Healthy digestion, also called digestive health, results in the absorption of

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

s from food without distressing

symptoms Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an disease, illness, injury, or condition. A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature than normal, raised or lowered blood pressure or an abnormali ...

. Healthy digestion follows having a

healthy diet A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. A healthy ...

, doing appropriate self-care including physical activity and exercise, minimizing activities like

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

or consuming alcoholic drinks which impair digestion, and managing any medical condition which disrupts digestion to the best of one's ability. A person with healthy digestion will have lower risk of experiencing diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, heartburn, bloating,

flatulence Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...

, and indigestion. Additionally, a person with healthy digestion will have less need of digestive medications than a person who does not have healthy digestion. Some foods like

Banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

, Avocado, Melons, Oats, Yogurt quickly or completely digested than others.

Disruptions to healthy digestion

Many events can disrupt digestion. Disrupted digestion can have many symptoms, including diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, bloating, flatulence, and indigestion. Some people have chronic medical conditions which disrupt their digestion. Other people might be taking a drug which disrupts their digestion. In those cases, the person's goals for healthy digestion might be to have their personal best possible digestion since they have other health problems to manage. Food intolerance can disrupt digestion.

Medical treatments

Healthy lifestyle

Whenever possible, it is easier for a person to prevent digestive problems from happening rather than to seek to treat them after they begin.

Drugs and other interventions

Various drugs can relieve the symptoms of poor digestion. Laxatives counter constipation. Loperamide counters diarrhea. Antacids counter heartburn or indigestion. Simethicone counters

. Constipation can also be countered using enemas or

suppositories A suppository is a dosage form used to deliver medications by insertion into a body orifice where it dissolves or melts to exert local or systemic effects. There are three types of suppositories, each to insert into a different sections: rectal su ...

. Probiotics have been shown to benefit gastrointestinal disorders and are a popular treatment to promote healthy digestion.

Society and culture

Many people who seek healthcare for gastrointestinal problems are not satisfied with the treatment options which they find in conventional medicine. Because of this, people often use

alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

to promote healthy digestion. Various organizations observe a "World Digestive Health Day" to share information about promoting healthy digestion.

References

{{reflist Self-care Gastroenterology