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A busy lifestyle can make it hard to keep track of your food and fluid intake and to keep an eye on your digestive system. Often, the only time you become aware of your digestive system is when it stops functioning properly, such as when you get constipated.

Our handy weekly Digestive Health Diary makes it easy for you to keep a tab of all the essential information you need to Monitor Your Digestive Health and the functioning of your bowels. Just print it off for however many weeks you wish for a complete, at-a-glance overview of what goes into your digestive system and how well it is working. You’ll then have a valuable record to help you to achieve that digestive health make-over – or you can take it to your GP during your next visit.

How to use it

Using the Digestive Health Diary is simple. There are seven categories which you fill out every day of the week. In the last row, you will see the target amounts you should aim for.

In the first two columns, enter your fibre and liquid intake in grams and litres respectively. This will show you if you are getting enough of these all-important ingredients in your weekly diet. A handy fibre table is reproduced at the bottom of the diary, or you can look it up on the bottom of this post.

In the next column, enter the units of alcohol you consume. While a little now and then is generally harmless, it is best to keep your alcohol intake at a low to moderate level. Alcohol is a diuretic and can therefore affect the amount of fluid your body retains.

You can assess your bowel regularity in the column by entering the number of times you expel solid waste. This may help your GP assess your digestive health and can be useful in determining if and what treatment is necessary.

Constipation does not affect you just physically – it can take its toll on your mood, too. Map your mood using the mood rating column. One is lowest; 10 indicates when you feel perfectly happy. This will allow you to correlate your mood to your inner health.

Finally, you can monitor any other changes you experience in the last ‘General Comments’ column. Jot down anything you experience which you feel is relevant, such as headaches, changes to complexion, and fatigue.

So, download the Digestive Health Diary now, to monitor and record your habits and help keep your digestive health in harmony.

Eating a high fibre diet is key to achieving and maintaining a healthy digestive system. The Government recommends a intake of 18-30g of dietary fibre and five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

The following table shows the fibre content of a variety of foods:

http://www.constipationadvice.ie/acheiving-inner-health/diet-diary.html