Ah, the holidays! Family, festivities, spiritual celebration, the joy of giving (and receiving), mass quantities of decadent food and drink, indigestion... Yes, sadly, the indulgences of the holiday season are also often associated with uncomfortable fullness and bloating, cramps, gas, and
3. Fried, fatty and spicy foods are more likely to cause indigestion.
4. Too much chocolate or caffeine can trigger acid production and indigestion in some people.
5. Too many carbonated beverages can also contribute to digestion problems.
occasional indigestion. Indigestion, also known by the medical term dyspepsia, is a collection of symptoms that each person experiences differently, but nobody enjoys.
When we overeat or eat a lot of rich, heavy food, we put too much of a demand on our digestive systems. Often we don't have enough digestive enzymes to digest all that food properly. Undigested food can start to decay in the small intestine, resulting in gas, bloating, cramping, indigestion and general discomfort. To make matters worse, your stomach must generate more hydrocloric acid (HCL) to digest more food, increasing your chances of heartburn.
Natren's chewable probiotics, GASTRO-pH® and HEALTHY TUMMY® both produce digestive enzymes to give your hard working digestion system a helping hand, and can help repopulate your intestines with organisms that break down food.* Both all natural strawberry-flavored GASTRO-pH and French vanilla-flavored HEALTHY TUMMY, GASTRO-pH and HEALTHY TUMMY contain Lactobacillus bulgaricus LB 51, a probiotic strain that helps provide natural enzymes to assist the body to break down lactose, complex carbohydrates and proteins to improve digestion.*
Note: Microbiology is a quickly and constantly evolving science, and the names of live bacteria strains change to reflect our growing knowledge. The full name of Lactobacillus bulgaricus has been recently changed to Lactobacillus delbrueckii subspecies bulgaricus.
Each one wafer serving of HEALTHY TUMMY or two wafer serving of GASTRO-pH provide a minimum 1 billion colony forming units (cfu) of the beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus LB-51, champion transient super strain. Lactobacillus bulgaricus can support the slightly acidic environment necessary for intestinal health. Lactobacillus bulgaricus can also aid in digestion of dairy products by assisting with lactose metabolism, and contribute to the better digestion of carbohydrates and proteins.*
Beside Natren's all natural probiotic digestive aids, here are a baker's dozen other pointers to help you prevent or relieve holiday-induced indigestion:
1. Eat slowly, chewing your food well. It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to get the message to your brain that it is full.
2. Remember that the average stomach is only about the size of your fist. Eating more than a fist-sized portion of food can make you feel uncomfortably full, and challenge the digestive process.
6. Smoking can weaken the lining of the stomach, and produce excess acid.
7. Don't dilute your digestive acids with too much fluid. For better digestion, don't drink fluids a half hour before or two hours after your meal. Drinking alcohol may irritate the stomach lining, causing or adding to your discomfort.
8. Eating late at night can also cause poor digestion. Going to bed or lying down soon after a big meal is a bad idea.
9. Wear loose fitting clothes to the dinner table. Not only can restrictive clothing become uncomfortably tight, it can compress your stomach and slow digestion.
10. Slipping away for a discreet belch can sometimes relieve the pain of indigestion.
11. Exercise helps to get the intestinal tract working and improve digestion, but it's best not to exert yourself right after a big meal.
12. Stress and anxiety also have a negative effect on digestion. If possible, eat in a relaxed environment. Put your worries and family feuds aside for the holiday season.
13. Talking while you're eating can cause you to swallow air – another cause of bloating and discomfort. Save the stories for after dinner for better digestion.
Still, many of us like to "let loose" and indulge over the holidays, enjoying a respite from dietary restrictions. In that case, it's even more important to be proactive and support digestion with probiotics. Chewable probiotic wafers like GASTRO-pH and HEALTHY TUMMY are designed specifically for convenience. These portable probiotic supplements can easily be taken with you and simply used as needed to help prevent occasional indigestion and upset stomach.*
For those of you with the willpower to watch your calories over Christmas, delicious French vanilla ice cream flavored HEALTHY TUMMY chewable probiotics are a dieter's treat that also aid digestion and regularity.* They are packed with flavor to soothe your sweet-tooth cravings, with only 5 calories per wafer.
So take a preventative approach to holiday indulgence and tuck some handy chewable probiotics in your purse or pocket so you can enjoy the festivities without unpleasant and embarrassing digestive symptoms. The Natren family wishes you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season.
