Did you know one in four of us Brits experience digestive issues every single day?

That’s a lot.

You might, too, be experiencing issues like bloat, abdominal pain, fatigue, gas and more.

Sounds familiar? If so, it’s likely you could be suffering from digestive issues, just like most of the general public does.

Dive in further with us today to know what causes digestive issues, the negative impacts and how to improve such problems.

What causes bad digestive health?

There’s no single root cause that contributes to bad digestive health. It usually arises from a range of factors, such as:

Bad diet
In the U.K., around 64,000 people die each year due to bad diets affecting their lives. Consuming a diet high in sugar, saturated fats, processed foods and low in fibre can disbalance the bacteria in your gut and cause digestive problems.

Lifestyle
If you live an unhealthy lifestyle lacking in efficient exercise, high alcohol consumption and excessive alcohol intake, can cause digestive issues.

Medications
There are some antibotics and anti-inflammatory drugs that can cause harm to your digestive system. Sometimes, the lining of your oesophagus can become inflamed, increase stomach acidity and trigger reflux.

Inflammatory bowel diseases
There are some diseases like ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, GERD, and inflammatory bowel disease that cause your digestive tract to become inflamed. When it becomes inflamed, you may often experience bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and weight loss.

Stress
If your stress response is triggered frequently, it’s likely your body will find it harder to recover. This can directly affect your digestive system, making your stomach upset, irritating your bowels, and potentially causing ulcers.

Age
When you age, the muscles in your body become more fatigued quicker, especially your bowel and oesophagus slowing down. Because of this, you’re likely to experience more digestion-associated symptoms like constipation and acid reflux.

Lack of probiotics
Probiotics help support digestion and help you absorb nutrients easily. So, if you don’t have sufficient intake according to your age, your body’s digestion rate may be slower.

How to improve your digestion

Your digestive health is something you should pay attention to on a daily basis. It’s a task you should always strive to improve to ensure you live a healthy and happy life. Keeping on top of your digestive health is quite simple; just do the following:

Eat lots of fibre
Have you heard of the saying, an apple a day keeps the doctor away? It exists for a good reason. Well, not quite an apple, but having your 5 a day can likely reduce your doctor visits due to the fibre content of fruit and vegetables, which can support your digestion. Alongside these, try to consume whole grains like nuts, lentils and beans.

These foods are high in antioxidants, and the fibre in them can lower your risk of constipation.
Top Tip: Aim to eat 25-30 grams of fibre each and try to play with the colours of food.

Keep hydrated
Equally as essential as fibre is keeping on top of your water intake. Having around 3 litres of water a day can help your body to break down food more easily, allowing your body to absorb nutrients more efficiently. Water can help make your stool softer, lowering the risk of constipation.

Exercise frequently
This might sound like a no-brainer, but many people in the U.K. fail to exercise. Aim to undergo at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day to help your digestive system work more quickly. Exercise is crucial in helping transport food through your digestive system, lowering your risk of bloat, constipation, nausea and gas.

Increase probiotics
Foods like yoghurt, juices and supplements which contain probiotics can help increase the efficiency of your digestive system. Probiotics add good bacteria into your digestive system, lowering the risk of side effects associated with digestive issues like inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhoea, bloating and more.

Negative impacts of poor digestive health

On the contrary, if you fail to look after your digestive system, you could be at risk of facing:

Symptoms associated with digestive discomfort
If you don’t look after your digestive system, you could increase the risk of regularly experiencing abdominal pain, gas, indigestion, bloating and stomach discomfort. If these systems prolong, it could increase your risk of digestive disorders like inflammatory bowel disease, inflammatory bowel system and acid reflux.

Problems with nutrient absorption
If your digestive system is unhealthy, then your body may not be able to absorb nutrients properly. If this happens, you may experience malnutrition, causing deficiencies in minerals, vitamins and essential nutrients, leading to greater health issues.

Gastrointestinal infections
If your digestive system is compromised, you could become more prone to gastrointestinal infections from foodborne illnesses, parasites and viruses. Such infections can make you vomit, have diarrhea and nausea, become dehydrated and increase the risk of further health problems.

Mental health problems
If you have problems with your digestive system, you may be facing a greater risk of depression and anxiety. After all, your brain and GI system are carefully connected, and any internal distress from bad digestive help can have a direct impact on your mental health.

In summary

Overall, your digestive system is one system that you should always stay on top of throughout your life. This system supports other roles within your body, and its health should never be compromised.
To ensure you stay healthy, aim to eat foods with lots of fibre, cut out processed foods, exercise regularly, stay hydrated and increase the amount of probiotics you consume.

If you do feel you’re suffering from a lot of digestive-associated symptoms, speak to a doctor. There could be an underlying medical cause as to why you’re experiencing them.

Moreover, if you’re interested in keeping your health in top form, check out our supplements range, which are formulated to support your overall wellbeing.