The last thing anyone wants is an upset stomach. Whether it is inconvenient discomfort or debilitating pain, an upset stomach is never fun to deal with. Unfortunately, there is no guaranteed way to prevent stomach pains. It’s just one of those things we will all experience from time to time.
Even though you can’t prevent every stomach ache in your future, there are things you can do to ease discomfort and even prevent a few of those future episodes. It all comes down to determining the root cause of the discomfort and knowing how to combat it.
The problem is there are many different things that can cause gut discomfort. After all, the digestive tract is about 30 feet long and works closely with a number of other body systems that can have a direct impact on how your gut is functioning.
That being said, there are a few common causes of stomach discomfort you can watch out for and possibly even prevent. We like to put them into two different categories: physical causes and mental causes. Let’s take a look at both.
Physical Causes of Gut Discomfort
There are a number of different physical causes of gut discomfort. Here are just a few of the most common culprits.
Eating Too Much
Your digestive system is already working hard to keep the rest of your body properly nourished. If you eat too much food, the added work may be too much for your gut to handle, which will ultimately lead to some discomfort.
Eating Too Fast
Similar to eating too much, eating too fast can overwhelm your gut with more food than it can process at once. In addition, eating quickly may also lead to swallowing a lot of air, which can leave you feeling bloated and generally uncomfortable.
Eating Highly Processed Foods
There are many foods common in the American diet that can be difficult to digest. Two of the most common examples are carbonated drinks and processed foods that contain trans fats and saturated fats.
Poor Meal Timing
When you eat matters just as much as what you eat. Poorly timed meals, like eating too close to sleeping or indulging in a midnight snack, can easily cause an upset stomach.
Mental Causes of Gut Discomfort
While physical causes may be easier to spot, mental and emotional causes are just as common, particularly when it comes to your stress levels and your mood.
Stress and Anxiety
Have you ever gotten an upset stomach from being nervous? This common symptom of stress and anxiety is caused by your body releasing compounds like cortisol. Ultimately, these compounds divert blood away from the gut to other body systems, which can have a negative impact on the way your gut functions.
Mood Disturbances
Low moods are a part of life. We all have days when we feel down or unmotivated. But moods that are persistently low may have a negative impact on your gut health. These feelings not only can affect your eating habits and lead to some of the previously mentioned culprits, but they can also have a direct impact on your gut through the gut-brain axis.
7 Tips for Relief and Prevention
Of course, determining the cause of your stomach discomfort isn’t always easy. Whether you are able to narrow down the culprit or not, here are 7 tips to relieve stomach discomfort and decrease the number of stomach aches you have in the future.
1. Take Some Digestive Enzymes
The role of digestive enzymes is to break down the food you eat so your gut can absorb it. They are naturally produced throughout the entire digestive tract, but sometimes the amount our bodies produce isn’t enough to get the job done. When that happens, providing our body with some additional digestive enzymes can do a lot to ease stomach discomfort. Thankfully, these enzymes can be found in a variety of foods like pineapples, mangoes, and ginger. However, the best way to be sure your body is getting extra enzymes when it really needs it is to take a digestive enzyme supplement.
2. Drink a Cup of Tea
Ginger, chamomile, and peppermint tea are all great options to help settle an upset stomach in the moment. So once you start feeling the initial pangs of stomach discomfort, brewing yourself a cup of tea may help.
3. Practice Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is one of the best ways to prevent stomach discomfort. This involves establishing a mealtime routine, learning to eat slowly, and ensuring appropriate portion control. Furthermore, filling your meals with plenty of whole foods like fruits and vegetables is a great way to keep gut discomfort at bay.
4. Supplement with Probiotics and Prebiotics
Probiotics are the good microorganisms in your digestive system that help it function properly. Meanwhile, prebiotics are the soluble fiber molecules that the probiotics feed on. If you want to help your gut function optimally, feeding it plenty of probiotics and prebiotics is a must. You can get both of these through various foods, or you can take the convenient route of taking them in supplement form.
5. Drink Plenty of Water
Staying properly hydrated could be the key to a settled gut that functions optimally. In addition to helping with digestion and gut motility, the absorbed water is also used by the cells in the gut wall to produce compounds like digestive juices, which contain those important digestive enzymes we talked about.
6. Find an Outlet for Stress
The best way to relieve stress and anxiety is to just let it all out. Things like journaling, therapy, engaging hobbies, or practicing daily mediation are all great conduits for allowing stress and tension to leave your body, which will benefit both your mind and your gut.
7. Get Plenty of Exercise
Regular exercise does wonders for your gut health both directly and indirectly. Not only can working out directly improve the composition of your gut microbiome, but it can also do wonders for your mood through the release of endorphins because of the gut-brain axis. The best part is that you don’t have to do anything intense. Simply taking a long walk around the neighborhood every day could be all you need to see a difference.
Support Your Gut with Essentials
Nourishing your gut is an important part of easing gut discomfort and preventing it in the future. That’s why Essentials combines probiotics, prebiotics, and digestive enzymes with a nutritionally rich superfood called organic Wild Microalgae™ all in one convenient daily pack.
What is organic Wild Microalgae? It’s a rare form of blue-green algae that is considered a near-perfect superfood. With all 20 standard amino acids, 13 vitamins, over 60 trace minerals, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and more, it is the perfect way to ensure your gut is getting all the nutrients it needs.
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