Physical exercise helps keep your whole body, including the digestive system, in working order. You breathe more deeply, your heart beats faster and your blood carries oxygen to power every organ of your body. These organs include your stomach and intestines, where continual contractions keep the food passing along while the gut absorbs nutrients and disposes of waste matter. Short- and long-term problems set in if the system slows down.
Exercise need not mean strenuous competitive sport. Activity you can build into your daily lifestyle is ideal, such as walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or dancing.
Preventing Constipation
When fecal matter stays in the gut too long, the colon absorbs too much water and the stool becomes impacted. In the short term, constipation can make you feel tired, bloated and uncomfortable. In the long term, a sluggish digestive system may allow problems such as ulcers or bowel cancer to develop more readily. Exercise, along with a healthy diet, helps to keep your system moving. Lack of exercise is a common cause of constipation in people who are elderly or bedridden.
Calming Stress-Related Conditions
Some people find it impossible to eat or drink while they are tense or worried; others cannot stop. Stress can make you feel sick and can set off the spasms that are part of irritable bowel syndrome. Gastroenterology researchers have found that increased physical activity reduces the severity of IBS symptoms. Regular exercise, such as walking or yoga, helps many IBS sufferers with stress management.
Combating Obesity
Obesity puts extra pressure on all body organs, including the heart and digestive system. You feel tired, so you rest more, eat more, gain weight and feel even more tired. Exercise can help break this cycle of inefficiency and restore your energy balance. The American Dietetic Association recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity each day, doubled if you want to start losing weight. Exercise speeds up your digestive processes, releasing more energy. The more you do, the more you feel capable of doing and the more comfortable your stomach feels.
Cautions
Some long-distance runners and cyclists find they suffer abdominal cramps or stomach upsets during endurance events. Blood flow to the gut is restricted during extreme exertion, while production rises for the hormones that increase gut motility. It is generally advisable to wait about three hours after eating before undertaking strenuous exercise, although moderate activity such as walking is fine. Always keep well hydrated while exercising.
References
- Mayo Clinic.com; Constipation: Causes; January 2011
- National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse; Constipation; July 2007
- American Dietetic Association: Back to Basics for Healthy Weight Loss
- "The American Journal of Gastroenterology"; Physical Exercise Improves Symptoms of IBS; Elisabet Johannesson, et al; May 2011
- Powerbar; Avoiding Exercise-Related Gastrointestinal Distress; Christopher D. Jensen; 2011
- National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse; Irritable Bowel Syndrome; September 2007
