A healthy digestive system

Our digestive system is something we often take for granted… until it goes wrong.

Pregnancy can affect your digestive system in all sorts of ways and it’s not uncommon to experience bouts of heartburn and constipation from time to time.

Being careful about what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat, can help relieve some of the discomfort.

Follow these simple tips to keep digestive discomfort to a minimum:

• Eat smaller meals, more often (about every 4-5 hours) rather than going for long periods without food, followed by a heavy meal.
• Avoid eating large, heavy meals late at night.
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.
• A high fibre diet combined with at least 8 glasses of fluid a day will help prevent constipation.
• If you suffer from heart burn or indigestion, avoid foods that you know from personal experience make the problem worse. These may include acidic fruit drinks, drinks that are too hot and fatty or spicy meals.
• Eating foods which contain prebiotic fibre such as Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Multi-Grain can help encourage the growth of friendly ‘probiotic’ bacteria in the digestive system.