How to improve your Digestion? Part 1

Having gut problems?

You may have constipation?

How do you know?

Through your stools .

Refer to picture bellow:

Type 1 &2 is a sign of constipation, therefore the transit of the following is slow , it sits in your colon longer and tends to dry out because you reabsorb the water, hence compact shape. The ideal stool is are type 3 & 4 . Above this types it is considered Diarrhoea ( if having this more than 2 days you should go to the doctor as you could dehydrate)

Chronic stress may also play a role in the development of constipation, as there is a connection between the gut and your central nervous system , known as the gut- brain axis.

I have found also a video that explains the following in a better way :

Which fruits or food help constipation?

kiwifruit helps with constipation:

Ground flaxseeds regularly also helps:

How can you improve your digestion?

According to Benjamin Brown (2015) Taking betaine hydrochloride supplement is a simple and effective way to increase your stomach acid ( hydrochloric acid) . Often pepsin which aids digestion, is added to the supplement to improve action.

Try taking one capsule containing 650 mg of betaine hydrochloride with each meal. one capsule might be enough to Improve your symptoms but, if not, you may need to increase the dose slowly by one capsule per meal up to a maximum of three capsules with larger meals.

Betaine hydrochloride is very safe , however you should not use this treatment if you are also regularly taking non- steroidal antiflammatory medications ( e.g. . aspirin, ibuprofen, paracetamol) or corticosteroids. Also do not take betaine hydrochloride if you have an existing peptic ulcer or upper abdominal pain. and if you experience abdominal pain or burning , stop taking it immediately and seek medical advice if the pain persists.

Digestive enzymes?

Digestive enzyme supplements have been shown to improve IBS symptoms , especially in people in whom testing has revealed low pancreatic enzyme production or in those who experience worse symptoms after eating.

There are so many digestive enzyme supplements out there in the market with so many ingredients that makes it hard to choose which on is the best .

To make it simple :

you need to find a product that preferably contains at least the enzymes lipase( digests fats) , protease ( digests protein) and amylase ( digests carbohydrate). These are available as standard animal -derived of vegetarian enzymes.

The lipase content is the best reference for determining how strong the product us and according to clinical studies needs to be at a dose of about 8000- 24,000 USP (united stated Pharmacopeia)units of lipase per meal for animal-derived products, which are also commonly labelled as 'pancreatin derived enzymes'

AVOID ALPHA- GLUCOSIDASE INHIBITORS :

Why?

Because they prevent the digestion of carbohydrate. Alphaglucosidase inhibitor drugs are used for diabetes and obesity, the rationale being that if you block the breakdown of carbohudrated you absorb fewer calories as sugar. However, interfering with the digestion of carbohydrates can cause problems and common side effects of these medications are flatulence, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

I also found a video to show you

how enzymes work in our digestion?

I will be posting a part 2 of how to improve your digestion the a couple of weeks.

All my research for the following article was made based on Benjamin Browns book " The Digestive Health Solution" ( 2015) .