A healthy gut is absolutely key to a healthy body. Your gut wall houses 70 percent of the cells that make up your immune system. If this is out of whack, then the rest of your health will follow.
Think of your stomach as the prewash of your washing machine. The stomach is where the first real action is—where powerful chemicals of digestion are mixed with the food mass. If these digestive juices are in short supply, the whole process gets off to a poor start. Your stomach’s primary role is to get that food digestive process kick started and shipped on out to where the body can start to absorb the nutrients it needs.
Poor initial digestion and delay in moving the food out of the stomach is what leads to build up excess acid, gas, bloating and stomach pains, which in turn can leader to longer term issues such as ulcers and weakness in the stomach lining.
Luckily, there are some wonderful herbs that can really help.
Traditional herbalists all over the globe agree that herbs with a bitter taste tend to promote digestive secretions and speed up digestion. Europeans often drink a bitter aperitif before the first bite of a meal, to stimulate digestive secretions and keep food passing through rapidly. Bitter herbs reduce gas, bloating, symptoms of food allergies and indigestion.
Carminative herbs warm up the digestive tract, speed up and increase the thoroughness of digestion, and reduce gas. Carminative herbs include the likes of fennel, cardamom, cinnamon, caraway and lemon balm are all carminative.
Herbs such as chamomile have anti-inflammatory effects to help soothe irritation within the gut, often times in relation to an intolerance to a certain food product. Lemon balm also works in a similar manner and reduces spasms and cramps.
Peppermint is a well-known digestive herb for easing tummy troubles, it works to prevent dyspepsia. Peppermint oil is a relaxant for the muscles of the intestinal wall.
Used by nearly every culture in the world, tasty, aromatic ginger is a time-tested digestive remedy for stomach upset. European practitioners also use ginger in tea for indigestion. It reduces spasms and increases the secretion of digestive juices, including bile and saliva. Ginger contains ingredients that soothe the gut and aid digestion by increasing peristalsis that moves food through the intestine.
In one study, 24 patients received a mixture containing dandelion root, St. John’s wort, lemon balm, calendula and fennel. Ninety-five percent had relief of colitis symptoms in 15 days.
Now we can’t give you the St Johns Wort, but we do have a fantastic blend of all the above herbs in our Tum Ease. A very tasty blend too… winner of the Listowel Food Fair last year… beating the likes of cheese, chocolate, cake and beer!!!!
