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There is nothing worst than an upset stomach. It can not only make you feel crummy but can even ruin your day. So, what can you do to get relief? Learning the causes of this problem and how to treat them effectively can greatly reduce the time and effort you spend dealing with them.
The Many Causes of Upset Stomach
Stomach pain can be due to a number of causes, and most of the time you may be able to determine the cause yourself. Common causes of stomach pain include:
- Stress – when you get stressed, your body has a physical response that can impact your major systems, including your digestive system.
- Food poisoning – you feel it as soon after you’ve eaten something contaminated.
- Indigestion – can be the result of bad lifestyle habits or poor eating choices.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
The most common symptoms of indigestion and upset stomach are bloating, nausea, heartburn or acid reflux, gas, hiccupping, bed-smelling or sour breath.
How to Calm an Upset Stomach?
Whatever the cause, an upset stomach is uncomfortable and inconvenient. Here is what you can do to address it.
Stomach Medicines
While some digestive problems tend to go away on their own, over the counter stomach medicines can help relieve the ones that start to interfere with your everyday life.
For Heartburn
Heartburn is the result of an imbalance of acid in your stomach. It’s often triggered by eating certain foods or a big meal and occurs when your stomach contents rise into your esophagus, causing a burning sensation in the chest and in the mid-abdomen. Several types of over-the-counter stomach medicines can help relieve the symptoms of heartburn and reduce acidity in the stomach.
Antacid medicine is effective at providing quick, short-term relief for heartburn. Alginic acids are often recommended to be taken with antacids to achieve quick relief. While antacids help to neutralize stomach acid, alginic acids form a protective barrier within the GI track, coating and protecting inflamed areas. H2 blockers are also effective at lowering the amount of acid your stomach makes. While this medicine takes up to an hour to start work, the effects also last longer.
For Nausea and Vomiting
Nausea and vomiting are one of your body’s major defenses against food poisoning. It can also be the result of problems like motion sickness and overeating. The best way to cure an upset stomach of most causes of food poisoning is to let your body rid itself of the bacteria causing your discomfort. However, over the counter antiemetics can come in handy when dealing with nausea and vomiting symptoms caused by motion sickness and certain other conditions.
Diarrhea
Diarrhea is generally caused by a stomach bug and happens when your colon cannot absorb the liquid from the food and fluids you ingest adequately. Diarrhea also usually doesn’t require medication and resolves itself after a couple of days. However, if you start to experience cramping, antidiarrheal medication may be necessary. One great medication option to help slow down fluid moving through your bowels is Loperamide. Bismuth subsalicylate is another medication that can help also help decrease the flow of fluids in your bowel as well as reduce inflammation and kill the bacterial causing diarrhea in the first place.
Ginger
Just as there are natural remedies that can help with cold and flu symptoms, there are also natural remedies that can help soothe an upset stomach. One of them is ginger. Ginger is effective at relieving nausea and can also aid with heartburn. You can consume ginger in the form of tea or grated over your favourite soups and other foods.
Baking Soda With Water
Baking soda is an ingredient many of us have on our kitchen counters. Well known for its versatility in-home use, baking soda can be effective at calming some episodes of heartburn by neutralizing our stomach acid. Add a teaspoon of baking soda to a glass of water and mix it well. Drink it slowly. Actually, when you have heartburn, you should drink everything slowly.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is another ingredient commonly found in kitchen counters. Research has shown that drinking diluted apple cider vinegar after a meal helps alleviate heartburn. But apple cider vinegar is known for being a great home remedy for digestive issues in general. For example, it’s also a quick and effective cure for bloating. Apple cider vinegar is naturally acidic, and so for those with low stomach acidity, using apple cider vinegar may help raise stomach acid levels to aid digestion. This could prevent bloating and gas, which are results of slow digestion.
Due to its antimicrobial characteristics, apple cider vinegar can also help kill bacteria in the stomach or intestines. Excess bacteria or bacteria in the upper intestines release gases that may lead to bloating, so apple cider vinegar may help with symptoms. Using apple cider vinegar for stomach issues is very simple. All you have to do is add a tablespoon of the vinegar to a small glass of warm water and then drink it before or after a meal.
It’s tough important that when you buy apple cider vinegar, you choose a quality one. Two words to look for on the label include unfiltered and unpasteurized. This men’s the vinegar has the “mother”, which is made up of good bacteria. The “mother” can look a little grow, like floating cobwebs. When people see it, they tend to think it means the vinegar has gone bad, but that’s actually the part that contains the gut benefits. The term unfiltered means this good bacteria wasn’t taken out and unpasteurized means it wasn’t treated with heat, which can kill the good bacteria.
When you buy apple cider vinegar, you’ll also want to stay away from products labelled apple flavoured. This means the brand probably used apple juice and not real apples. Some manufactures will commercially distil vinegar and then add colour and flavouring to it. This kind of vinegar won’t offer the benefits you are after.
