Are you suffering from stomach upset, bloating, gas, stomach discomfort after eating food ? If yes don't worry; you are not alone to face such problem and is quite common. According to WHO, every 3rd person on this planet suffers from these symptoms. What actually differs is the frequency of symptoms. Some people literally grows restless with these symptoms while some develop it occasionally.
INDIGESTION symptom in diseases like:
- Gastro-esophageal reflux disease
- Acidity
- Gastroenteritis
- Gastroparesis
- Irritable Bowel syndrome
- Chronic pancreatitis
- Thyroid pathology
INDIGESTION Medicinal Causes:
Antibiotic abuse
Thyroid medication
Analgesics abuse
OTC use of Oral contraceptives
INDIGESTION Lifestyle causes:
Alcohol
Smoking
Drug abuse
Eating too much
Depresssion, Anxiety, Stress
INDIGESTION Symptoms:
Nausea & Vomiting
Gas & Belching
Feeling of fullness & heaviness of stomach
Acidity
Upper abdominal pain
Best Natural and Effective Tips for Prevention of Indigestion:
1) High Fiber Diet is best for indigestion
This is best way to prevent indigestion. Fiber is not only needed for curing or preventing indigestion but it also forms the essential part of our daily nutritional needs. High fibre diet not only improves digestion but also keeps as protected from constipation, hemorrhoids, fissure-in-ano, diabetes and many other diseases.
Fibers are of two types: Soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber increases the time for digestion and helps lower cholesterol and blood glucose. While on the other hand, insoluble fiber remains unabsorbed all the way to the intestine just making the waste more bulky. In short non of the types of fiber is doing any harm, instead adding to the gastro-intestinal health.
Now a million dollar question arises; which food to eat for high fiber content ? I am not gonna do any chit chat over this. No non-sense; just read through the list.
Lentils
Avocados
Raspberries
Blueberries
Cucumber
Beans
Broccoli
Oatmeal
Whole wheat products
Spinach
Other Important question is how much is enough. An average adult Man and Woman need around 30 & 25 grams of fiber a day, respectively.
So include high fiber in your diet and keep indigestion at bay.
2) Chew your food to avoid indigestion:
Chewing is most important and unfortunately most ignored part of digestion. Everyone tends to swallow the food rather than chewing it. Its first step of digestion where stimulus to release digestive enzymes are sent to stomach. When one ignores chewing or under-chews the food, the saliva doesn't mixes well and food remains unbroken resulting in indigestion. So please for sake of digestion, chew the food well.
3) Keep your mouth shut while eating to better digestion
Other most important precaution to take with chewing is keeping your mouth shut. Talking during chewing or chewing with mouth open will increase the chances of air getting ingested alongwith food; ultimately increasing the risk of abdominal bloating and gas. This bloating and gas produces indigestion finally. So as simple as it, more talking during chewing, more severe the indigestion.
4) Make exercise your best time-pass to avoid indigestion
Many of the Gastroenterologist are of the view that all the Gastric troubles including indigestion have one common root cause - Lack of exercise. Abdominal muscles play a major role in normal peristalsis but when they become flaccid and less firm, they are ought to hinder digestion and peristalsis. So with proper and relevant workouts, you can not only tone up your abdominal muscles but also tone up your digestion process.
Golden rule to prevent Indigestion:
Sweat you shed after exercise and gastric enzymes produced inside stomach, have equal importance in proper digestion.
5) Stress management:
Stress is one of the biggest enemy of the human mind & body. It literally destroys the digestive system and causes serious diseases if not taken care of. It reduces the blood flow to the Castro-intestinal tract and also reduces the production of essential digestive enzymes thereby slowing down digestion. If not controlled it can also increase acidity and cause gastric & duodenal ulcers, worsening the condition upto Crohn's disease and
Ulcerative Colitis.
So try relieving your stress with any of the appropriate way you like but I would suggest you not to give mere origin to stress in your life. Meditation and Yoga are the most recommended anti-stress measures.
6) Limit use of Antacids for indigestion:
Acids in stomach are an essential tool for digestion but when its amount increase owing to various reasons, person has to resort to antacids to neutralize the acid production. This is quite normal. Problem starts when people starts using antacids like they are eating delicious toffees. Overuse of antacids will hinder the acid production and in turn start indigestion ending with serious complications. So take antacids only after consulting your physician.
7) Avoid a bath immediately after meal.
Ya. You read it right. You must be wondering what bathing has to do with indigestion. Well, let me tell you. When you ingest food and digestion starts, major part of your blood circulation gets concentrated in mesentric arteries around the intestines; thus making the digestion process more potent. But when you bath post meal, this blood circulation starts shifting to the peripheral tissues and skin thereby decreasing blood flow to intestines. This results in indigestion. Ancient Indian System of Medicine, Ayurveda also supports this fact.
Along with all this most important measures to prevent indigestion, some small alteration in lifestyle can also prevent indigestion or cure if already persistent:
8) If you are suffering from any metabolic disorders like Diabetes mellitus, obesity, etc. then you must first try to cure or control the underlying disease as disturbance in metabolism is one of the biggest cause of indigestion and other related gastric symptoms.
9) Never eat too full. Smaller and frequent meals are more advisable
10) Avoid smoking and alcohol.
11) Limit or stop the use of caffeine as its one of the main culprits of indigestion.
12) Avoid wearing tight clothing
Stay tuned for more updates on indigestion.
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