How many times this week did you wake up with an upset stomach or bad heartburn? How many times in the past weeks have you blamed your mother-in-law’s food at Sunday dinner for it? The natural digestive help you get from foods and your body has gone out of whack.
Here’s an eye opener, it’s probably not her fault nor her food! Most upset stomach complaints are not due to food. They are due to stress. That’s because the brain and the body’s digestive system are connected. Stress can worsen IBS and ulcers. The sooner we learn to control our stress levels, the better our digestive health will be. Relaxation, meditation, getting enough sleep, as well as natural digestive help from natural antacids, gastric enzymes and digest enzymes will all help promote a healthy digestive system.
There are a lot of myths out there about digestion and what makes for a healthy digestive system. I’m sure you’ve heard about this: swallowed gum stays in the body for seven years because that’s how long it takes to digest it. This is patently false. Anything that doesn’t dissolve when swallowed, and that includes your favorite gum, does not stick in your stomach! The body’s digestive system will move it along, and in a few days, it will be eliminated. It is when this process gets messed up that we are in a lot of discomfort and pain. This is the reason why a lot of people nowadays turn to natural digestive help. Popping a pill is no longer the first option people want to do these days.
Natural medicine is fast gaining popularity. Treating the body as a whole, and not just the body part that hurts is what holistic medicine advocates. Fortunately western medicine has recognized this concept as truly effective! The move to more natural methods of healing the human body is rooted in ancient traditions of the old civilizations of China, India and Egypt.
Ancient Chinese healers have been known to use a variety of methods – religious, forms of magic and herbs. In Chinese medicine, acupuncture, ginseng tea therapy and meditation were given a lot of importance. And today, this tradition is carried through natural digestive help in the form of digest enzymes and gastric enzymes that are plant based.
Digestion is a complex process. The food you eat is turned into the energy you need in order for the body to move and survive. It starts in the mouth (when we swallow food) and ends when we eliminate waste through the anus. In between this two is the stomach and the intestines where a lot of this process takes place. The stomach not only holds food, but is also the mixer and the grinder of what we ingest. Powerful digest enzymes and gastric enzymes secreted by the stomach and the pancreas and bile from the liver all help in breaking down our food.
These digestive enzymes break down foods you eat so that nutrients are in the simple form the body can utilize. Specific gastric enzymes break down specific foods. Lactase acts on dairy sugar, lipase jumps on fats, cellulase does its trick on fiber and amylase is carbohydrates’ best buddy.
So what happens when the very efficiently-run digestive process decides to take the day off? Oh, boy, this is where it gets dicey. When this happens, the body’s equilibrium is upset and symptoms such as bloating, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, gas, belching, flatulence, indigestion, malabsorption, and the grand daddy of them all, irritable bowel syndrome or IBS occur.
Sometimes it is not just one symptom but multiple symptoms that the body must fight. This is why immediate relief is the first thing that sufferers demand. This is where natural digestive help and digestion aids come in. Relief of these symptoms can be had from these plant based natural supplements.
Here are some of these natural digestive help:
Aloe Vera – aids in digestion
Guar Gum (Sterculia) – fiber that regulates the body’s absorption capabilities
Papain – an enzyme that helps in the digestion of proteins
Capsicum (cayenne pepper) – useful in treatment of inflammation, bowel disorders and sour stomachs
Black walnut – effective in the elimination of toxins
Garlic – useful to the body’s lymphatic system and helps in waste elimination
Acidophilus – helps the body eliminate constipation, bloating and flatulence
Senna Pod – helps clean the colon
Ginger – Ancient Chinese healers have used ginger to treat upset stomach
Artichoke leaf extract – relieve the irritating symptom of indigestion
Peppermint oil – helps relieve the pain associated with IBS
Clearly, there are a lot of natural digestive help plants and herbs out there that have been used since early times and that are now being used again as active ingredients in many natural based supplements.
Natural antacids for sour stomach, gastric enzymes and digest enzymes that promote a healthy digestive process and regular elimination, and other digestion aids all come from this ancient tradition.
People nowadays are more comfortable trusting these natural supplements than ever before. Western medicine has finally acknowledged the wisdom of going back to the traditional healing methods that were practiced by our ancestors. It is with this in mind that we continue our search and education on natural remedies for what ails the body. Our ancestors preserved this knowledge and passed it down to healers across civilizations.
In today’s modern world, this question begs to be asked: Do holistic medicine and natural healing have a place in today’s modern medicine?
The answer may be found in this: In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen (1518-1593), one of China’s greatest naturalists, compiled a book called Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica). The book detailed more than 1800 drugs, thousands of illustrations of herbs and plants and 11,000 medical prescriptions. His Materia Medica, published almost 420 years ago, is still the primary book used by healers in China today, his medicines and prescriptions are still the medicines and prescriptions used by more than a billion people today! This is their ancient and modern medicine. There is no difference, it is one and the same.
Li Shizhen was right 420 years ago, and he still is right today.
