Stomach pain is a common ailment that affects individuals across various age groups and lifestyles, often prompting a search for effective remedies and understanding of its underlying causes.
You’ve likely heard the saying, “we are what we eat,” but many nutrition experts emphasize that “we are what we eat, digest, and absorb.”
This means that a properly functioning digestive system effectively extracts the nutrients and benefits from food and supplements, allowing the body to flourish and achieve optimal health.
How can you help your body achieve proper digestion?
The Keys to Unlocking the End of Stomach Pain is Proper Digestion
There are two important things that need to take place in the stomach in order to initiate a good digestive process:
Acidity: The stomach naturally produces acid during the first phase of digestion. The key is the content of the stomach must become very acidic approximately one hour after eating a meal. Once it reaches a pH between 1.0 to 3.0, the rest of the digestive process is then triggered.
Without this important step, food will stay in the stomach for too long and ferment. This can cause many digestive issues, including bloating, gas, stomach pain and an uncomfortable feeling of fullness.
Buffering: Even before acid can build in the stomach, an alkaline layer of minerals and bicarbonate buffers must be formed.
This alkaline layer along with a mucous layer protects the delicate inner lining of the gastric wall from the highly acidic stomach content.
This protective layer can only be built when we have an alkaline diet rich in minerals. The lack of these essential minerals and buffers leads to low stomach acid and triggers the digestive issues mentioned above.
How to Check Your Stomach Acid Production
Take the Burp Test
Check how your stomach acid production is doing by taking the Burp Test right after you wake up.
- Mix ¼ teaspoonful of baking soda in ½ cup of water and drink on an empty stomach.
- Time how long it takes before your first burp.
If you burp within the first three minutes, congratulations! You most likely are producing enough stomach acid for digestion at mealtimes!
If it’s three minutes or longer (or not at all), you likely don’t have enough and as a result, you’ll have incomplete digestion.
The Baking Soda Burp Test is a simple at-home method to assess stomach acid levels. Results can vary, so it’s recommended to repeat the test for 3-5 consecutive mornings.
The result of having low stomach acid is incomplete digestion, which leads to stomach pain.
If you have a delicate tummy and your burp test shows low levels of stomach acid, you likely can’t handle more acid. This is where enzyme supplements can be very beneficial.
Digestive Enzymes to the Rescue
Digestive enzymes, bile salts, and pancreatic enzymes play an important role in supporting digestion and enhancing the small intestine’s capacity to absorb both macro and micro-nutrients, including essential alkaline minerals.
By incorporating enzyme supplements into your daily routine, you can boost your body’s mineral reserves and promote a balanced pH.
This supplementation strategy can significantly improve overall digestive function and nutrient absorption, thereby lessening stomach pain.
Digestive Enzymes as a Remedy for Poor Digestion
A full-spectrum digestive enzyme blend is very efficient at providing the power the body needs to break down fats, proteins, and carbs into building blocks that can actually be absorbed.
Enzymes also facilitate the absorption of vitamins, alkaline minerals, and fat-soluble nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids.
Not only can enzymes unlock nutrients needed to fuel our day, supply alkaline minerals, and balance the body’s pH, they can provide immediate relief from gas, bloating, and the feeling of heaviness after eating.
6 Steps Towards a Happier Tummy
Here is an easy, natural prescription to support digestion and alkalize the body:
1. Drink plenty of water during the day, including 1 cup of water 30 min BEFORE eating a meal. This not only primes the body for digestion, but it also quenches thirst disguised as hunger.
2. Kick it up a notch by adding 2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to your pre-meal water to stimulate stomach acid.
3. Eat only when relaxed, chew well, and avoid drinking fluid while eating, as it dilutes your stomach acid and enzymes.
4. Add to taste an unrefined, high-trace mineral salt (i.e., Redmond Salt) to your meals.
5. Eat an alkaline diet (see the alkaline food chart) and include:
- Fermented vegetables, such as sauerkraut and kimchi
- Bitter herbs and spices liberally, especially turmeric and ginger
- Slippery elm, fennel and cardamom for digestive support
- Super green food powders for smoothies and alkalizing drinks
6. Add a full-spectrum digestive enzyme blend to each meal and a fat-digesting enzyme when you eat high-fat meals.
Want more tips about holistic health and the latest research? Check out the Holistic Insiders Group. A monthly virtual gathering where you’ll:
- Explore topical health solutions
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References
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-strong-is-stomach-acid#low-levels-of-h-cl All About pH for Stomach Acid
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544242/ Physiology, Digestion
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26806042/ Digestive Enzyme Supplementation in Gastrointestinal Diseases
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19152478/ The role of enzyme supplementation in digestive disorders
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