Digestive problems

General tips
• Drink a cup of boiled water in the morning before breakfast. This seems to cleanse the stomach and often works wonders.
• Eat slowly. One of the main causes of indigestion is unchewed food.
• Don’t eat food “piping hot”. Our stomachs are not meant to have hot foods inside them. A useful thing to remember is that if it is hot in the mouth it is hot in the stomach. This includes tea and coffee. Food and drinks that are too hot may disrupt enzymes and injure the lining of the stomach. So, always wait for it to cool.
• Don’t eat on the hoof. Meals should be taken at a leisurely pace. If you eat on the move, there is more chance that digestion will not begin. Instead foods in the stomach and intestine will start to ferment, producing gases that bloat you.
• Avoid eating fruit with the meal. Tempting though it is, because it seems lighter on the stomach than puddings, it is not good at the end of a meal. This is because fruit digests faster than dense proteins, so fermentation and gas accumulation may occur.
• If bloating is a persistent problem, try simplifying your meals. Instead of having lots of food groups at one meal try separating them. For example, proteins need acid enzyme digestive juices, whereas carbohydrates need alkaline enzyme digestive juices. When you have to break down both types all at once you are not achieving optimal enzymatic action, so some fermentation and gas accumulation may occur.
• Try taking slightly smaller servings and think twice about second helpings. As a good rule of thumb, try to get into the habit of estimating the quantity you allow yourself using “nature’s food bowl”. Cup your two hands together as if you were using them to make a bowl. The quantity of food that would fill that “bowl” should be your maximum at any meal.
• Make sure that you drink enough water. Ideally, hydrate your stomach with a glass of water half an hour before a meal.
However, be aware of certain warning symptoms which should not be ignored. An early medical opinion and diagnosis is important in the following situations:
• sudden severe abdominal pain;
• vomiting, especially if accompanied by abdominal distension;
• weight loss which is not from deliberate dieting;
• alteration in the normal bowel habit, either with persistent looseness or constipation;
• Bleeding from the back passage.