Digestion
The most common digestive health issues include indigestion, heartburn, bloating, flatulence and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Indigestion is a feeling of discomfort or pain in the upper part of the digestive tract and can give a feeling of fullness and bloating and also symptoms of belching and nausea. Indigestion may also cause heart burn due to stomach acid reflux, which can leave a bitter taste in the mouth and irritate the oesophagus.
IBS can include symptoms of abdominal discomfort/pain/cramps or spasms, diarrhoea, constipation (even a combination of both constipation or diarrhoea), bloating, flatulence, nausea and frequent visits to the toilet.
But it is also important for anyone with any digestive problems to visit their GP to rule out a more serious digestive disorder such as peptic ulcers, gastritis, inflammatory bowel disorder, gallstones and cancer.
Dietary wise, what are the important factors to consider in terms of what needs to be removed from the diet and why?
The key culprits for digestive problems can include refined foods where there is a lack of natural fibre which should be contained within the foods. This can cause problems with constipation and affect the gut microbiome. Other culprits can include fizzy drinks, too much alcohol, too much coffee or tea, spicy and high fat foods, like chocolate and drinking lots of liquids with meals which dilutes the digestive fluids and makes it harder for food to be digested,
Wheat can also be a problem for some people as ‘modern’ wheat has been grown to be high in gluten to make mass production easier and cheaper. If someone gets a lot of digestive problems like indigestion, flatulence, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea then it is worth eliminating wheat for a week to see if it makes any difference. Watch out for wheat added to soups, sauces or gravies (it may appear as ‘starch’ on the label and will most certainly be refined). If they find that they feel much more comfortable without wheat, then they could try a grain called spelt (which is far lower in gluten) which was the original form of wheat and many people who can’t tolerate wheat can digest spelt perfectly well.
I think gut related conditions have changed from a generation ago as the quality of our diet has declined. It is not only that people are eating more refined, processed, high fat and high sugar fast foods and drinks than they did years ago. But the quality of our food has declined even when someone is trying to eat well.
Also stress levels have increased from a generation ago and particularly at the moment and that can have a massive negative impact on gut health.
What are the best supplements to suggest and why?
I would always think of probiotics when dealing with digestive problems. There is good evidence to show that probiotics can help with diarrhoea and can be beneficial for IBS.
Your overall health depends on the healthy functioning of your digestive system; not only does it pull nutrients from food to nourish your body, but it participates in protecting it against disease. I think it is much better for probiotics to be taken in supplement form than as a probiotic drink which can be loaded with sugar.
Of course, probiotics are important and digestive enzymes can also be helpful for improving absorption.
There are some herbs which can be particularly useful for soothing the digestive system.
Ginger
Ginger has a number of digestive benefits in that it can help to prevent indigestion, gas and bloating. Ginger also acts as an anti-spasmodic and it relaxes and soothes your intestinal tract. It is also known to reduce anxiety which for some people can worsen gastrointestinal symptoms.
Slippery Elm
Slippery elm helps calm and soothe the digestive tract by coating the lining of the intestines to reduce irritation and to calm the inflamed mucous membranes in the intestines. Slippery elm has this calming and soothing effect because it contains mucilage which becomes a gel when combined with water.
Marshmallow
Like slippery elm it contains mucilage which can reduce irritation in the digestive system and can form a protective coating over irritated and inflamed intestinal mucosal membranes.
Liquorice
Liquorice helps to heal the irritated surfaces of the intestines and also has an anti-spasmodic effect so lessening abdominal cramps.
Chamomile
Chamomile can reduce spasms and control ‘nervous’ reactions in your gut, making it less sensitive to food and other triggers. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect and can improve peristalsis (the muscular movement of the stool through your intestines).
Fennel
Helps prevent and relieve flatulence, as well as soothing your digestive tract and reducing cramps and spasms.
Peppermint
This herb has had the most research and it can help eliminate or reduce your spasms, bloating, trapped wind, constipation and diarrhoea.
Indigestion
Indigestion does have a number of causes, but most digestive upsets can be traced to the type of food you have eaten and the way you have eaten it. Listed below are the most common causes of indigestion:
Eating too fast
Eating too much
Drinking lots of fizzy drinks
Drinking too much coffee or tea
Eating high fat foods
Drinking lots of liquids with meals, which dilutes the digestive fluids and makes it harder for food to be digested
Smoking
Eating when you are under stress
Anxiety and pent-up feelings
Excess weight, which puts pressure on your stomach and can cause indigestion and stomach acid reflex.
Medications that can irritate the stomach lining, such as aspirin, ibuprofen and antibiotics.
Natural indigestion beating tips:
Drink plenty of fluids but not with your meals as this will dilute the digestive juices and stop them working properly.
Chew your food slowly and thoroughly to give your body time to digest it properly.
Avoid too much caffeine, which is known to trigger indigestion. No more than one or two cups of tea or coffee a day – herbal teas are of course fine.
Avoid high fat foods like chips and crisps.
If foods that are spicy, like curry, set off your symptoms avoid them.
Take a daily walk or practice some regular gentle exercise on an empty stomach.
If you feel full after a meal a twenty minute brisk walk after your meal will ease feelings of fullness.
Relax more! Stress is a trigger for digestive upsets so try some gentle yoga postures, meditation or deep breathing all of which have been shown to help relieve stress related digestive problems.
Avoid taking aspirin and ibuprofen and if you must take them, take them on a full stomach.
Sleep in a more upright position, propped up on a pillow, to ease digestion pain at night and to lessen the pressure on the stomach and prevent its contents coming back to remind you of what you ate during the day.
Try a cup of peppermint tea after eating to help settle your stomach. Peppermint reduces inflammation in the digestive tract, relieving flatulence, heartburn and indigestion.
Camomile tea also has antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, gas relieving properties. Enjoy a cup when your stomach feels sore.
Digestive Health Tips
Chew Well
The first part of digestion happens in your mouth, so to have a healthy digestion it is really important to chew well. So, take your time when you eat, slow down and your food will be digested better. Chewing also signals the other parts of your digestive system to get ready to receive food. So, if you are not chewing well, the first part of breakdown in the mouth doesn’t happen, the digestive system does not get the signal to prepare itself and the food will drop down to the stomach in larger molecules than the stomach can really manage.
Another advantage of eating slowly is you are less likely to overeat. Once you start eating it takes 20 minutes for your brain to register that you are full. So, if you eat slowly you will end up eating less food because your brain will tell you that you have had enough. If you eat quickly, you can consume a lot more food than you actually need before your brain realises. There is a big difference between hunger and appetite. Hunger is when your stomach rumbles and you need to eat. Appetite is when you want to eat because fancy some ice cream because you just saw an advert on the TV.
Don’t eat on the run
Try not to eat on the run or when stressed. When your body thinks it is under stress and adrenaline and cortisol are released, the energy necessary for digestion is diverted elsewhere so your body can concentrate on saving your life. This means that your levels of stomach acid and digestive enzymes will be lower than they should be. So, if you are eating on the run, grabbing a sandwich at lunchtime but still working at your desk or rushing off to meet someone and eating the sandwich on the way, then you won’t digest that food properly. You won’t adequately absorb the goodness from that food and you’ll end up feeling bloated and uncomfortable. You may also get loose bowel motions or even diarrhoea as the stress hormones continue to make the rectum muscles relax.
One in four British workers do not take a full lunch hour and many will even skip lunch. People are worried about taking time to eat because they feel it gives negative impression to their bosses. They can then end up with heartburn and feeling bloated.
But stress can do even more to upset your digestive system. In the gut, you have a delicate balance of bacteria and yeasts. There are some five hundred different species of microflora in your gut and as many as nine times more bacteria than there are cells in your body. Unfortunately, stress interferes with the levels of beneficial bacteria in the gut, causing them to be lower than they should be. This means that other bacteria and yeasts can grow out of control. A good example of this is the yeast candida albicans which is present in the intestinal tract and in normal healthy circumstances does not cause any problems. But if it grows out of control then it can give symptoms such as food cravings, especially for sugar and bread, fatigue, a bloated stomach with excess flatulence, a ‘spaced out’ feeling or ‘brain fog’ and becoming tipsy on a very small amount of alcohol.
Although we tend to only think of the gut in terms of digestion it does a lot more than that. It acts as an efficient barrier to invading organisms – up to 70% of your immune system is in your gut. So, it is really important to have good levels of beneficial bacteria. I would suggest taking a probiotic.
Don’t drink with food
Don’t drink with food as this dilutes the digestive enzymes in the saliva in the mouth which makes the first part of the digestive process less efficient. Also the next part of digestion after the mouth is the stomach and this needs acid to break down the food. Having water with the food makes it harder for the stomach to do its job and may end up producing more acid.
Fibre
Everybody tends to think of fibre in relation to the bowels and alleviating constipation. But it has a much more important job in controlling blood sugar swings and weight. The fibre in wholefoods helps control your blood sugar swings and so reduces the amount of cortisol being released by slowing the rate of food leaving the stomach. Slow digestion means you do not get a fast release of sugar into the bloodstream and no high levels of insulin pumped out. Fibre can also give you a sense of fullness so can help with appetite control by making you feel less hungry. There are two main types of fibre:
- soluble – found in fruits, oats, vegetables and beans
- insoluble – found in whole grains and nuts
Soluble fibre is better for controlling blood sugar swings as it has the biggest impact on controlling insulin. Soluble fibre also helps to control cholesterol because it binds
If you would like to explore whether a consultation with an expert nutritionist at the Glenville Nutrition Clinic could help you, please contact us on 01892 515 905 or send us an email at reception@glenvillenutrition.com