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People may seek easily digestible foods for a variety of reasons. The most common include coping with a
temporary illness, recovering from surgery and mitigating the effects of long-term medical conditions. When
the body is unwell, the digestive system often slows down, preventing food from digesting completely. Other
reasons for choosing easily digestible foods include reaching weight loss goals or engaging in a detoxification
diet. Fortunately, fruits and many vegetables top the list of easily digestible foods, with the added bonus of
high vitamin and nutrient contents.
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The digestive tract extends from the throat all the way to the small intestine. During digestion, the body breaks
down consumed substances into their smallest possible components, to be used for energy and nourishment.
Fruits and vegetables deliver both digestible and indigestible carbohydrates. The digestible carbohydrates
consist primarily of sugars and starches, while fiber is indigestible.
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Dietary fiber, sometimes referred to as roughage or cellulose, comes in two forms -- soluble and insoluble. The
former dissolves in the digestive system, while the latter passes through unchanged. Fiber is a double-edged
sword when it comes to digestion. ts indigestibility aids in clearing out your digestive tract, but at the same
time it can cause gastrointestinal trouble such as gas, cramps and diarrhea. Unfortunately, many people
seeking easily digestible foods also frequently suffer from these G complaints. f you fall into this category,
you may want to consider limiting intake of fruits and vegetables with high fiber content, at least initially, and
gradually add more fibrous fruits and vegetables to your diet over the course of time.
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Fruits rank among the easiest to digest of all foods. This is mainly due to their high water content. Everyday
fruits, such as bananas, apples, pears, apricots and peaches are highly digestible. So are melons like
cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon, as well as berries such as blueberries and strawberries. Figs,
although often difficult to find, are also readily digested. Easily digestible tropical fruits include papayas and
pineapple, but you may want to avoid citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruit, because the acid in them may
irritate the stomach.
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Many vegetables prove as simple to digest as fruits. The easiest vegetables for the body to break down
include tubers such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams; root vegetables like carrots and beets; winter
squash varieties, such as butternut squash, acorn squash and pumpkins; and summer squash, including
zucchini. Baby spinach and alfalfa sprouts are also fairly easy to digest. But the body doesn't digest
cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage as easily. And you might
want to avoid tomatoes, which contain irritating acid, and beans, whose high fiber and raffinose content can
cause discomfort.
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Removing the skins of some vegetables such as potatoes and some fruits such as apples can be helpful. All
fruits and vegetables can be made easier to digest if they are softened or mashed. Consider baby food the
prime evidence of this. Those who need extremely digestible foods should puree fruit in a blender and mash
vegetables like potatoes, yams and squash. However, adding other ingredients may negate any beneficial
effects of mashing or pureeing. Adding milk to mashed potatoes or a fruit smoothie renders them harder to
digest due to the lactose in the milk. Also, cooked food is often more readily digestible than raw, because
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Sep 1, 2011 | By 1 /LNH 6HQG Amy Harris
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cooking softens the food. Some cooking methods such as boiling can result in loss of nutrients, though, so opt
for steaming when possible.
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My Planet Guides: Easily Digested Foods
US Department of Health and Human Services: Your Digestive System and How t Works
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Chapter 2 General Properties of Fruit and
Vegetables; Chemical Composition and Nutritional Aspects
US Department of Health and Human Services: What Need to Know About rritable Bowel Syndrome
Puristat Digestive Wellness Center: Food Combining for Better Digestion, Jo Jordan
HealthGuidance.org: List of Easy to Digest Foods, Justin Williamson
Article reviewed by Elizabeth Last updated on: Sep 1, 2011
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