How to Balance Your Digestive System Naturally

Digestive problems can make life difficult, but there are numerous natural ways to overcome them. Learn the impact herbs, exercise and CBD can make on bringing your body back into balance in this article. 

by Grace Holliday

When it comes to achieving mind-body balance, one of the biggest hurdles you can face is digestive problems.

As anyone who suffers from an off-balanced tummy can attest to, there’s nothing like a stomach ache or irregular digestion to throw your whole day off track.

So how can you bring your system back into alignment?

In this article, we’ll explore a few ways you can promote balanced and natural digestion daily. From staying present in your body to incorporating CBD or essential oils as part of your daily ritual, there are plenty of ways to keep you feeling at your best. Read on to learn more. 

Lifestyle Tweaks

It’s no surprise that an unbalanced lifestyle can lead to an unbalanced digestive system. So before you turn to targeted remedies, it’s important to equip yourself with a few lifestyle changes you can incorporate to help make long-term strides to a more optimal digestive system. Here are a few easy places to start. 

Body Scans 

Sometimes, digestive issues come from living a stressful lifestyle or the experience of a stressful situation. Even having a busy, hurried day can trigger your body to pause the digestive process until you’ve slowed down a little. If any of these things sound familiar, you might consider a mindfulness practice like meditation to help you destress. 

Various experts, including sports psychologists, meditation moguls and nutritionists recommend a form of meditation called body scanning. Sports psychologist Matthew Sacco, PhD describes it as “a real internal scan of things,” that can help you get in touch with your symptoms and begin to understand what they mean. For example, by incorporating a daily body scan into your routine, you may learn that bloating follows a bad night’s sleep or that a particularly difficult work call can leave your stomach unsettled for the rest of the day. Learn exactly how to do a body scan here.

Discover five more unconventional ways to destress.

Exercises for Digestion

It can be really tough to motivate yourself to simply move when you’re struggling with digestive discomfort, let alone exercise. However, research has proven that being physically active will have a direct, fast impact on digestive issues. If going for a run or lifting weights feels too strenuous, try a gentle yoga tutorial like Yoga For Digestive Flow. Not only will the movement take your mind away from focusing on any discomfort you may be experiencing, but it will also release feel-good endorphins and kickstart your metabolism — both of which can help you feel your best when incorporated into your routine regularly. 

Natural Digestive Support

Once you’ve gotten some routines in place to help support healthy digestion, you can then incorporate a few more targeted ways to bring your digestive system back into balance. When testing these, it’s important to pay attention to both how you’re feeling and what you’re doing to shift that feeling. That way, you can create targeted rituals for yourself to help alleviate specific symptoms, and best understand what techniques work for your unique body. 

CBD Products 

The benefits of CBD — or, cannabidiol — are incredibly broad. So it may not surprise you to learn that CBD oil is believed to also be able to support gut health.

Its antioxidant and soothing properties contribute towards this and work to redress unbalanced, ineffective functions inside your body. It can also help to reduce uncomfortable feelings of stress and nausea that can take a toll on your digestion.

Taking a CBD tincture like The Root of it All’s SETTLE at least once a day could offer a long-term solution, which is far preferable to other remedies focused on temporary symptom management.

Herbs for Digestion

Don’t forget that something as simple and natural as herbs and spices can have a huge impact on soothing and rebalancing your stomach, which is why herbs have been incorporated into many traditional forms of medicine and wellness — including Ayurveda. You can use herbs to boost metabolism and ease digestion in numerous ways, but in a hot tea is efficient, easy and effective. Some people swear by peppermint tea, though others prefer ginger (both of which are incorporated into Ayurvedic traditions), so your best bet is to try a few types and see which works for you. 

Both ginger and peppermint are also incorporated into our SETTLE tincture. The powerful essential oils of these ingredients work to bring your stomach back into balance, a process that the soothing properties of CBD enhances. 

Soothing Heat and Warmth 

The comfort of warmth on your stomach provides a soothing distraction from any discomfort you might be experiencing. You can use a hot water bottle, a microwavable wheat bag or even an electric blanket as a heat source. Alternatively, if you’re out and about when the issues begin, head to a pharmacy and ask for heat pads that you can apply while on the move. Not only will the heat distract you, it can help relax tense muscles. This can reduce feelings of cramping and nausea. 

For a whole-body approach, you could also try immersing yourself in a warm bath — consider it an at-home version of hydrotherapy. 

Final Thoughts

From meditation to CBD, exercise to therapeutic heat and herbal teas, there’s a solution for everyone when it comes to getting your gut feeling good again. The important thing to remember is that none of these are fix-it-and-forget-it solutions. Instead, they are meant to address your body, mind and lifestyle holistically so that you can feel well from the top-down and from the inside out.

Sources:

https://www.healthline.com/health/digestive-health/natural-upset-stomach-remedies

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/style/self-care/bedtime-routine-benefits.html

https://consciousmovements.com/body-mind-blog/meditation-gut-health

https://www.food.com/recipe/trentens-ginger-tea-cold-and-stomach-remedy-390045

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5333598/

https://www.livestrong.com/article/356356-immediate-effects-of-exercise-in-the-digestive-system/