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Top 9 Natural Remedies for Bad Digestion
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Top 9 Natural Remedies for Bad Digestion
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By: Michelle Schoffro Cook
April 12, 2018
About Michelle
Follow Michelle at @mschoffrocook
Strong and healthy digestion is fundamental to great health. That’s because the building blocks of every cell, tissue, organ, gland, bone and other components of your body come from nutrients found in your food. If you don’t eat healthy foods or your body isn’t adequately able to break them down into their nutritional components like amino acids, sugars, essential fats, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients you’ll lack the building blocks needed to build and restore a healthy body.
When you consider that your cells regularly die off and are replaced with healthy new cells, you’ll want to give your digestion a boost to ensure your body can create healthy new cells for a strong and healthy body. Here are some of my preferred ways to build digestion.
Eat more fermented foods
Whether you choose kimchi (a Korean condiment), yogurt or vegan yogurt, sauerkraut, fermented pickles or some other type of fermented foods with live cultures you’ll give your gut a boost. By boosting the beneficial microbes in your gut you’ll improve your body’s ability to extract nutrients from food. Most people don’t realize that the bulk of the nutrients you eat are extracted from your food in your intestines. You need plentiful amounts of beneficial microbes that help to digest the food you eat.
Be sure the foods you choose contain “live cultures” or state “unpasteurized” on the label. Pasteurization kills all the beneficial microbes in food and won’t help your digestion.
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Supplement with a full-spectrum enzyme formula
Most people’s digestive enzymes begin to wane as they get older or eat foods that require high amounts of digestive enzymes. To replenish, take an enzyme supplement that contains protease to digest proteins, lipase to digest fats, amylase to digest carbohydrates, and cellulase and hemicellulase to digest fiber. Be sure the product you choose is free of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).
Drink some apple cider vinegar
Add a tablespoon of unfiltered, unpasteurized, organic apple cider vinegar to a half cup of water and drink about 10 minutes prior to eating. This will help boost your body’s ability to digest foods. Avoid apple cider vinegar if you have a stomach ulcer.
Eat more plant-based foods
Contrary to popular belief, animal products are difficult to digest, require more hydrochloric acid and enzymes to break down, and lack the water and fiber needed to keep food moving through your digestive tract. Conversely, plant-based foods are high in water and fiber, and when eaten raw (such as raw fruits and vegetables) contain all the enzymes they need to digest themselves without using your own stores.
Chew your food
Most people think digestion begins in the stomach but it doesn’t. It actually begins in the mouth where a substance called ptyalin in your saliva begins to break down carbohydrates—starches and sugars. By chewing your food well it will leave your mouth already predigested.
Sip some peppermint tea
Peppermint tea has been a popular digestive aid for many years, probably because it works. It aids digestion, and helps alleviate nausea and digestive upset. Add one teaspoon of peppermint leaves per cup of boiled water and let steep for at least 10 minutes. Alternatively, use prepackaged peppermint tea bags and allow to steep for at least 10 minutes.
Drink elecampane tea
While the herb elecampane is most known for its respiratory benefits, it also helps a sluggish digestive system. Use one teaspoon of herb per cup of water and allow to steep for at least 10 minutes. Alternatively use one half teaspoon of elecampane tincture (alcohol extract) three times daily.
Make a ginger decoction
Ginger is a well-known remedy for nausea, which is a common symptom of indigestion. Coarsely chop a 2-inch piece of fresh ginger and add to a pot with 1 quart (or 1 liter) of pure water. Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes. Strain and drink 3 cups daily. You can add a small amount of the herbal sweetener stevia if you’d like.
Supplement with probiotics
Take a supplement that contains a wide range of probiotic strains. Ideally, it would contain: L. acidophilus, L. brevis, L. bulgaricus, L. plantarum, L. reuteri, L. rhamnosus, L. salivarius, B. bifidum, B. breve, B. lactis, and B. longum. L. stands for Lactobacillus and B. stands for Bifidobacteria.
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Dr. Michelle Schoffro Cook, PhD, DNM is the publisher of the free e-news World’s Healthiest News, president of PureFood BC, and an international best-selling and 20-time published book author whose works include: The Cultured Cook: Delicious Fermented Foods with Probiotics to Knock Out Inflammation, Boost Gut Health, Lose Weight & Extend Your Life.
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31 comments
Jetana A
Jetana A10 minutes ago
One downside to aging is losing good digestive ability. I'm doing most of the things suggested here but still bloating, ack!
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Mark T
Mark T15 minutes ago
Ty.
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Angela G
Angela G18 minutes ago
thanks
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Angela J
Angela J24 minutes ago
Thanks
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Snezana Miletic
Snezana Miletic29 minutes ago
Thanks
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Beverly S
Beverly Sabout an hour ago
peppermint, ginger, apple cider all work for me.
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M Q
M Q3 hours ago
When my stomach is upset I drink flat ginger ale. Does the trick for me.
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Delia F
Delia F3 hours ago
Thanks
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Heather B
Heather B3 hours ago
If you do have an upset stomach reach for the activated charcoal capsules. I suffered through a couple of serious bouts of food poisoning and now rely on digestive enzymes and probiotics. But I always have a bottle of charcoal capsules on hand.
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Christine D
Christine D3 hours ago
I have never suffered from bad digestion personally, probably because I do eat well and consume a lot of the foods stated above. I would add that growing your own sprouts (or purchasing non-pasteurized ones) will give you digestive enzymes naturally. I just finished watching a documentary series that stated that in modern medicine, doctors often prescribe medications such as Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid, to reduce stomach acid production for patients with so-called excess stomach acid or gastric reflux. The opposite is true: these patients don't have enough stomach acid and taking supplements such as hydrochloric acid capsules or betain hydrochloride before meals often eliminates the problem. Great advice, Michelle.
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