The digestive system is composed of a large tubular tract that begins at the mouth, and continues through to the esophagus, stomach and then the large and small intestines. Just like every other part of your body when taken care of your digestive system runs like a well tuned machine.  However when the system is mistreated, your entire body can feel the effects. The main contributors to a malfunctioning digestive system are, poor diet and poor lifestyle choices. Statistics show that over 95 million Americans are suffering from some type of digestive disorder.

Poor Diet

Eating processed foods with high amounts of fat, sugar, preservatives and salt can wreak havoc on your bodies ability to properly digest food. Saturated fats and sugars cause the body to work overtime to digest them. Lack of water is another major contributor to digestion and elimination problems. When the body is dehydrated stools become difficult to pass and the system is not able to absorb nutrients properly.
Commonly consuming antibiotics can cause imbalance in the ratio of good vs. bad bacteria in your intestines. Problems like bloating, gas, heartburn, and indigestion begin to occur, when there are more bad bacteria present in the digestive system than good.

Lifestyle choices

Lack of exercise and stress are the two most common ties to digestive disorders. Stress, whether it be mental, emotional, or physical, has a negative effect on the entire body. The digestive system reacts by overproducing acid which can lead to conditions like acid reflux, ulcers, and heartburn.

Moderate exercise (at least 30 minutes a day) assists in your body’s elimination process and helps you to ensure regular elimination. Lack of exercise has a direct effect on digestions by increasing your chances of constipation. Smoking is another lifestyle choice that has a negative effect on digestive health. Smoking increases the amount of acid in the stomach, causing inflammation, which can lead to heartburn, ulcers, and even Crohn’s disease.

Diet and stress are the two major contributor’s to poor digestive health. Making better choices in both of these areas is the way to begin