7 Easy Habits to Improve Your Digestion PLUS a Gluten Free, Sugar Free Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

Have you ever felt you were more stuffed than the Thanksgiving turkey after a meal? Do you look like you are going to have a “food baby” after eating? Do you suffer from gas and bloating after eating and wonder why?

This is common, especially when we are faced with the variety and quantity of foods at holiday feasts. Do not despair. You have the power to change how you digest, absorb, and metabolize your food by changing your food choices and your habits.

Join Laura Knoff, B.Sc., Nutrition Consultant, instructor in our Nutrition Consultant Online Program, to discover ways to improve your digestion and enjoy the holiday meals with friends and family.

Keep reading to learn Laura’s seven easy habits to improve your digestion.

You can learn more about Laura and our other amazing instructors by visiting our faculty page. After reading the 7 easy habits, try out Laura’s recipe for Gluten Free, Sugar Free Sweet Potato Pie below!

7 Easy Habits to Improve Your Digestion

#1 Relax Before and During Meals

Our ability to digest is optimized when we are relaxed.

#2 Chew and Savor Your Food

Chewing mechanically breaks down the food and mixes it with the enzymes in the saliva to start digestion of starches into sugars.

#3 Put Your Fork Down Between Bites

Slowing down helps maintain relaxation and allows us to realize we are being nourished, so we may eat the appropriate amount of food for our needs.

#4 Stimulate Your Digestive Juices

This can be done with bitter flavors to improve digestion. Bitter flavors include arugula, endive, radicchio, and other salad greens.

#5 Stop Between Courses

Stopping between courses allows us to become aware of how full we are and stop before overeating. 

#6 Wait 20 minutes to Have Dessert

Waiting allows us to digest our meal and notice satisfaction before adding a big helping of dessert that would create discomfort (and weight gain).

#7 Notice and Honor your Digestive Capacity

Doing so prevents indigestion and overeating. 

It’s not just what you eat, but how you eat that can make a difference. Your body will thank you. Happy Holidays!

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Sweet Potato Pie

Recipe by Laura Knoff, B.Sc., Nutrition Consultant
Makes one 9-inch pie, or 8 servings

Sweet potatoes are also called yams in north America. Garnet yams, which are orange inside, work best for this recipe. They are naturally sweet and when baked the flavor intensifies. Most of the minerals and much of the fiber is in the sweet potato skin and is hardly noticed once they are blended in the food processor. You can peel them easily after they are baked and cooled and use them that way if you prefer.

INGREDIENTS

Crust

• 1 cup shelled pecans or walnuts, preferably presoaked overnight (for improved digestibility) and re-dried.
• 2 tablespoons melted organic ghee or raw butter
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon stevia green leaf powder

Filling

• 3 pounds of raw organic yams, scrubbed clean
• ¼ pound (½ cup) organic ghee or raw butter
• 2-3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp. stevia green leaf powder to taste (optional)  

INSTRUCTIONS

Crust

1. Coarsely chop the pecans in a food processor.
2. Melt the butter for the crust and add the cinnamon and stevia to the melted butter.
3. Mix the nuts and melted seasoned butter thoroughly. You can do this in the pan you will be using for the pie. It should be crumbly, but it should stay put in the bottom of the pan.
4. Put the pan in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up the crust before adding the filling.

Filling

1. Bake the yams until a fork can insert easily, about 45 minutes at 350° F. Allow them to cool. Once cooled you can peel them if you prefer.
2. Cut them up into chunks and put in a food processor with the ghee or butter and the spices. Taste the mixture and adjust sweetness by adding stevia, if needed.
3. Spoon into the crust and serve warm or refrigerate for a pie that looks nicer when served.
4. Top with whipped cream if desired.