1. Cooldown the Inflammation in your body by removing inflammatory foods. The top inflammatory foods for most people include corn, wheat, soy, dairy, gluten, sugar, MSG, and trans-fats. That’s a big list but removing even just one or two of these, can give you gains in your digestion.

2. Don’t ever take PPIs aka proton pump inhibitors aka antacids like Prilosec, Prevacid, or Nexium. Ever! Acid indigestion and the resulting acid reflux is very rarely caused by too much stomach acid. Rather, you likely (especially as you age) do not have enough stomach acid to breakdown the foods in your stomach. This (and overeating) causes this food that is only slightly acidic from sitting in the stomach, not breaking down as it should, to back up into your esophagus.

3. Take care to not overeat. We all do this occasionally, but making it a habit is very taxing on your entire body, but the digestive tract takes the brunt force of overeating and trying to process this large amount of food. This causes some plumbing issues like heartburn, indigestion, constipation, and/or diarrhea because your system can’t keep up with enough stomach acid, enzymes, and other hormonal actions on a large enough scale to take care of the mess you have given it.

4. Eat meals in a calm environment free from distractions, like reading, watching TV, using your phone, etc. Your body cannot effectively digest your food when you are not in a calm state, focusing on your food. The parasympathetic nervous system is also called the “rest and digest” state of being. If you are in the alternate sympathetic state, also called “fight or flight”, your body thinks it has much more important things to do than to digest food. If you are stressed or not paying attention, your body WILL NOT properly digest your food and absorb the nutrients you are trying to provide.

5. Cook most of your meals yourself at home. In our busy, productive world, cooking your own meals has gone by the wayside for many. The importance of cooking your own meals is two-fold. First, you know what is in your food when you make it yourself. Second, handling and preparing your food is signaling your brain and central nervous system that it is time for “rest and digest”. Digestion begins in the brain. Going back to tip #4, if you skip the first step of digestion, you are already starting a suboptimal digestive experience with this meal.

6. Chew your food thoroughly. The mechanical process of chewing begins the breakdown of food and also signals the release of enzymes from the salivary glands so that carbohydrates are already beginning their digestion. Chew slowly and about 20 times per bite of food to active this step of the digestive process.

7. Avoid processed foods as much as possible. Most processed and packaged foods contain various forms of sugar (in names that you probably don’t even know are sugar) and trans-fats or other inflammatory seed oils, like soybean, corn, canola, and anything attached with the terms hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. Allowing these foods, especially the oils, into your diet is foreign to your digestive system and is a recipe for a leaky gut (intestinal permeability). This is the precursor for systemic inflammation, weight gain, food allergies and sensitivities, and ultimately auto-immune diseases.