Digestion Supplements
If you choose to eat your steak and potatoes, consider taking digestive enzymes to ensure you have adequate levels of stomach acid and alleviate your digestion problem.

Do not eat fruits with meals. Dr. Rubman recommends eating fruits as an appetizer a half-an-hour before a meal, rather than as a dessert. He explains that fruits are normally digested very quickly. For example, when you eat fruit, just half an hour later you’ve digested it. When you eat fruits with other foods, however, you slow their digestion. The fruit sits and can ferment until all foods are ready to move on together. This, again, can allow damaging microorganisms such as Candida to gain a foothold in the body, warns Dr. Rubman.
When you belch after a meal, he points out that it is often not from swallowed air, but from gas and fermentation in the stomach due to improperly combined foods.

Just say no to dessert. The worst thing you can do to start a digestion problem is to put a simple carb on top of a healthful, balanced meal, notes Dr. Rubman. Sugary sweet high-glycemic desserts, which would normally be digested rapidly, instead sit and ferment while the whole meal undergoes lengthier digestion.
If you’re going to eat sweets, it’s best to eat them on an empty stomach for optimal digestion (of course, this is not so good for blood sugar, but that’s a discussion for another day). Treat sweets as special treats rather than every day events, chew them slowly and thoroughly so the pleasure lasts longer.

A good digestion supplement is to combine foods that contain different amino acids. Especially for the vegetarians among us, it’s important to combine grains, fruits and vegetables — which contain different amino acids — in order to complete the essential amino acid profile, says Dr. Rubman. They do not need to be eaten together in one meal (although that’s fine too). However, eat portions within a four hour time period. A black bean chili or white bean soup, and a healthful grain such as brown rice — will do the trick. To learn more about these combinations,

People experiencing digestion problems must Chew foods very thoroughly. Chew foods until they are virtually in liquid form before swallowing. The more food is broken down in the mouth, the more readily it can pass through the rest of the gastrointestinal tract.

OPTIMIZE YOUR DIGESTION

Of course, combining foods correctly is only part of an overall digestive strategy for digestion problems that also entails a diet filled with a rich variety of whole foods, with more healthful fats (wild salmon, avocados, olive oil, flaxseed, etc.) than saturated ones (hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, etc.), and complex carbs such as whole grains and starchy vegetables instead of simple carbohydrates from white sugar.

When the goal is healthful digestion without the need for digestion supplements, Dr. Rubman also strongly cautions against antacid use. Clever advertising seduces many consumers with digestive challenges to reach for these, when in reality Americans suffer from a shortage of, rather than excess, stomach acid. Also: Limit beverages during meals. They dilute digestive enzymes.

Whatever your digestive challengesand digestion problems, rest assured that there’s a solution for you, and very often all that is entailed is making simple, healthful, common sense choices. When in doubt, consult a trained physician to help you devise a sensible plan.

Do not eat fruits with meals. Dr. Rubman recommends eating fruits as an appetizer a half-an-hour before a meal, rather than as a dessert. He explains that fruits are normally digested very quickly. For example, when you eat fruit, just half an hour later you’ve digested it. When you eat fruits with other foods, however, you slow their digestion.

The fruit sits and can ferment until all foods are ready to move on together. This, again, can allow damaging microorganisms such as Candida to gain a foothold in the body, warns Dr. Rubman.

When you belch after a meal, he points out that it is often not from swallowed air, but from gas and fermentation in the stomach due to improperly combined foods.

Just say no to dessert. The worst thing you can do is to put a simple carb on top of a healthful, balanced meal, notes Dr. Rubman. Sugary sweet high-glycemic desserts, which would normally be digested rapidly, instead sit and ferment while the whole meal undergoes lengthier digestion.

If you’re going to eat sweets, it’s best to eat them on an empty stomach for optimal digestion (of course, this is not so good for blood sugar, but that’s a discussion for another day). Treat sweets as special treats rather than every day events, chew them slowly and thoroughly so the pleasure lasts longer.

Combine foods that contain different amino acids. Especially for the vegetarians among us, it’s important to combine grains, fruits and vegetables — which contain different amino acids — in order to complete the essential amino acid profile, says Dr. Rubman.

They do not need to be eaten together in one meal (although that’s fine too). However, eat portions within a four hour time period. A black bean chili or white bean soup, and a healthful grain such as brown rice — will do the trick. To learn more about these combinations, Dr. Rubman recommends taking a look at Diet for a Small Planet (Ballantine) by Frances Moore Lappe.

FOOD COMBOS FOR OPTIMAL DIGESTION

People have gotten so used to indigestion that we consider it virtually a normal way of life, routinely tolerating stomach aches, cramps, gas, diarrhea, constipation and the like. However, this need not be the case, and there are steps you can take to reverse this trend without use of antacids and other pharmaceuticals. According to Daily Health News contributing editor, Andrew L. Rubman, ND, how you put your meals together greatly influences their digestibility. In this month’s Rubman’s Digestion Connection, we tackle the science of combining foods for better digestion and absorption.

DIFFERENT TIMETABLES FOR DIGESTION

Every day we eat a variety of foods containing proteins, carbohydrates and fats from meat, fish, fruits and vegetables, etc. The body requires food diversity to meet its needs, explains Dr. Rubman. Yet each category of food requires different enzymes to digest them, and each category has its own timetable of digestion. This means that in order to achieve optimal digestibility and absorption, it is essential to monitor food combinations.

THE BASIC PRINCIPLES

Fortunately, there are just a few simple rules to follow in order to correctly combine foods. Dr. Rubman advises…
Do not combine simple carbohydrates with highly saturated fats. Simple carbohydrates for example, from processed and refined sugars and from sugars in fruits (fructose), tend to be high-glycemic foods, meaning that, when eaten alone, they quickly raise blood glucose levels. In contrast, saturated fats such as those in red meat or processed meats, may take up to four hours to digest.

The digestive process slows down for a time during this period, which allows potentially dangerous microorganisms in food the opportunity to feed on the carbohydrates which can lead to the infiltration of the digestive tract lining (or leaky gut syndrome) and cause digestive disturbances. The problem is especially pronounced for those who have insufficient stomach acid due to stress, aging or medication.

Why not use one of the best acid reflux remedies available?

By that I mean, why not use a sane, healthy diet that creates less stomach acid. This seems to be the best of the acid reflux remedies which I have come across so far, and I can not be the only one out there who thinks so.

Eating a lot of grains, fresh vegetables and a few fruits, and little fat or grease or meat, can do a lot to treat heartburn. Making sure that you do not overeat, and that you have several small meals over the course of the day rather than just having one great big one can also work wonders for your acid reflux. But no. People would rather go on just as they always have, eating foods that simply are not that good for them, and then treating the symptoms with acid reflux remedies, instead of the cause, which is simply unhealthy eating habits. It is enough to make you sick about some people, if you ask me!

Of course, some people really do suffer from acid reflux disease for other reasons than just poor dietary habits. If you are one of these people, and are simply the victim of an overactive stomach, then there is nothing else for it than to treat your condition with the remedies that you find. Otherwise, you are at risk of all kinds of other health problems caused by the excessive stomach acid.

Acid reflux in infants is one of the most common ailments among newborns and small children. Both of our children were diagnosed with the condition, and it of course was hard news to hear the first time.

Your brain immediately goes into parent mode because you don’t want your child to have any pain or discomfort. You most certainly don’t want to hear that your child or children are diagnosed with a condition. However, our pediatrician reassured us that acid reflux in infants is quite a common condition among babies and with some treatment the condition would improve and eventually subside.

Acid reflux in infants is a condition where the contents of the stomach, including both acid and food, work back up into the esophagus sometimes causing pain and discomfort. It is a medical fact that acid reflux in infants is common, mainly because their muscle closing off the stomach from the esophagus is often not completely formed yet and allows for acid and food to back up quite often, mostly after eating.

In babies, it is difficult to tell they have acid reflux, as it is quite common for babies to spit up. If a child spits up or vomits often, and it is accompanied by crying, arching of the back or poor sleeping habits then the child most often is diagnosed with acid reflux.

Acid reflux in infants is usually treated with some medication. Pediatricians often prescribe acid reducers such as Prevacid or Zantac, which reduce the production of acid in the stomach. Since acid reflux in infants is so common, these now come in water soluble forms which can either be mixed with their formula or breast milk, or it also dissolves almost immediately after hitting the mouth of an infant. This makes giving this medication much easier, and it is effective almost immediately.