Making simple changes to the way you cook can help keep your gut healthy and happy, wrote Dr Nidhi Pandya Bhanshali on Instagram

Gut health is of utmost importance when it comes to maintaining overall well-being and enhancing immunity. But, unfortunately, it is often not prioritised enough.

However, the good news is that you do not need to do a lot to ensure good gut health. “Making simple changes to the way you cook can help keep your gut healthy and happy,” wrote Dr Nidhi Pandya Bhanshali on Instagram.

As such, she further listed some everyday food items which can be made more digestible by simply combining them with some ingredients while cooking. For example, for better digestion of cauliflower, one can mix it with fennel seeds. Similarly, “cumin and bay leaf added to lentils” can also make it more digestible. Also, adding “fat, cumin, and bay leaf to beans,” and “ghee, cumin, and lime juice to corn” can enhance its digestibility.

Dr Pandya also explained that “adding good fats to your foods is the number one way to make them more digestible,” adding that fat can hold and disperse the heat, and also helps in the breakdown of foods which otherwise would put pressure on the warm enzymes in the gut. “Using herbs and appropriate spices in those fats, will allow for absorption of nutrients and acceleration of digestion,” she added.

Agreed nutritionist Dr Rachna Agarwal and added that according to Ayurveda, “eating raw green veggies is not advisable as it does not get assimilated or utilised in the body.”

Speaking with indianexpress.com, she said that for better digestion of broccoli, one can add pepper to stimulate gastric juices along with white butter or cold pressed oil. “Green vegetables are a good source of vitamin A, which gets better utilised in the body when eaten with little fat,” she added.

She went on to list other such combinations which can help in better digestion of certain foods.

Chickpeas: Soak well; add ginger and little ghee while boiling, and then add homemade garam masala.

Milk: Avoid having it with fruits or salty snacks. It is best to either make porridge or add haldi and drink it at night. Adding black pepper and dried finger can make it easily digestible.

Home-made spices: If taken in limited quantities, they can help secrete digestive juices in the stomach and liver, thus speeding up digestion. Ready-made masala is adulterated with chemicals and causes acidity.