With the festive season now in full swing, many of us are no doubt taking the old saying ‘eat, drink and be merry’ quite literally.
While ‘everything in moderation’ is a good strategy to maintaining your health and wellbeing, many of us will overindulge in the great food, wine and beer freely available over the next couple of weeks.
With this in mind, here are some hints on avoiding uncomfortable indigestion and heartburn after the Christmas feasts. Many people suffer discomfort after eating and drinking such as bloating, chest pains, a burning feeling in the throat, belching and nausea to name a few.
To keep things simple, I describe indigestion as the common discomforts you can experience after eating such as gas, belching, gas, cramps and nausea.
Rich or spicy foods, wine and alcohol in general, are common culprits for causing indigestion. Often these discomforts can be caused or made worse by poor digestive health.
The foods mentioned above can put extra stress on your digestion by disturbing the balance of good bacteria in your gut. I recommend a high strength probiotic, especially around Christmas time.
The probiotics can help restore the health of your digestive system, relieve the symptoms as well as guard against future discomfort.
There are many high quality probiotics available, so ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice.
If you do suffer bad indigestion, bloating or discomfort, try to moderate your intake of rich, spicy or fatty foods and limit alcohol, cigarettes and coffee.
Also, try to avoid overeating.
This may be difficult at this time of year, so concentrate on eating your meals slowly.
This will cause less stress on your digestive system and you will naturally end up eating less anyway.
Another good tip is to eat two to three hours before bed and sleep with your head elevated.
There are some great over the counter medications that can neutralise stomach acid and relieve discomfort.
Get advice from your doctor or pharmacist on what’s most suitable for your symptoms.
