Physical exercises benefits everyone regardless of their health or age. Dr. Bharat Pothuri will be sure to tell you of the benefits exercise has for your digestive system. Exercise plays a vital role in how food is digested and absorbed by the body. It will strengthen the gut and help with digestion with its processes functioning optimally.
The benefits of exercise to your digestive tract are both long and short term. In the short term, it will prevent heartburn, constipation, and flatulence. In the long run, it will ensure adequate blood flow to the gut hence proper absorption of nutrients.
The following types of exercises will ensure that your digestive system remains in optimal health:
Walking and Running
The more upright you are, the better it is for your digestive system. Therefore, getting off the couch and taking a walk is a great thing you can do for your gut.
Walking can either be brisk or at a comfortable pace. You can walk up a hill to make it a bit harder.
If you are comfortable with walking, you should run. Running strengthens the gut and improves overall blood circulation.
However, running is a high impact activity and should not be done close between meals.
Yoga
Yoga is a practice of stretching and holding poses that can benefit your gut tremendously. It is a low impact exercise and one of the gentle exercises on this list.
You should start with simple and easy poses for beginners. After you get comfortable with those, you can progress to more challenging poses.
Yoga will not only help with the physical aspects of digestion by stretching your stomach muscles but it will also help with alleviating stress which should help food be digested smoothly and easily.
Abdominal Exercises
Strengthening your core is the key to good digestive health. If you can get your core to be stable and strong, everything else will follow.
There are literally hundreds of abdominal exercises that you can do. Some you can do with only your bodyweight while others can be done with free weights.
The most common ab exercises include crunches, sit-ups, planks, leg raises, and twists.
Swimming
Swimming is an activity that works all the muscles in your body from head to toe. Water is a challenging environment for human beings but beneficial too.
Swimming is particularly hard on your core which has to be strong to move in the water. When your core is stretched and worked in the water, it becomes strong and healthy.
The stronger your core area, the better your digestion. Swimming at least once every week will not only be a fun exercise but also good for your digestive tract’s health.
Breathing Exercises
Deep breathing exercises have been shown to have an incredible effect on overall health but in this case, we will focus on the health of the digestive system. The air we breathe is responsible for providing the body with the oxygen needed for digestion.
Breathing exercises also relieve stress which can lead to serious digestive issues. Finding a quiet spot and performing ten minutes of deep breathing exercises is all you need.
