10 Foods That Harm Digestion

By Archana Mukherji

Friday, March 20, 2015, 15:19 [IST]

A healthy digestive system is a result of healthy diet. Today, we see people are more interested in junk and fast foods rather than healthy foods. The two main reasons are: Fashion and increase in taste buds. So digestive problems have become very common.

A human digestive system is a complex series of organs and glands meant for processing food. In order to produce energy from the food we eat, the body has to break down the food into smaller molecules that can be processed. It is also essential to excrete the waste from our body.

Eating badly makes you feel uncomfortable, affects digestion and your stomach becomes like a garbage can.

Natural Ways To Improve Digestion

Some of the common digestive problems are heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, gas and stomach aches. This means that the inner ecosystem of your body has been disturbed.

Poor digestion silently leads to several ill-health conditions like migraines, anxiety, depression, joint pain, eczema, acne, joint pain and allergies. Hence foods that spoil digestive system should either be consumed in very less quantities or completely avoided.

There are several foods that harm digestion, which we actually consider to be healthy. Hence we should be completely aware of what we actually eat. Highlighted in this article are the major foods that harm digestion.

White Bread

Processed foods like white bread that are made of refined flour, tend to contain lot of gluten, which badly affects the digestive system. They move quickly through the digestive tract resulting in bloating and cramping of stomach.

Pasta

Among major foods that harm digestion, plays finds a vital role. This is again another kind of processed food made from refined flour. It tastes good but has hardly any nutritional value. Moreover, it is rich in gluten and causes gas, cramping, heartburn, and bloating.

Red Meat

One of the commonly consumed foods that harm digestion is red meat. Red meat is not easily digestible, however they are widely used in hot-dogs, sausages, burgers and these are very rough on the digestive tract. They contain high fat and sodium content and too much of red meat consumption can even lead to colon cancer.

Chocolate

Chocolates are other foods that spoil digestive system. Chocolates contain caffeine which can lead to heartburn. If you have a sweet tooth and consume too many chocolates, the diuretic property in it can cause loose stool and diarrhea.

Alcohol

Alcohol causes inflammation of the gut and directly damages the cells along the digestive tract.

Coffee

Coffee is found to contain caffeine, a protein similar to gluten, which trigger the release of stress hormones and affect the immune and digestive system.

Dairy Products

Dairy products like milk contain lactose, which is the reason for many stomach aches. This does not mean that you need to completely avoid dairy products, you can rather consume low lactose content foods like yogurt.

Chilli Peppers

We use chilli peppers to enhance our taste buds, but what happens ultimately? It irritates the esophagus and causes heartburn.

Greasy Or Fried Foods

High fat and fried foods result in a pale-coloured stool, which is due to the excess fat in the feces. Foods like butter and cream have high fat content and can lead to acid-reflux and heartburn.