Digestion Problems and Medications

Take the time to know about what medications you are taking. Many of them can be causing some of your intestinal problems. I'm not advocating that you stop your medications to see if they are causing the problem, but if you have followed this blog over the past few days, so the things I mentioned in those posts. If things do not improve, then see your doctor and talk to him about your medications and what other choices you may have.

Know that vitamins and supplements can also cause some intestinal issues. For example, calcium often causes constipation, gas and bloating. Magnesium and Vitamin C can cause loose stools or diarrhea. Some of the B vitamins can cause nausea. Consider taking a vitamin vacation to see if things improve. If they do, then consider changing your vitamins. Suffice it to say that not all vitamins are alike. Some of the cheaper ones may not have the quality controls that a more expensive brand has. You may need to change brands.

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Another thing that can help us prevent gastrointestinal problems is to revise some of our habits that may be causing these issues. Certain foods can actually interfere with digestion. Here are a few foods that you should be aware of and cut down your intake.

The first is coffee. It doesn't mean you can't have it, it means to cut back how much you drink. some other foods are chocolate, fatty or fried foods, heavy cream sauces. The other thing to do here is to decrease the size of your meals. My husband and I now only order one meal when we go out because there is more than enough food for both of us, sometimes there is enough to take some home. The portion sizes in most restaurants is way more than most of us need to eat. It's OK to take some home. You would be better off to eat 6 small meals a day

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The intestinal tract is designed to have some bacteria in it in order for us to break down some foods. One of the things you should do if you have been placed on a course of antibiotics, is to restore these healthy bacteria to the intestine. You can do this by taking probiotics which are supplements that contain lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacteria and saccharonmyces.

Stress is another issue which can suppress the normal bacteria in the gut and you should use the probiotics at these times as well.

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Another thing to be aware of with digestive health is that 30-50 million Americans are lactose intolerant. One has to wonder if this is because of all of the antibiotics and hormones given to cows so that they will produce more milk. The fact of the matter is that many people really cannot tolerate milk.

There are some ethnic groups which have very high rates of lactose intolerance, such as Asian-Americans, where as many as 90% are lactose intolerant. About 80% of Native Americans and African-Americans are lactose intolerant.

The symptoms can be either diarrhea or constipation. If either of these is an issue for you, start by cutting out diary and see if you improve. You can use lactose free milk, or there are supplements to help you digest lactose.

Digestion Problems

Many Americans are suffering from digestive problems today. Gastroenterologists report that about 30% of Americans have at least one significant gastrointestinal illness or problem a year. The number of people who now have "irritable bowel" has grown by leaps and bounds. Why is this?

First and foremost, you have to look at what Americans are eating. Or rather I should say what we are not eating. We all know that fiber is an important part of the diet, but what foods have fiber in them? Many times people resort to taking a fiber supplement instead of eating good fiber. Eating good fiber means eating lots of fruits and vegetables. The question to ask yourself is: "Am I eating 8-10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day?" My guess is that your answer to this question will be very telling. Yes whole grains also provide great sources of fiber, but if you're going to do grains, you need to look at whole grains. You can also get good fiber from beans, nuts and seeds. Adding some ground flax seed into your diet will definitely help, but start slowly.

More tomorrow.

Nutmeg

As I prepare for Thanksgiving, I began to wonder about the spices we tend to use at this time of the year. Nutmeg is often used in Pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes and yams. What it does for us from a health stand is to assist in digestion, often helping with nausea, vomiting and gas.

Some of you may already know that nutmeg is the center seed. Around that center seed is a shell and around the shell is red covering which is collected and is sold as mace. Mace has similar properties to nutmeg in that it assists with digestion. Mace is more powerful flavor than nutmeg.

When I mention mace, you may be thinking of pepper spray. This is not the same as the spice mace.