10 top tips to optimise your bowels

Did you know that 1 in every 20 women is diagnosed with bowel cancer? Gut health plays a huge role in overall well-being, and optimising your digestion can significantly impact energy levels, immunity, and even mental clarity.

But with busy lifestyles, changing habits can feel overwhelming.

In this post, I’ll share 10 simple yet powerful tips to help you optimise your bowels, improve digestion, and feel lighter and more energised.

Many of these techniques align with the natural rhythms of the moon, tapping into the body’s innate cycles to support balance and well-being.

1. Rise between 5 AM and 7 AM

Your bowels are naturally most active between 5 AM and 7 AM, so waking up during this time stimulates your body’s natural elimination reflex. By syncing with this rhythm, you give your digestive system the best chance to work efficiently.

2. Try an oil mouthwash

First thing in the morning, swish a small amount of olive oil around your mouth for a few minutes. This process:

• Helps remove toxins your body expels overnight.

• Stimulates the liver to produce bile, which supports elimination.

• Enhances your body’s natural elimination process.

If oil pulling isn’t for you, brushing your tongue and rinsing your mouth with water can also help kickstart elimination.

3. Lemon water or stewed apples

Kickstart cleansing and elimination with:

• Warm lemon water – A half lemon squeezed into water draws out debris from the gut lining and aids elimination. Drink it in one go to avoid damaging tooth enamel.

• Stewed apples – A combination of a cooking apple and an eating apple, gently stewed, provides pectin, which stimulates bile production and aids elimination.

Adding a little ginger can also help keep the body warm and support circulation.

4. Try food combining

Food combining involves eating protein and carbohydrates separately in meals.

Why?

• Proteins and carbohydrates require different enzymes and pH levels to break down.

• When eaten together, digestion slows, and food can stay in the stomach up to six hours longer.

• Instead of chicken curry with rice, try just chicken and vegetables or a vegetable curry with rice for example.

This method can ease bloating, speed up digestion, and prevent energy crashes.

5. Stay hydrated and avoid dehydrating foods

Dehydration can cause constipation and sluggish digestion.

To stay hydrated:

• Drink more water throughout the day.

• Reduce dehydrating foods like oatcakes, rice cakes, and protein bars.

• Opt for naturally hydrating foods such as porridge or soaked nuts.

6. Reduce snacking between meals

Constant snacking prevents your body from cleansing the gut lining. When you take breaks between meals, your digestive system has time to “wipe down” and remove debris.

To help reduce snacking:

• Replace snacks with sauerkraut, which supports gut bacteria and cleanses the gut.

• Gradually shift from snacks to drinking more water—often, we mistake thirst for hunger.

7. Support your gut’s seasonal detox (especially in Autumn!)

Just like trees shed leaves in autumn, your gut lining naturally cleanses during this time of year.

You can support this by:

• Eat more astringent foods e.g. plums, celery, grapefruit, alfalfa sprouts

• Incorporating foods like fermented vegetables and herbal teas to cleanse the gut lining.

• Eat a light evening 'meal' once a week to reset our tendency to over eating in the evening

8. Stop eating after 7 PM

This one can be tough, but your body slows digestion in the evening.

Eating late:

• Burdens the digestive system.

• Causes food to sit longer in the gut, leading to bloating and fermentation.

• Impacts sleep quality.

If you find it challenging, a small portion of stewed fruit can help tide you over as you adjust.

9. If you do one thing – food combine your evening meal

If changing everything feels overwhelming, start by food combining your evening meal:

• Choose either protein and vegetables OR carbohydrates and vegetables, not both.

• This reduces digestive burden overnight and can improve sleep and energy levels.

This one small change can make a huge difference in how you feel!

10. Try a 24-hour reset: harmonising your digestion

If making too many changes feels overwhelming, try focusing on just 24 hours to create balance in your digestion. This approach gives your body a chance to reset, helping you recognise what foods work best for you.

But what does harmonising your digestion actually mean?

Harmonising your digestion means working with your body’s natural rhythms rather than against them. It involves eating in a way that aligns with your body's enzymatic, hormonal, and circadian cycles, making digestion more efficient, reducing bloating, and improving energy levels.

This method is part of my book, The Jigsaw Method, and it allows you to observe and understand how your body responds to food. Instead of trying to overhaul your diet overnight, you create a temporary ideal digestive environment for one day—then pay attention to how your body reacts when you return to your usual eating patterns.

How to do a 24-hour digestive reset

For just one day, follow these simple steps:

1. Wake up early (between 5 AM – 7 AM)

   This is when your bowels are naturally most active. Rising early gives your digestive system a head start and aligns you with your body's elimination cycle.

2. Start with a cleansing morning routine

   • Oil pulling: Swish olive oil in your mouth for a few minutes, then spit it out. This stimulates bile production and helps with detoxification.

   • Lemon water or stewed apples: Kickstart elimination with either lemon water (a natural gut cleanser) or stewed apples (rich in pectin to support digestion).

     
     

3. Follow food combining for two meals (Breakfast and Evening meal)

   Instead of mixing proteins and carbohydrates in the same meal, separate them. This reduces digestive strain and allows your body to process food more efficiently.

   • Breakfast example: Scrambled eggs with sautéed greens (protein meal) OR porridge with soaked nuts and berries (carbohydrate meal).

   • Evening meal example: Grilled salmon with roasted vegetables (protein meal) OR vegetable stir-fry with rice (carbohydrate meal).

     
     

4. Drink plenty of water and avoid snacking

   Give your gut time to cleanse itself between meals by avoiding snacks. Instead, drink herbal tea or water. This allows the digestive system to complete its natural "housekeeping" process.

   
   

5. Finish eating by 7 PM

   Your digestion slows in the evening. Finishing meals earlier prevents food from sitting in your gut overnight, leading to better sleep and less bloating the next morning.

   
   

Why This Works

• Creates a clear contrast – When you spend 24 hours eating in perfect alignment with your digestion, your body will respond positively. You may feel lighter, more energised, and notice less bloating.

• Helps identify food sensitivities – Once you go back to eating normally, you’ll be able to notice what throws you off balance. If a certain food causes bloating, sluggishness, or discomfort, that’s your body signalling that it may not be serving you well.

• Simplifies habit changes – Making dietary shifts for just one day is more manageable than committing to a long-term change all at once. Plus, after feeling the benefits, you may be motivated to continue!

  
  

What to Do Next?

After completing your 24-hour reset, take note of how you feel. Which parts of the method worked best for you?

You don’t need to change everything at once - just pick the habits that felt easiest and most effective for your body.

Implementing dietary changes is easier with support.

If you’d like to explore this method further, join me in my monthly online book support course on the first Tuesday of every month from 7:30 PM - 8:15 PM.

Here, we’ll go deeper into the principles of The Jigsaw Method, troubleshoot challenges, and support each other in making small, sustainable changes for long-term digestive health.

📍 Find out more at: https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/71491?

Watch the Full Video

For a deeper dive into these tips, watch my full video here:📺 https://youtu.be/0kc_Ie18Qj8