What would you do to keep the digestive system of your 20-year-old self? Unfortunately, when you’re over 50, you can’t stop age from catching up with you and your gut, but you can prioritise your gut health. What better way to keep your gut healthy than by trying natural approaches? Here are a few natural, research-based approaches to keeping your gut healthy after 50.
How Does Your Digestive System Change as You Age?
Age can be a real shocker to the digestive system. The whole digestive process slows down slightly as you get older. It’s also completely normal for certain muscles to start to become more lax over time. This usually means that it’s more difficult for them to keep stomach acid and food in the right place.
What are Some Common Gut Issues that Come with Age?
While gut issues can occur at any age, they’re definitely more common as people age. Here are some gut issues you could experience over the age of 50.
- Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) – this is when the flap (which is reliable for keeping acid reflux out of your esophagus) opens too often and causes frequent acid reflux
- Constipation – as your body ages, your digestive system slows down, and this can make you feel blocked and backed up
- Gas and bloating – when the digestive system slows down, this causes food to spend more time in your stomach, which makes you feel more gassy and bloated
Now that we know what you could experience with your digestive system as you get older, what are the best natural approaches to prioritising gut health?
Improve Your Diet
When you’re young, and your digestive system is too, it feels like you can eat absolutely anything. As you age, if you keep eating like you’re in your 20s, you’ll more than likely have to face the consequences. Here are a few things to prioritise when it comes to maintaining a diet for when you’re over 50.
Prioritize Fiber Intake
Repeat after me: fiber is your friend! To prevent constipation and other gut issues, you need to ensure you’re getting enough fiber in your diet as you age. However, it’s important not to increase your fiber intake too fast, or you may be left feeling gassy, bloated, and uncomfortable.
Get Your Water In
One of the biggest culprits of constipation is not drinking enough water. Just a little bit of dehydration and you run the risk of getting constipated. Water is essential for keeping your digestive system well-lubricated, helping form and move poop.
Take it Easy on the Spicy Food
Spicy food may be delicious, but having too much when you’re older can wreck your gut health (especially when you suffer from GERD). Spicy foods tend to increase heartburn and acid reflux, so keep them to a minimum.
Reduce Processed, Fatty, and Fried foods
Any food that is heavily processed, high in fat, or fried will generally contain little to no fiber. So, unfortunately for older people or those who experience acid reflux, these kinds of food are only going to cause or aggravate symptoms.
Cut Back on Alcohol and Coffee
As much as you may feel like your body relies on coffee, or that you need that drink after a long day, the reality is that your body doesn’t process these things as well as it did when you were young. So, before you have that cuppa Joe or that sundowner, understand that caffeine and alcohol irritate GERD symptoms.
Improve Your Lifestyle Choices
Beyond what you’re fueling your body with, there are also a few lifestyle changes you’ll need to make to keep your gut in top form as you age.
Hit Your Exercise Goals
If you want to keep your digestive system moving along smoothly, then you need to make sure you’re moving your body. You don’t have to be sweating it out at the gym for hours at the gym, but a post-dinner walk should suffice.
Stay Upright After Meals
For anyone who struggles with reflux, heading straight to bed after a meal is only going to aggravate your symptoms. Lying down makes it really difficult to prevent stomach acid from backing up into the esophagus. So, be kind to your gut and avoid lying down straight after you’ve eaten a meal.
See a Naturopath
Instead of pumping your body full of medication or trying to figure out what is causing your gut issues by trial and error, you should try seeing a naturopath. If you’re in Brisbane and looking for a naturopathic clinic that specialises in gut health, then check out The Shift Clinic. Their naturopaths aim to fix the root cause of digestive issues, and can advise you on how best to look after your gut health as you age.
Final Thoughts on Gut Health After 50
The best thing you can do for your gut health as you age is to remain in tune with your body and what it needs. Maintaining a healthy body in your 50s and beyond starts when you’re younger, but now is as good a time as any to prioritise your gut health.
