Your gut talks to you.
Every sound it makes, every movement, and how it feels suggests various things happening within the body. While we may not know everything about the gut, it gives us signs to act. Doctors and medical experts are dedicating research to understanding the digestive process and how it affects our overall health. But as people looking to move further in health and fitness, we realize that certain foods may not be conducive to our health, as our bodies have a hard time breaking down a particular food.
Acidic-Forming Foods
Our research showed that there’s a clear difference between acidic foods and how the food breaks down during the digestive process. For example, various foods, such as many fruits and vegetables, maybe acidic but have a low pH and are alkalized when digested.
As a generic rule of thumb, the higher the acidity in the food, the greater the chance of gut disturbance, causing heartburn and more. Highly acidic-forming food ranges from processed foods, meats, and coffee.
Dairy
About 65% of the people in the world are lactose intolerant, with higher percentages of intolerance in people of color. Lactose is a sugar found in milk that naturally comes from many animals, including cows.
When the body has difficulty digesting dairy, it can cause abdominal pain, gas, and issues with bowel movements.
Only you know which foods upset your stomach. Getting a food sensitivity test and speaking with your doctor and dietician is essential. We often want to care for our bodies independently, but we must understand when to get medical advice. Our bodies change; food that we may have been able to eat one year might be more challenging to break down the following year. Everybody is different and has different tolerance levels. It’s vital for us not to force our bodies to eat something it doesn’t like digesting. The world is plentiful with food; there’s an abundance of delicious alternatives to circumvent what your body might be unable to digest. Trust your gut!
Source: (1) PA Eats: How Do Acidic Foods Affect Gut Health? A Gastrointestinal Doctor Weighs In (2) NIH: National Library of Medicine: Lactose Intolerance