10 simple ways to strengthen digestion

Here are some helpful tips for when your digestive system is not quite living up to par, say after a week straight of Mexican food and margaritas! 

1. Eat in a settled and quiet atmosphere.
Try to set everything else aside at mealtimes to allow your body to concentrate on eating and digesting. When you put your attention solely on your meal, you are able to savor all the flavors with discernment.

2. Take a few minutes to rest quietly after your meal.
When you are finished eating, relaxing kick-starts the digestive process in an effortless way. A sense of calm before, during, and after mealtimes can be a major benefit to digestion and general health.

3. Always sit down to eat.
Sitting down relaxes the digestive tract, focuses awareness on the act of eating, and enhances your enjoyment of food.

4. Don't eat when you're upset.
Eating when you are emotionally unsettled can trigger gastrointestinal discomfort. If you're upset at mealtimes, postpone eating until you feel more composed.

5. Avoid overeating.
Ayurveda suggests we eat only to about three-fourths of our actual capacity. Eating beyond this point doesn't allow the stomach to function properly.

6. Avoid cold foods and iced drinks.
Cold foods and drinks put out the digestive fire, inhibit our digestive enzymes, and numb our taste buds.

7. Don't talk while chewing your food.
The acts of chewing and swallowing are what really allows us to deeply extract the flavor of our food. Talking while there is food in your mouth distracts you from what you are tasting.

8. Eat at a moderate pace.
This means eating neither too quickly nor too slowly. Getting into the habit of putting your fork or spoon down between bites helps set a steady pace.

9. Don't eat until your previous meal has been digested.
Eating only when your stomach is calling for more requires a high level of body consciousness. For most people, complete digestion takes from three to six hours. 10. Favor meals made with freshly cooked foods.

Content provided by Alternative Medicine Magazine

Until next time


Be Happy and Eat Healthy

Choose My Plate

Hello everyone,

Recently MyPyramid had changed to Choose My Plate, a new helpful tool in figuring out how to eat healthy.

Super Foods!

Super foods are amazing naturally occurring foods that contain many different nutrients and minerals for the body. Many of them contain powerful antioxidants that are said to help reduce our risk of cancer!

Super Foods on PhotoPeach

Until next time


Be Happy and Eat Healthy

Bon Appetit Food Cleanse

Hey all,

So I am always looking for new and interesting food cleanse diets that are nutritionally sound. I came across this great plan from Bon Appetit. After reviewing the recipes and diversity of the food in the cleanse it is my favorite so far. While participating in a food cleanse takes dedication the results are fantastic. The key to success is dedication and not falling for cleanses that say they will help you lose 10 lbs in a week or are made up of sugar, water, and bread. No diet that is healthy for you will limit your intake to the extreme or make you shed over 3 lbs in a week.


Here is a link to Bon Appetit's Food Lovers Cleanse 2012 I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

If losing weight is your goal balance and moderation are the two best guidelines to follow when looking at fab diets. Drinking plenty of water and exercising for at least 30 minutes a day can help the matter as well. On average a person will lose 1 to 3 lbs per week of a diet. This is an appropriate amount and striving for any higher than 5 lbs a week can be detrimental to your overall health. Did you know that 1000kcals is equal to 1 lb body weight? One of the easiest and healthiest ways to lose weight is by reducing your diet by 500kcals per day and burning 500-1000 kcals 3-5 times per week. Along with monitoring your calorie intake and outtake it is extremely important to monitor your hydration remember you are made up of 60-80% water! Your body does not function as well if you are dehydrated and 75% of us most likely are.

So how much water should you drink? An easy way to know how much water you need is by completing a simple equation. Yes this means doing math, I know its not everyone's favorite subject but hey that what we have calculators for right? so here it is.........


First step is to switch your weight into kg by dividing your weight by 2.2

ex. 145 / 2.2 = 65.9 kg

Second multiply your weight in kg by 40ml ( if you are very active you can raise this number higher up to 60ml)

ex. 40ml * 65.9kg = 2636 ml

Now to change that number into something useful multiply it by 0.001. This changes it into liters which are a more familiar measurement in the water bottle industry

ex. 2636 * 0.001 = 2.636

Lastly if you think in terms of cups you can divide your first answer by 228

ex. 2636 / 228 = 11.56 cups

So there you have it! you can now estimate how much water you should be drinking a day!

Until next time

Be Happy and Eat Healthy

Starting on a New Track

My name is Sarah,

I have my Bachelors degree in Culinary Nutrition and plan to use it to promote community nutrition. Community nutrition consists of teaching people how to eat healthy and promote an active lifestyle. I enjoy focusing on eating healthy on a budget and sourcing local food. You would be amazed at how many local foods and products are available right in your back yard. This blog can be used at a resource for healthy recipes, exercises, local venues, and the occasional guilty pleasure recipe to indulge.

I hope you, as the reader find what your looking for and are ready to learn new ways to be healthy while having a fun time doing it.

Until next time

Be Happy an Eat Healthy