What’s the first step to minimize digestive trouble? Stay away from the heat!! Avoiding certain foods can help calm the flames of heartburn and indigestion.
In addition, the following self-care steps may be helpful as well:
- Slow down at the table. Take time to eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.
- Try lactase enzymes. If your symptoms seem to be brought on by milk products, try taking lactase digestive enzymes before eating those foods.
- Help digestion with pancreatic enzymes. Taking enzymes at each meal that provide 30,000 USP units (IU) of lipase, including protease and amylase enzymes, can improve digestion.
- Check for food sensitivities. Work with a specialist to see if certain foods make your symptoms worse.
- Get a checkup. See your healthcare provider to ensure your symptoms are not related to a medical problem.
- These recommendations are not comprehensive and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or pharmacist. Continue reading the full indigestion article for more in-depth, fully-referenced information on medicines, vitamins, herbs, and dietary and lifestyle changes that may be helpful.
Dietary changes that may be helpful…
Doctors have observed that heartburn and indigestion may be relieved in some people by avoiding or reducing the intake of caffeine and alcohol. In addition, some people with symptoms of indigestion appear to have food allergies or intolerances. Avoiding such foods may improve digestive complaints in those people. While most doctors believe there is an important connection between diet and intestinal symptoms, few published data are documenting such associations. Dietary modifications should be undertaken with the help of a healthcare practitioner.
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People who eat too fast or fail to chew their food adequately may also experience symptoms of indigestion or heartburn.
Other Therapies
Treatment includes the avoidance of problem foods, such as citrus fruits, spicy foods, fatty foods, milk, and beans.
Helpful Vitamins & Supplements
Lipase, a pancreatic enzyme, aids in the digestion of fats and may improve digestion in some people. In a double-blind trial, a timed-release form of pancreatic enzymes was shown to significantly reduce gas, bloating, and fullness after a high-fat meal. Participants in this study took one capsule immediately before the meal and two capsules immediately after the meal. The three capsules together provided 30,000 USP units of lipase, 112,500 USP units of protease, and 99,600 USP units of amylase. However, the amount of pancreatic enzymes needed may vary from person to person and should be determined with the help of a doctor.
Activated charcoal can adsorb (attach to) many substances, including gases produced in the intestine. In a small, controlled trial, people were given a meal of gas-producing foods along with capsules containing 584 mg of activated charcoal, followed by another 584 mg of activated charcoal two hours later. Using activated charcoal prevented the five-fold increase in flatulence that occurred in the placebo group. Another small controlled study found that taking 388 mg of activated charcoal two hours after a gas-producing meal normalized flatulence by the fourth hour. However, a preliminary human study found no effect on flatulence or abdominal symptoms when healthy volunteers took 520 mg of activated charcoal four times per day for one week.
Vitamin B12 supplements may be beneficial for a subset of people suffering from indigestion: those with delayed emptying of the stomach contents in association with Helicobacter pylori infection and low blood levels of vitamin B12. In a double-blind study of people who satisfied those criteria, treatment with vitamin B12 significantly reduced symptoms of dyspepsia and improved stomach-emptying times.
Helpful Herbs
Three major categories of herbs are used to treat indigestion when no cause for the condition is known: bitters (digestive stimulants), carminatives (gas-relieving herbs), and demulcents (soothing herbs).
Bitter Herbs. These herbs are thought to stimulate digestive function by increasing saliva production and promoting both stomach acid and digestive enzyme production. As a result, they are particularly used when there is low stomach acid but not in heartburn (where too much stomach acid could initially exacerbate the situation). These herbs literally taste bitter. Some examples of bitter herbs include greater celandine, wormwood, and gentian. Bitters are generally taken either by mixing 1–3 ml tincture into water and sipping slowly 10–30 minutes before eating, or by making tea, which is also sipped slowly before eating.
Celandine. A double-blind study found that a standardized extract of greater celandine could relieve symptoms of indigestion (such as abdominal cramping, sensation of fullness, and nausea) significantly better than placebo. The study employed an extract standardized to 4 mg of chelidonine per capsule and gave 1–2 tablets three times daily for six weeks. However, recent reports of hepatitis following intake of greater celandine have raised concerns about its safety for treating indigestion.
Bitter Orange. Very little published research is available on the traditional uses of bitter orange as a digestive aid and sedative. The German Commission E has approved the use of bitter oranges for loss of appetite and dyspeptic ailments. One test tube study showed bitter orange to potently inhibit rotavirus (a cause of diarrhea in infants and young children). Bitter orange, in an herbal combination formula, reportedly normalized stool function and completely eased intestinal pain in 24 people with non-specific colitis and, again in an herbal combination formula, normalized stool function in another 32 people with constipation.
