If it feels like your digestive system is—uhh—underperforming, these drinks might help. That’s right, elements of each of these drinks could help you get your digestion back on track and, pun intended, running smoothly. Your gut health plays a role in many other parts of your body—your mood, your heart, your immunity—so keeping it in good shape is important. While what you eat matters, drinks can help too. Whether you’re feeling bloated, backed up or nauseous—try one of these 7 research-backed drinks to help improve your digestion. One word of caution: there is such a thing as too much of a good thing in this category. So, start slow. And maybe roll your cart through the paper goods aisle too for some extra TP. (Yep, we went there.)
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7 drinks for better digestion
1. Prune Juice
If you thought this was an old wives' tale, guess again. Turns out prunes, and the juice they’re made into, area great source of sorbitol—a naturally-occurring sugar alcohol that is typically not absorbed and draws water into your large intestine. And that extra water helps to keep things moving along through your GI tract. Prune juice also retains some of the fiber from the whole fruit: in a cup of prune juice, there’s about 3 grams fiber.
2. Kombucha
This fermented tea beverage is loaded with probiotics—and a recent study, published in the journalClinical Nutrition,found that consuming probiotics reduced ‘gut transit time’ (aka how long it took for things to pass through subjects' systems), upped stool frequency and decreased bloating. But the findings were most significant when multiple strains of probiotics were consumed (not just one). Fortunately, kombucha offers various probiotic strains and a high quantity.
3. Kefir
Similar to kombucha, kefir delivers probiotics, and more than one strain. That alone is good for digestion. But also, another recent study— in the journalNutrients—looked at kefir specifically. When animals were fed kefir every day for a month, the makeup of their gut microbiome improved, and that has big-picture gut and digestive health benefits. Try kefir in thisBerry-Mint Kefir Smoothierecipe.
4. Smoothies
The key to making a smoothie good for your digestive tract is to make sure it delivers a combination of soluble and insoluble fiber.Research showsthat combination helps with consistency and improves gas. In fact, that combination is just as effective, if not more so, than a psyllium fiber supplement (a common OTC laxative).
Soluble fiber absorbs water and softens things, and makes it easier to pass. It’s in fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. Insoluble fiber is in the skins of fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, and it doesn’t absorb water, but acts as ‘roughage’ in your GI tract and shuttles things through.
Want to up your smoothie for better digestion? Add a couple of kiwis: eating 2 a day for two weeks helped participants ofone studyboost their bowel movements without causing adverse GI symptoms.
5. Chia seed tonic
Similar to how smoothies (with the right ingredients!) can be beneficial for your digestion, so can chia seeds. That’s because they deliver both soluble and insoluble fiber—and you now know that combination helps to keep your digestive tract humming along as it should. But also, chia seeds are really quite high in fiber. In a single tablespoon, there’s about 4 grams fiber, which is 14 percent of your daily recommended amount. Ourchia seed tonicuses a whole tablespoon of chia seeds, so you get all that healthy fiber when you drink up.
6. Ginger tea
Health Benefits of Ginger
7. Water
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