If you’ve ever suffered with your digestion, then you’ll know how uncomfortable digestive problems can be. Which is why, for a millenia, humans have been rooting out foods to aid digestion or creating food products to ease issues in the digestive tract.
And digestive problems are all too common. Bloating, crampling, flatulence, diarrhea and constipation being the most frequently cited complaints.
So what can you do to give your digestive system a much needed helping hand when it’s struggling?
Try these 5 popular food products that are known to aid digestion, and see if you can naturally improve your tummy upset.
1. Beeman’s Gum.
You might not know that chewing gum can help with digestion, but it is one of the easiest ways to help soothe inflammation in your tummy and gut. How? When you chew gum it creates more saliva in your mouth, and saliva is alkaline, which when swallowed then neutralizes your stomach acid.
You can further aid digestion by opting to chew Beeman’s gum, because this specially developed gum (it’s been around since the late 19th century, that’s how popular it is), invented by an Ohio physician – Dr. Edward E. Beeman, contains pepsin powder and chickle – both of which are known to aid digestion. You can also add a mastic gum supplement to your diet, which will lower the overall inflammation in your stomach.
Win win.
2. Yoghurt.
Yoghurt is made from milk that has been allowed to ferment through the introduction of lactic acid bacteria into the mix.
Yoghurt contains naturally occurring, gut-friendly bacteria known as probiotics, which are essential to ensuring your digestive tract remains in good health. Yes, probiotics occur naturally in your gut, but every now and then they need a top up – for example if you need to take antibiotics which can wipe out a large proportion of good bacteria along with the bad bacteria.
When you’re choosing yoghurt to boost digestion, make sure you opt for the one with ‘live or active cultures’ on the packaging.
3. Kefir.
Yes, this is another yoghurt type product, but this cultured dairy product is made by adding kefir grains to milk, rather than lactic acid. Kefir grains are made from combining yeast and bacteria into milk and leaving the mixture to ferment.
The cultures that are found in kefir are known to help with the digestion of lactose, by soothing inflammation, so is ideal for those with lactose intolerance (which causes digestive issues such as bloating and cramping).
4. Kombucha.
Kombucha is a type of fermented tea. Made by adding bacteria, sugar and yeast to freshly brewed tea. This combination is then left to ferment, resulting in a plethora of gut friendly bacteria, which when drunk is then known to improve digestive health.
5. Miso.
Most commonly consumed as a soup, miso is the result of fermenting soybeans with salt and fungus known as koji. Miso is another probiotic that when drunk increases the volume of good bacteria in your gut and is well known to help reduce digestive issues and calm an upset digestive tract.
Which is your favorite food to help soothe your digestive tract? Share your tips in the comments below!
