I suffer from indigestion. It really, really sucks – especially because it didn’t have to be this way. I didn’t have to spend my days searching for indigestion remedies online or at pharmacies. I didn’t have to lay up nights trying to swallow back my bile as I waited for my Tums, or Pepcid, or whatever I had taken, to work.
When searching for indigestion remedies, then, it’s important first to understand what, exactly, indigestion is.
Not all indigestion is the same. Indigestion remedies and treatments, as recommended by wikipedia, are as follows:
A 2004 meta-analysis, pooling data from three double-blind placebo-controlled studies, found the multiple herbal extract Iberogast to be significantly more effective than placebo (p value = 0.001) at treating patients with functional dyspepsia through the targeting of multiple dyspeptic pathologies. This German-made phyto-pharmaceutical was found to be equivalent to cisapride and significantly superior to metoclopramide at reducing the symptoms of functional dyspepsia over a four week period. Retrospective surveillance of 40,961 children (12 years and under) found no serious side-effects.
So while traditional medicines have shown to be no better than placebos, there are certain indigestion remedies in the offing that have significant potential to help those of us who suffer from dyspepsia.
Personally, though, the best indigestion remedies are the ones that are common sense. Don’t eat late at night, or any time before you’re going to bed. Don’t eat processed food with a bunch of junk in it that your body’s not evolved to digest properly. Don’t take aspirin right before you go to bed. And if you know something gives you indigestion, avoid that food. For me that means no aged beef or milk chocolate. Sucks, but that’s life, isn’t it?
So just use your common sense and be diligent about tracking when you get indigestion and how long at lasts. A clearer picture of your health can only be beneficial when it comes to defeating indigestion.
Great post. I think for the most part preventing indigestion and acid reflux is common sense, but some people just lack the proper bacteria or have too much stomach acid. In cases like that, home remedies such as eating yogurt can help.