Digestive Issues and Indian Food: What to Eat and Avoid

When you’re dealing with digestive issues, trouble with bloating, gas, or slow digestion that affects daily life. Also known as upset stomach, it’s often not about eating too much—but what you’re eating and how it’s prepared. Many people assume spicy food is the culprit, but the real problem is often how ingredients are handled—or not handled—before they hit your plate.

Indian cooking has spent centuries solving exactly these problems. Take lentils, a staple protein source in Indian meals, often blamed for gas but easily made digestible with the right prep. Soaking them overnight, cooking with cumin and hing, and using a pressure cooker cuts gas by up to 70%. Or look at dosa, a fermented rice and urad dal batter that naturally breaks down starches and improves gut health. The fermentation process isn’t just tradition—it’s biology. That bubbly, sour batter? It’s full of probiotics that help your gut thrive.

Then there’s turmeric, the golden spice that reduces inflammation and calms irritated digestive tracts. It’s not magic—it’s science. A daily spoon of turmeric in dal or warm milk can ease bloating, reduce stomach lining irritation, and even help with acid reflux. But here’s the catch: you need to pair it with black pepper and fat. Without them, your body barely absorbs it.

What you avoid matters just as much. Store-bought curry powders? They’re often full of fillers and oxidized oils that upset sensitive stomachs. Overly oily tandoori marinades? The excess fat slows digestion and triggers heartburn. And skipping fermentation for dosa or idli batter? You’re missing out on the natural enzymes that make these foods gentle on your gut.

You don’t need pills or expensive supplements. The answer is in your kitchen. The same dishes that feed millions in Mysore every morning—idli, dal, fermented rice, spiced yogurt—are the ones that keep digestive problems at bay. It’s not about eating bland food. It’s about eating food that works with your body, not against it.

Below, you’ll find real fixes from real kitchens: how to make lentils easy on your stomach, why your dosa isn’t digesting well, and the one spice that does more for your gut than any pill. No fluff. No guesswork. Just what works.