. However, if your digestion is seriously impaired - as ours was - then go for it! Remember that taking digestive enzymes for an extended period of time will stop your pancreas from producing its own digestive enzymes. It can take weeks for this natural digestive process to restart again. The body is constantly adapting to what we consume and will adapt to produce less enzymes, making you more dependent on them. However, they can hugely help lessen the burden of digestion for a struggling gut and there are times we have become reliant on them between extended water fasts
• Raw fresh Ginger 200mg/day. Commonly used to reduce pain, inflammation, indigestion, boost immune health and nausea. Can be brought in bulk from any grocer or food market across London. We peel and chew chunks of the stuff before and during meals
• Lemon, both the juice (as it’s highly acidic) and pectin in the pith and fibre of the lemon fruit aids digestion. The whole fruit is edible but make sure you buy the unwaxed fruit as the outermost layer contains pectin, and can be used in foods. If you want to get the full benefits of pectin - which isn’t absorbable in its natural state - you can consider getting a modified citrus pectin (MCP)
• Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) 1 tsp in small glass of water (to stimulate digestion before a meal). Commonly used for weight loss, indigestion and help fight infection. We also drown our salads and food in ACV because we love the taste! Can be found in any large supermarket or health food store
• Bitter herbs. There are many herbs which stimulate and aid the digestion process. More of which are also listed in this article. Be sure the herbs are low FODMAP and SIBO-safe before purchasing any
• Cayenne Pepper add a pinch to meals - but avoid like the plague if you have leaky gut or an AID! This is a species of chilli and it can cause digestive irritation in some people or if too much is consumed. Common uses include detoxification, increasing blood circulation, reducing inflammation and pain and aiding digestion. Cayenne Pepper stimulates the flow of enzyme production, which is essential for our digestive system to work properly. It also stimulates gastric juices that aid the body’s ability to metabolise food and toxins(4). ***Member of the Nightshade family which some can react or be sensitive to

The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in your body. It connects your brain to many important organs throughout the body, including the gut (intestines, stomach), heart and lungs. "Vagus" means “wanderer” in Latin, accurately representing how the nerve wanders all over the body and influences the function of numerous organs. The vagus nerve plays a key part of your parasympathetic “rest and digest” nervous system, influencing breathing, digestive function and heart rate. Thus, it has a huge impact on your mental and physical health. Stimulating the vagus nerve can activate vagal tone and thus, the parasympathetic nervous system. Having higher vagal tone means that your body can relax faster after stress, while also provide other numerous health benefits, including improved digestion(5). Activating your vagus nerve can be done by doing the following - 

• Cold showers/cold exposure
• Deep and slow breathing
• Singing, humming, chanting
• Meditating
• Exercise (especially HIIT)
• Laughing and socialising
• Massage

“The best of all medicines is resting and fasting.” - Benjamin Franklin 

“Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease.” - Hippocrates 

For anyone with gut issues, abstinence from food (and most beverages) and thus allowing your gut to rest and heal is just about the best and safest thing you can do. Water-only fasting is the most powerful medicinal tool we’ve come across over the years and it’s roots are as old as mankind, perhaps even older(8). We list many of the profound benefits of this ancient medicinal practice on the Fasting page, as well as the role it played in human evolution and our health today.

Fasting Has Saved Our Lives

It’s no exaggeration to say that fasting has saved our lives. We try not to think about the state we’d be in now if we hadn’t known about fasting and been experimenting and practicing multiple forms of this powerful health intervention, for a few years now.

As great as the agents, supplements and exercises we list above are, we’ve found that nothing compares to the power of water fasting when it comes to easing digestive discomfort, regenerating gut health as well as overall health in the body.  

“Fasting has many effects in the intestine, which include boosting regeneration as well as potential uses in any type of ailment that impinges on the intestine, such as infections or cancers."(9) - Ömer H. Yilmaz

We are biologically adapted to experience these fast and feed cycles and when we halt caloric intake, our bodies naturally shift from the “Go-Go” mode into the “Rest and Repair” mode. Having an abundance of food available and eating too frequently does not allow your body the time it needs to rest and repair, and undertake processes essential for the maintenance and optimal functioning of our internal systems. Dr Michael Mosley discusses on his site The Fast 800, how 21st century western populations’ eating-habits have been attributed to diseases which did not exist until very recently, such as the increasingly common 80+ different types of autoimmune diseases. Lack of fasting, over-feeding, stress and the Hygiene Hypothesis are all modern phenomena which are directly linked to poor physical wellbeing and mental health conditions.

“We know from a variety of animal and human studies that what we eat, such as the relative amounts of fats, carbohydrates and proteins that we consume, can remodel the microbial communities living in our guts. But when we eat can also impact our gut microbiomes, and thus our metabolic health.”(12)

“Your gut is an ecosystem.” - Dr John Bergman

The gut is the largest and most dynamic immunological environment and organ within the body. “Indeed, gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) is the prominent part of mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) and represents almost 70% of the entire immune system; moreover, about 80% of plasma cells [mainly immunoglobulin A (IgA)-bearing cells] reside in GALT.”(13) Thus, 80% of the immune system resides in the gut, lending meaning to the saying “All disease begins in the gut”. 10% of your daily energy expenditure is required for the energy-intensive task of digestion alone(14). Considering these facts, it’s no surprise that by allowing your gut to rest, your body can switches into “Rest and Repair” mode where the energy and resources usually sapped by digestion, are reappropriated into restorative and rejuvenating processes such as autophagy, in turn, maintaining, detoxing and cleansing our internal systems. For those with a gut disorder, the best thing you can do is to allow your gut to rest. While in “Rest and Repair” mode your gut will also begin to heal itself (in numerous ways!) and even after a short water fast of 40-72 hours, you can notice a huge improvement in gut motility and digestion.  

“Fasting has many effects in the intestine, which include boosting regeneration as well as potential uses in any type of ailment that impinges on the intestine, such as infections or cancers."(15) - Ömer H. Yilmaz

• Regenerates intestinal stem cells(16), vital for new cell growth and tissue repair. In the gut, they maintain and repair tissue lining, which "renews itself" about every 5 days
• Can alter our gut microbiome community to be less pro-inflammatory and more anti-inflammatory. Fasting dramatically reduces inflammation across the body, promoting overall health and healing. During a fast, gut inflammation is decreased locally
• May restore the integrity of the intestinal epithelium/gut lining, reducing gut permeability(17), (18), (19), (20)

More research needs to be undertaken on this however as the gut is still little understood and studied.

Pooping - the great leveler. What goes in, has to come out and how people choose to poop is, believe it or not, a cultural decision. People adapt their “defecation postures” to suit the toilet types available to them. Though sit-down lavs have existed at least since Egyptian antiquity, for almost all of our history, the vast majority of Homo Sapiens defecated squatting in the open(26). We have evolved to ‘go’ while squatting with our knees close to our chest and thus in the “anorectal angle”, the intra-abdominal pressure rises, the bowel straightens, lengthens and movements pass more quickly, easily and without any need for force. The squat posture also beneficial for strengthening the thigh and pelvic floor muscles. Passing fecal matter with force can lead to serious internal damage and a host of severe health conditions(27). For those unable to squat due to physical restrictions or fatigue, you should place a bucket/stack of yellow pages etc by the loo to use as a substitute and free “squat potty”. “Elimination is love” people. 

There are risks attached to enemas so we recommend you read health articles such as this to understand them before jumping straight in. It’s important not to do enemas too often as they can interfere with the large intestinal microbiome. However, enemas are a highly useful tool while water fasting and to relieve symptoms of SIBO-C. We bought a medical-grade enema kit from Amazon which is super easy to use and there are many options to choose from online. Doing enemas once weekly has caused us no problems at all but we also water fast regularly and practice intermittent fasting daily to promote and improve gut function and motility - enemas alone are not enough.

A word of warning from Dr Chris Kresser - “...some studies show that a bowel lavage, colonic, or a laxative kind of thing, can lower or even eliminate methane production.  But I would be careful with that, because colonics, while they do wash out some of the bad gut flora, they also wash out a lot of the good gut flora.  They’re also pretty invasive.”(28)