What to Do When Your Stomach Fights Back
By Sandy Schroeder
You may love chili fries, but they don’t love you. Or going out to dinner may become a disaster when an acid reflux attack flares up. Most of us react quickly to stomach upsets. You don’t have to tell us how indigestion, heartburn, nausea, bloating and stomach pain destroy our quality of life. We know! Special plans get canceled, work becomes a struggle, and most of all we just want solutions.
We understand the stomach’s relationship to our food, but now the medical community is saying there may be a gut-brain connection too. Researchers are studying how the brain and the stomach interact to affect our mood and behavior, but meanwhile we still need to solve stomach upsets.
If you have ongoing stomach upsets, you may know all about drugstore antacids and proton pump inhibitors that reduce heartburn but also reduce the stomach’s ability to digest protein and absorb nutrients such as calcium and iron, which need acidity.
EasyHealthOptions.com suggests that we take a broader approach to stomach health and look at diet, exercise, stress reduction and supplements. Making the effort to eat better and be more active can make a difference.
Foods to Eat
Fiber that's insoluble - Leafy greens, whole wheat bread and fruit skins keep our digestion moving.
Fiber that’s soluble - Oat bran, beans, barley, flax seed and psyllium deal with intestinal cholesterol, blood sugar and acidity to keep the good stomach bugs happy.
Beneficial bacteria - Probiotic foods like yogurt, kefir and kimchee (Korean cabbage similar to sauerkraut) help to keep the stomach healthy too.
Chew food thoroughly - When you take the time to chew your food to a watery consistency, you start digestion before food reaches the stomach, which helps the stomach make the most of the food’s nutrients and avoids stomach upset.
What to Avoid – Gluten and dairy are frequent targets, but each person really needs to understand what works for their own digestion process. Using a process of elimination, you can see what keeps the stomach happy. Nuts, shellfish, eggs, chocolate, soy and sugar may be foods to test.
Keep watching the research and keep your stomach healthy with less stress, more fiber, and more exercise. As you get a grip on the situation, you may not have to fight with your stomach as you enjoy your food more, sleep better, and have less stomach upset.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Las Vegas, Nev.