5 Easy Ways to Enhance Digestive Health

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Family Features -- As your social schedule picks up steam and you attend more social gatherings and celebrations, you may find yourself with an unexpected issue: digestive troubles. Problems like this can have a negative impact on your overall wellness, so it's important to make healthy digestion a priority.

According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of how to live long and be healthy, the health of the digestive system is the core of optimum health. Ayurvedic medicine asserts the digestive system is based on the strength and balance of its Agni (fire), which enables the body to absorb, digest and assimilate food. The teachings suggest an imbalanced Agni creates undigested residues, which form toxins that create imbalances and can lead to disease.

Some of the dietary guidelines for healthy digestion and strong Agni include:

• Allowing 4-6 hours between meals
• Avoiding eating between meals
• Avoiding foods with cold, wet and heavy qualities
• Drinking ginger tea or hot water to stimulate the Agni
• Starting a meal with pungent (hot), sour and salty flavors
• Consuming a small amount of bitter taste before a meal to increase the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach

Take steps to protect and nurture your digestive health with these tips:

Add Fiber to Your Diet Plant-based foods that are high in fiber fill you up faster, so you're less likely to overeat, and they also help with digestive regularity. Increase your intake of high-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds. Take a gradual approach to avoid upsetting your digestive tract and bump up your water intake as you go since fiber will absorb it and decrease the likelihood you experience gas or cramping.

Stay Hydrated Keeping your body well hydrated is like making sure your car's engine is well lubricated. It keeps all your moving parts in sync and operating for top performance. Some fluids can also help with detoxification, which can be especially beneficial when your social calendar is full and your opportunities to overindulge are greater.

An option like Buddha Teas' Detox Dharma contains detoxifying herbs that stimulate your digestive system. Strengthening and soothing herbs are also incorporated into this balanced formula resulting in an effective yet gentle detox tea. For another solution, Turmeric Ginger Tea contains enough black pepper to make curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) bio-available in hot water, helping build healthy Agni.

Eat Slower In today's busy world, it's easy to scarf down a meal in record time. However, slowing down gives your body more time to process food. You'll give your brain more time to communicate with your stomach and be more aware of when you've satisfied your hunger.

Start Exercising If you need one more reason to get moving, your digestive health could be it. Regular physical activity promotes better digestion. However, if you jump into a workout too quickly after eating, you could actually do the opposite. Eat light before exercising then have a protein-rich balanced meal for recovery afterward.

Manage Stress Too much stress can manifest multiple physical problems, including interrupting your digestion. Try mindful meditation or another method of relaxing and relieving stress. Getting plenty of rest can also help keep stress in check. If you're looking for a good night of sleep, consider Buddha Teas' CBD Sleepy Buddha Blend. Herbs for calming and relieving stress are paired with organic, water-soluble, THC-free CBD to leave you feeling restored and rejuvenated.

Find more solutions for enhancing your digestive health at buddhateas.com.

Online platform helps indies and gig workers take control of key aspects of their venture

NewsUSA -- Even before the COVID-19 pandemic swelled, the ranks of work-from-home employees, freelancing was on the rise as workers across a range of fields sought more flexibility and control over their work lives, enabled by the latest advances in technology. In 2020, there were 59 million people doing freelance work in the United States. This is an increase from 2014, when there were about 53 million people freelancing according to Statista, a leading provider of market and consumer data.

The demonstrated success of working remotely means that independent workers will be key to the future of work, even as many people return to in-person office settings.

To thrive both professionally and personally, independent workers need support and tools to promote their skills and manage their business.

New app helps independent workers and freelancers stay organized and in contact with clients.

Photo: Yan Krukov/Pexels

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An online platform known as Indy provides these features and more. Indy offers a complete productivity suite that helps independent workers take the management of their businesses to the next level, with tools and guidance for creating contracts, generating invoices, and everything in between. Additionally, their blog, The Independent Worker, is focused on addressing topics of interest to freelancers, ranging from business development to managing burnout.

"We proudly empower today's 'Indies' - including solopreneurs, freelancers, consultants, contractors, microbusinesses and side hustlers - to streamline the most time-consuming parts of operating their businesses. We help them work smarter, get paid faster, and thrive," says Sebastian Gyr, CEO and co-founder of Indy.

The Indy app offers freelancers a suite of tools designed to help them own three key aspects of their business: :

• Marketing. Indy provides templates for proposals, project briefs, and profiles to help you organize your pitches, and showcase your unique skills.
• Organization. Time tracker and task management tools help you keep everything organized, and Indy also offers a chat feature that freelancers can use for quick communication with clients.
• Business management. Templates for legally-binding contracts and non-disclosure agreements take a lot of the effort and stress out of contract creation, so you can get right to work and invoicing tools will let you quickly and easily send highly professional invoices to the client directly to be paid either electronically or the old-fashioned way - via a check in the mail.

Indy takes pride in empowering an inclusive and diverse community of freelancers, including the LGBTQ community, Black Americans, BIPOC, and workers with disabilities, who are often underserved in the workplace despite the recent rise in equity initiatives. Leaning into these tenets, Indy recently launched a new, digital series called 'Miss Independent' featuring a Black drag queen who offers short videos commenting on freelancing and the freelancing life.

"We're spotlighting what's currently missing for today's virtual workforce and are boldly embracing the opportunity to drive conversations and narratives around equitable pay, diversity, and inclusion, by enabling the success of all workers, especially those from underserved communities," according to the company.

"We celebrate the uniqueness of those human beings that we serve by providing the products, services, space, and the megaphone for them to be their authentic selves, shine, and thrive."

Visit weareindy.com for more information and to create an account for free.