By Jessica Colt, Organic Lifestyle Magazine
Indigestion can seriously mess you up. I mean, think about it. One of the most important systems that your body has isn’t working properly and starts glitching. There’s going to be some inner turmoil.
If you’re prone to indigestion, you know what I’m talking about. Yeah, you might want to leave it a minute there before you provoke the stink-o-palypse.
So, you want to sort that out ASAP.
Where do you go? You have the option of popping down to your local drugstore, but let’s face it- that binge of chips and cheese you had last night probably has a lot to do with it.
No, this is between you and your gut. There’s no reason to get anyone else involved. So start at the root and get these five superfoods down your chute.
Moringa
Moringa is one of those old-as-time secrets that we were just extremely slow at catching onto. Indeed, we now know that it’s probably been used as a medicine for indigestion for a millennia. That’s a ridiculously long time to think about.
Because of its high fiber content, it works like a mop in your intestines (and for the boys, around your colon) to clean up any of that extra grunge left over from a greasy diet. Not to mention its anti-bacterial composition, great for ousting any unwanted visitors that get in the way of healthy digestion.
Extra gut perk? Moringa’s packed with isothiocyanates that’ve been shown to act as a natural antibiotic against H. pylori, a pathogen that’s a major cause of gastritis, both gastric and duodenal ulcers, and gastric cancer.
Aloe Vera
Oh, aloe vera. You’re probably more used to smearing this on you whenever you get a bad cut, but aloe vera also has surprisingly good traction inside the body. It contains things called mucopolyaccharides (we’re not even going to bother offering a pronunciation), which are present in every cell of our body and have a ton of vital jobs.
Among these are helping our digestive tract to absorb nutrients, getting body fluids to flow smoothly, and building a wall in the intestines which stops toxic and harmful chemicals right in their tracks. And it’s proven, too; a 2004 study showed that ulcerative colitis patients saw a significant improvement after taking the stuff twice a day for four weeks.
Chlorella
Chlorella is a kind of freshwater algae, originating from East Asia. It’s set apart from other algae thanks to its detoxifying agent, which helps to remove harmful substances from the body- particularly around the liver. Its heavy fiber content helps to toughen up the lining of the intestines and fight constipation head on, keeping your bowels regular and your body feeling feeling much lighter.
Kefir
When people talk about kefir, they’re usually talking about milk with kefir grains added in- known quite simply as milk kefir. But it’s the added grains that make kefir especially beneficial. They work essentially the same as yoghurt- adding more “good” bacteria to crowd the bad, but they have a lot more beneficial qualities than your standard, store-bought yoghurt. They help to soothe inflamed intestinal cells whilst the collection of friendly microflora found sends in new recruits for the battle against harmful gut flora.
Kimchi
Kimchi (pronounced kim-chee) is the national dish of Korea and has seen more of the universe than most of us will ever see. In fact, there was a type of kimchi bred by scientists for the sole purpose of being safe to eat in space!
Loaded with anti-oxidants and with enough fiber to leave your intestines sparkly clean, kimchi offers pure benefits with almost no calories or fat to speak of. Kimchi goes through a process of fermentation that creates helpful bacteria. One of the star players in kimchi is lactobacillus, which helps regulate gut flora.
We all have moments where our digestive system just doesn’t want to cooperate, but you don’t have to put up with it. Changing our diet is probably the most effective way we have of treating indigestion, since a lot of the time the reason our tracts are taking a hissy fit is because we’re not giving them enough of the good stuff!
