Indigestion can be uncomfortable if you get it now and then. It’s usually a sign that you’ve eaten far too much and shouldn’t have probably stopped when you initially felt satisfied.
But what about if you always get indigestion? What if you suffer from it so regularly and it’s always so painful? Even if you don’t have it regularly, it can stop you from getting on with your everyday tasks. You have this issue of dealing with the pain and discomfort, but why should you?
You don’t have to wait for your body to get through the pain by itself. There’s no need to wait for the digestive tract to work properly for you. There are natural ways that you can improve your digestive system and get rid of indigestion.
This is something we’ll look at throughout this article. First, let’s look at why indigestion occurs.
Just What Is Indigestion?
Medically known as dyspepsia, this is a condition that affects everyone at some point. Even those who say that they’ve never had a medical condition will have suffered at some point in their lives.
Most of us will get indigestion when we’ve had fatty or spicy foods or because we’ve overeaten. Our digestive system secretes the juices into the stomach accidentally, meaning that our stomach deals with liquids that aren’t usually there. If you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), stress, ulcers, or IBS, you could find that you suffer from indigestion more frequently.
You don’t just have some pain. Indigestion can be embarrassing. There are growling and gurgling noises that come from your stomach, and then there’s the gas that you have to let out at some point! It always happens at the worst possible times, right? You can also feel bloated, which can cause clothing not to fit properly or you look bigger than you really are.
So, what options do you have? It’s time to overcome indigestion naturally with these top 10 methods.
Sip on Water as Soon as You Get Signs
Your digestive juices and stomach acid cause a higher pH level within your body. You can end up with some heartburn, as the stomach acid can travel the wrong with out of the stomach!
To help manage the pH level currently in your body, you want to sip on some water. Try this the minute you start suffering from some signs of indigestion. You can help to balance out the pH levels so quickly that you don’t even get the far worse symptoms later in the day.
Alkaline water could help you get rid of indigestion sooner. You can make your own alkaline water by adding lemon slices to your plain water. Adding acid to your water helps? Well, the citric acid works with the minerals in the water to turn the pH level the opposite way.
Sipping water will also help to encourage the juices to work the opposite way. You will keep yourself hydrated and can ease some of the gurgling noises that you get.
You want to keep your water still. Sparkling water adds more gas to your body, and that can make the bloating and gassiness worse!
Add Apple Cider Vinegar to Your Water
If you don’t have lemons on hand, you can pull out the apple cider vinegar. Yes, I know that this sounds counterproductive again. Just why add acid to acid in your body?
Again, the apple cider vinegar actually has the opposite effect in your body. It helps to balance out the pH levels because there is an alkaline effect once in the body.
The water is just an easier way to drink your apple cider vinegar!
You can opt for an apple cider vinegar mixture on a daily basis after each meal. If you’ve had a big meal, doing this can help to limit the amount of indigestion you suffer from throughout the day. You could cut it out completely.
If you don’t fancy opting for it as a daily basis, do drink it when you first feel the symptoms of indigestion.
Boost Digestion with Ginger
When you eat too much or your indigestion kicks up, it is so hard for your body to work properly. The food that you have eaten doesn’t get digested as it should, and there ends up being a backlog for later. The one thing you need to do right now boosts the digestive process so you can lower the amount of digestive juices needed.
So, you want to look at eating some ginger. You could even add ginger to your meal to help improve your digestive tract throughout your meal! It’s one of those spices that works with both savoury and sweet foods.
The ginger helps to boost the amount of juices that are flowing through your body. This is also a spice that is full of anti-inflammatory properties and will boost the antibacterial elements within the body. You reduce a number of bad bacteria in your gut, which stops the digestive process working as it should!
You can add some ginger juice and lemon juice to some water. Another option is to drink it without water. Just two teaspoons of ginger juice are enough to get your digestive tract working better.
As you get rid of the food in your body, you will find the pain and discomfort secedes.
If you really want something to relax and ease your stomach, why not try some ginger tea? You get the benefit of the hot water to soothe your mind and relax the body, while the ginger elements get to work on the digestion. Ginger tea is also powerful for soothing heartburn and stomach upsets!
Neutralise with Baking Soda in Your Water
Let’s go back to the drinking of your water. Instead of plain or adding acids to your water, why not add something that is instantly an alkaline option? Baking soda is one of the most powerful ingredients, and there are high chances that you already have it in your kitchen! We tend to have it for cleaning or baking, right?
Baking soda will help to neutralise the acidic levels in your body. You only need a teaspoon of it in your water. Most over the counter heartburn remedies will use baking soda elements within them.
Your mixture will also help to get rid of various symptoms of indigestion. You remove the bloating and gas without having to worry about what your body does!
Try Cups of Chamomile or Peppermint Tea
It’s time to heat up your water and opt for some tea. Don’t have a cup of black eat. You want an herbal remedy that will help to soothe your stomach upset and ease the pain and discomfort from indigestion. Herbal teas can also help to improve the digestive tract, so you get rid of the reason for the discomfort.
We’ve already looked at ginger tea, but you can also opt for peppermint or chamomile tea. Both of these are powerful for healing and boosting the digestive system.
You don’t need to make the tea from scratch. One of the benefits of herbal tea is that the tea bags are now available at most grocery stores. Make sure you stock up on your favourite flavours. The ones mentioned are just the most powerful, but you can opt for lemon tea or even plain green tea!
While you’re curing indigestion, the tea will also help you relax and unwind at the end of the night. They are powerful for reducing stress, which will help to reduce the chances of indigestion becoming a regular problem.
Add More Cumin to Your Diet
Let’s look at another way of cutting down on a number of times you suffer from indigestion. While you could stop overeating, you could also add a powerful ingredient to your meals: cumin. In fact, this spice is powerful for all sorts of stomach, digestion, and bowel upsets.
The cumin works on reducing bloating, flatulence, and nausea. It helps with the stimulation of pancreatic enzymes to boost the digestive process.
It is possible to add dried cumin to your meals, but that doesn’t work with everything. Another option is to add some roasted cumin seeds to your water and drink it directly. The water will help with the absorption process.
You can also add cumin seeds to a trail mix. This is a great way to get more fibre into your diet, which also helps to boost your digestive system.
Make Some Cinnamon Tea
Another herbal remedy to try is cinnamon tea. This isn’t quite the same as the herbal teas already mentioned. You don’t create a tea out of it, and you’re not using tea bags. You add some crushed cinnamon to some boiling water, allowing the cinnamon to dissolve in the water.
You only need a teaspoon of this. Anymore than that and you could make yourself feel sick.
The cinnamon will help to boost your digestive system’s job while easing the pain and discomfort you feel. It’s also a powerful way to reducing bloating and gas, so you get rid of the embarrassing elements of indigestion.
If you feel any intense pain after drinking the cinnamon tea, you need to seek medical help right away!
Get Up and Move Around!
If you’re lying down, you need to get up right now. This is just making your indigestion worst. Your body can’t quite work the food out of your system. You also make it easier for the digestive juices to travel the wrong way up your body.
Those who are trying to sleep, you could prop yourself up in bed until indigestion and heartburn subside. However, you will help to remove the problem sooner by getting up and moving around. No, I don’t mean you have to do some exercise! The light movement will just help to get your metabolism working better, so your digestive system must get more of the food out of the way sooner.
Watch out for over-exerting yourself so soon after a meal! You could end up making yourself ill.
Try Chewing Sugar-Free Gum
Chewing gum is an excellent way to get your digestive system working properly. Your body thinks that you’re feeding it more, so it works harder to get rid of the food that is already there.
You’re just tricking your brain since you don’t eat the gum. You do want to opt for sugar-free to avoid too much damage to your teeth. Really focus on the chewing aspect. It’s the chewing that creates the saliva, which then tells the body that you’re eating something.
Minty gums are among the best for this. The mint can help to soothe the feeling of nausea, especially if you’ve overeaten. Mint will also help you relax, which reduces the stress and can take away one of the reasons for suffering from indigestion.
Finish Your Meals with Something Alkaline
The more acid you eat, the worse your indigestion will be. Remember you need to create a balance in the pH levels. With that in mind, you need to finish your meals with something alkaline.
This is easier than you would think. You can opt for cheese at the end of your meal—it goes very well with fruit as a dessert. Cheese will also balance out the acid levels in the mouth, helping to reduce tooth decay and bacteria growth in the mouth! You are in a win-win situation.
If you don’t want or like cheese, you could always opt for some yoghurt instead. Natural Greek yoghurt is the best option to avoid unnecessary sugars and calories.
Now It’s Time to Limit the Chances of Getting Indigestion
While these herbal remedies will help to overcome indigestion, it’s time to take steps to avoid it happening regularly. There are a few steps that you can take:
- Cut down on your portion sizes
- Limit the amount of spice you add to your meals
- Reduce the amount of acid you have in your meals
- Eat smaller, more frequent meals
- Listen to your body when it tells you that you’re satisfied
- Track any similar feelings based on ingredients
- Keep your stress and anxiety levels down
You will soon find that you can enjoy the meals you make and have when out, without worrying about the pain that you could suffer from later. Only you will know the reasons for your indigestion. They could just be due to overeating, but you may have another condition that affects your digestive system. Look after your health to prevent the embarrassing and annoying symptoms of indigestion.
