28 Mar Five simple ways to ease digestive problems

Wondering why you’re being plagued with uncomfortable digestive problems? Discover five lifestyle changes that could make all the difference. 

According to the NHS, it’s thought that up to 2 in 5 people have at least one digestive symptom at any one time. This could mean stomach ache, constipation, diarrhoea or a whole host of other digestive problems that stop you from feeling your best.

In general, digestive problems can be traced back to three causes – your lifestyle, the food you’ve been eating, or stress. Here are some of the ways that changes to your lifestyle choices could help, or even prevent, many of these digestive issues.

Try consuming less dairy to ease digestive problems

Lactose intolerance is a common digestive problem that affects the body’s ability to break down the sugar in milk known as lactase. It’s particularly common in people of Asian or African-Caribbean descent.

If you find that consuming a lot of foods like cheese, ice cream and milk leaves you gassy, bloated or nauseous, try avoiding dairy-rich food. There is now a huge choice of very palatable, natural plant-based milk substitutes out there, from oat to soy and from rice to coconut.

Work on your stress!

In the last decade, research has helped to unearth the link between digestion and depression. For example, stress and anxiety have been shown to intensify the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

In some people, stress and depression trigger digestive problems such as diarrhoea. In others, it can cause constipation and the uncomfortable pain and bloating that goes with it. Discover our seven tips for natural anxiety relief.

Increase your intake of digestive fibre

Found particularly in fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains, fibre is essential for keeping our bowel movements regular. Getting enough dietary fibre helps build bulk to ensure you avoid problems like haemorrhoids and constipation.

It’s important not to go too far the other way though. Too much fibre can result in bloating and diarrhoea!

Take a little more exercise

If you’re struggling with digestive problems, it might be time to lace up those trainers. Experts think exercise positively affects the balance of good bacteria in the gut. Plus, during physical activity, blood flow to the muscles in the digestive system increases, speeding up digestion.

But you don’t have to run a marathon for exercise to boost your digestion. Recent research suggests that low-intensity physical activity is a very good way to improve some types of constipation.

Check whether medicine is upsetting your stomach

Some medicines and medications can really upset your stomach, causing issues such as indigestion, constipation and diarrhoea.

Aspirin is a particularly common culprit. Obviously, do talk to your doctor first, but you might want to try swapping aspirin for another pain relief medication like paracetamol.

Could milk thistle help with digestive problems?

A truly multipurpose herbal remedy, milk thistle has been shown to benefit the skin, bones, liver, brain and more. But it’s its power to help ease digestive problems that many advocates for milk thistle herbal medicine say is where it offers the greatest benefits.

We’ve heard from fans of HRI Milk Thistle who have seen substantial improvements with issues such as indigestion and stomach pain from overindulgence.

And it takes as little as one tablet a day of HRI Milk Thistle™ to benefit your digestion, as one dose contains 300mg of this healing herb – the strongest dose available in a fully licensed Milk Thistle tablet in the UK. Our customers have seen that just one or two tablets each morning can have a dramatic impact on the digestive system.

Of course, results are different for everyone, but here’s what one happy user said:

“Smooth tablet surface makes them easy to swallow. No awful taste of taken whole or crunched up. Great digestive results!” Verified Amazon review, August 2020.

If you are interested in finding out news and information about a natural approach to supporting your health, beauty and wellbeing, why not follow HRI Herbal on Facebook @HRIHerbal.