Best Foods for Digestion (With Digestion-Friendly Recipes)

If your digestion feels sluggish, fibre and fermented foods, when paired with plenty of water and enjoyed as part of a balanced diet, can contribute to better digestion.

This guide explains what fibre-rich and fermented foods are, and how to gently add more of them to your meals to help with digestion.

Before we dive in, it’s worth noting that if you have ongoing digestive issues, we recommend having a chat with a healthcare professional before making changes to your diet.

How Does Fibre Assist in Digestion?

Fibre-rich foods can be a useful place to start to push your digestive system in the right direction.

Fibre is a complex carbohydrate found in plant foods. Unlike sugars and starches, your body doesn’t fully break fibre down during digestion. Instead, it moves through your digestive system and helps add bulk.

4 Fibre-Rich Food Types Great for Digestion

There’s no single fibrous ingredient, which means we can enjoy a wide variety. The best foods for digestion are wholegrains, beans and pulses, fruit and veg, and nuts and seeds.

Each one brings fibre in a different way, so it’s worth getting fibre from a mix of foods across the day.

The other benefit of doing this is that each ingredient brings something special to every meal. Some thicken sauces, some add texture, and others make a food more filling and satisfying.

1. Wholegrains

Wholegrains are a versatile staple and can create more chew, nuttiness, or bite. You have a wide range of wholegrain options, such as brown rice, wholewheat pasta, bulgur, freekeh, or pearl barley. Some of these can be direct swaps for ingredients you likely use every week, such as brown rice instead of white.

You might be less familiar with ingredients like pearl barley and bulgur wheat, but you’ll be surprised at how delicious these options are.

This Lemony Halloumi & Mediterranean-Style Veg Bulgur has lots of crunchy fresh veg and squidgy halloumi mixed with herby bulgur, topped with a tasty homemade tzatziki. Or try this Middle Eastern-inspired Baked Honey Mustard Chicken With Mediterranean-Style Freekeh, which you can whip up in just 25 minutes.

2. Beans, Lentils and Chickpeas

Beans, lentils, and chickpeas are some of the easiest fibre-rich ingredients to build a meal around, and each can be cooked in so many different ways that you’ll never get bored. Lentils soften into soups and curries, beans have so much bite that they can easily become the main ingredient, and chickpeas can be roasted, simmered, or tossed through salads.

They all carry flavour well, such as this Moroccan Lentil Stew With Roasted Chickpeas, which features both red lentils and chickpeas in a rich and warming stew. Or try this Marry Me Creamy Orzo Beans With Olive Tapenade Toasts with cannellini beans, which provides at least a third of your recommended daily fibre intake.

3. Fruit and Veg

Fruit and vegetables are among the easiest ways to get fibre, and with so many choices, you can choose sweetness, crunch, or softness. There isn’t one best vegetable for digestion. A mix throughout the week helps you get your 5-a-day and absorb a variety of nutrients.

Keep edible skins on where you can and like the taste, even kiwis! Add another handful of veg alongside your usual dinner, or use fruit to bring sweetness to breakfast and savoury salads.

Top French toast with coconut, pineapple, mango and papaya. Or leave the skin on sweet potato in this Indian Beans, Egg & Sweet Potato Chips.

4. Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are small additions, but they can do a lot for texture. Sprinkle seeds over porridge, yoghurt, or roasted veg, or add chopped nuts for crunch and a more filling meal.

They’re especially useful as a finishing touch, when a dish already tastes good but needs a bit more contrast.

This Pepper & Spinach Shakshuka With Feta & Seeds provides 2 of your 5-a-day and is a great source of protein and fibre, perfect for kicking off your day or as a comforting dinner.

Enjoy a Variety of Soluble Fibre and Insoluble Fibre for Digestion

Fibre is often grouped into two types: soluble and insoluble. It’s a useful split to be aware of, because different fibre-rich foods behave differently as you cook and eat them.

Soluble fibre dissolves in water and breaks down more easily in your digestive system. You’ll find soluble fibre in oats, beans, lentils, and some fruit. In cooking, that might mean porridge turning creamy, or lentils softening into a soup, curry, or sauce.

Insoluble fibre doesn’t dissolve in water in the same way. It helps add bulk to food, pushing it through your digestive system. You’ll find it in wholegrains, vegetable skins, nuts, and seeds.

Neither fibre type is better than the other, so it’s important to get a variety throughout your week. Plus, having more than one route to fibre keeps meals from feeling repetitive.

How Much Fibre Should You Eat for Digestion?

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition advises UK adults to aim to eat 30g of fibre a day. To put that into perspective, an 80g serving of baked beans contains around 3g of fibre, while 150g cooked wholemeal spaghetti contains around 6g.

It might sound daunting, but with small additions and adjustments, you can build towards 30g over the day, rather than trying to get there from a single high-fibre ingredient. For example, kidney beans stirred into a chilli, a hearty quinoa-based salad, potato wedges with the skin on, or pumpkin seeds sprinkled over roasted vegetables.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks can all add to the total throughout the day. You don’t need to build a perfect high-fibre plate every time; even small changes and additions make a difference.

How Quickly Should You Up Your Fibre for Digestion?

If you want to add more fibre, go slowly. A quick jump in your fibre intake can feel uncomfortable for some people, especially if your usual meals are lower in fibre.

Pick one small change at a time, and drink plenty of fluids as you increase your intake, to help fibre move through your bowels.

Start with one tweak, see how it feels, then build from there once you feel comfortable.

Sarah Fancourt – Lead Nutritionist (ANutr) at Gousto says:

“Fibre is one of those nutrients that’s really important but can easily be forgotten. In the UK, we eat around 17g a day on average, so reaching the recommended 30g can feel like a big jump. You shouldn’t try to make up that gap overnight. Sudden changes can be a shock to your digestive system, leading to bloating or discomfort. Instead, go low and slow. Simple tweaks like choosing wholegrains, adding half a tin of lentils to a sauce, or topping your breakfast with seeds give your gut microbiome time to comfortably adjust.”

Recipe Inspiration

Creamy Chicken Caesar Bean Bowl With Croutons

Inspired by the classic Caesar salad, this creamy bean bowl topped with crunchy croutons gets its fibre from cannellini beans and kale, providing you with a third of your daily intake.

Malaysian-Style Sambal Jumbo Prawn Lentil Dal With Garlic Roti

This Malaysian-inspired dal brings together a variety of fibre-rich ingredients, with red lentils simmered in coconut milk, tomatoes, onions, and warming spices. Sambal-coated jumbo prawns, tamarind, fresh coriander and buttery garlic rotis pile on the flavour for a high-fibre dinner that’s ready in 25 minutes.

Mexican-Style Mixed Beans Loaded Sweet Potato Fries

These Mexican-style loaded sweet potato fries pack in a variety of fibre-rich ingredients, from skin-on sweet potato and sweetcorn to a smoky 5-bean mix. Finished with cheddar, zingy tomato salsa, sliced chilli, coriander, and lime-paprika mayo, they bring plenty of flavour, crunch, and comfort to the plate.

Rump Steak With Quinoa and Chimichurri Yoghurt

This Peruvian-inspired bowl brings protein and fibre together with cumin-rubbed rump steak, fluffy quinoa, charred pepper, avocado, and fresh tomato salsa. A zingy chimichurri yoghurt packed with herbs, chilli, garlic, and lemon pulls it all together for a punchy dinner in 20 minutes.

How Fermented Foods Help Digestion

Fermentation is an age-old process where microorganisms, such as bacteria and yeast, transform food and drink and provide potential health benefits.

Fermented foods also come up often when people talk about digestion. Things like live yoghurt, kefir, kimchi, and miso are common examples.

These are natural foods that offer a flavour explosion from their tangy, savoury edge, as well as an extra boost to your digestion and gut health.

This Japanese-inspired salad puts white miso centre stage, giving grilled aubergine a savoury, umami-rich glaze. Served with rice, edamame, cucumber, and a gingery soy-sesame dressing, it’s light, refreshing and full of flavour.

Make a Digestion-Friendly Food Plan for Your Week

Fibre-rich ingredients and fermented foods can support digestion as part of a balanced diet, but they don’t need to take over the whole meal. They can sit alongside protein, veg, carbohydrates, fats, and plenty of flavour.

That’s where Gousto can help. Our weekly menus include over 175 meal choices to suit all preferences. If you want a simple place to start, look out for our 10g+ Fibre recipes, containing at least a third of your recommended daily fibre intake. Or, take a look at our 3+ of 5 a Day recipes in our Health Hub range to boost those veggies.