Burping, Bloating & Indigestion - Low Digestive Enzymes

Do you suffer with bloating, indigestion or burping? Perhaps you lack appetite?

This article is going to delve into how insufficient digestive juices can play a role and in turn how to normalise your production.

1. When we eat a meal, digestion first begins with the help of saliva, through chewing.

2. When we swallow, muscles in our oesophagus push the food down to our stomach where gastric juices containing acids and enzymes further break it down - specifically the proteins. Muscular contractions also occur in the stomach during this process that properly mixes our food with the gastric juices.

3. After some time, the partially digested food moves into the small intestine where our macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) yield micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and are passed through the walls of the small intestine into our bloodstream, which delivers them to the rest of the body.

4. In the colon, some undigested material (fibre) is fermented by bacteria which creates a source of fuel. Then, the final waste products of digestion pass on through the colon and out of the body as a solid matter called stool (💩).

If at any point throughout the digestive process, there are insufficient digestive juices in action we can experience burping (belching), bloating, indigestion or even a lack of appetite.

More Signs & Symptoms of Low Digestive Juices

• Inability to extract nutrients from our food

• Nutrient deficiencies

• The feeling of food sitting in your stomach

• Slow food transit time

• Undigested food in the stool

• Flatulence (gassiness)

• Dyspepsia

• Diarrhoea after big meals

• Morning diarrhoea

• Constipation

• Nausea

• Vomiting

• Issues eating proteins or meat

• Recurrent gastrointestinal infections

• Bulky stool

The juices needed for digestion include saliva, hydrochloric acid, bile, pancreatic juices and various enzymes.

What Causes A Deficiency?

• Leaky gut

• Damaged microvilli

• Gastritis

• H-pylori infection

• Viral or bacterial infections

• Toxicity

• Nutritional deficiencies

• Imbalanced pH

• Inhibitors in food

• Proton pump inhibitors (PPI's), H2 blockers and antacid use

• Ageing

• Stress and anxiety

• Extended fasting

• Severe iron deficiency

• Liver damage

• Free radical damage

• Alcohol abuse

• Gallbladder removal

How To Normalise Digestive Juices

1) HEAL YOUR GUT

The most important thing is to ensure that the lining of your digestive tract is healthy as the cells that reside there are where you produce enzymes and salvia for digestion. It's also key that your liver, gall bladder and pancreas are in good shape. After all, they're the powerhouses of our digestion and produce bile and pancreatic juices that enter the digestive tract via specialised ducts.

Get started with healing your gut, with the tips in this article, 12 ways To Improve Your Gut Health.

2) ENCOURAGE NATURAL PRODUCTION

This means including foods such as:

• Papaya. Papaya contains papain which is a proteolytic enzyme that helps break down proteins.

• Pineapple contains bromelain which is also a proteolytic enzyme that helps break down proteins. Go for the core of the protein at snack time!

• Kiyah Bitters. This formula is an upgraded version of Swedish Bitter which is used to stimulate bile production and digestive enzymes. Take 20 drops in a tiny bit of water before meals.

If you want something in capsule form that you can take in your handbag when you're out and about, we recommend Bioceuticals Multigest - you can find it in the Kiyah Store. It's perfect for those times you might have overeaten or had something like dairy that you usually wouldn't. Almost instant relief!

• Try Apple Cider Vinegar. Choose an organic, raw version that contains the 'mother'. A tsp in some water before meals can stimulate digestive juices.

• Dandelion Root Tea. The bitter properties of this herb stimulate bitter taste receptors in our digestive tract which allows the release of bile and better breakdown of fats.

• Raw Honey. Along with all raw foods contain enzymes like amylase (for carbohydrate breakdown) to assist in the breakdown of food.

• Eat ferments. Probiotic foods provide bacteria that help to break down fibres and enhance the digestibility of complex carbohydrates and proteins.

3) EAT BITTER FOODS

Bitter food are foods that taste bitter!

Some of them are obvious like rocket (arugula), coffee, chicory, grapefruit, dandelion greens, radicchio, endive, kale, and dark chocolate (cacao) but others you might not realize have bitter properties include cauliflower, broccoli, lemon, lime, eggplant, ginger, beets, artichokes, and brussels sprouts.

Bitter foods act in two ways:

1. They stimulate the liver to produce bile, which helps break down fats.

2. They stimulate your digestive cells to produce enzymes that help break down your food and allow for the absorption of nutrients.

Symptoms of low bile production: nausea after fatty meals, constant feeling of fullness, diarrhoea, pain felt under the shoulder blade, fatty stools (an oily film on the toilet bowl), bloating, abdominal pain, light-coloured stool.

4) PRACTICE MINDFUL EATING

Mindful eating can alleviate burping, bloating and indigestion. It also teaches your mind and body about hunger and satisfaction.

1. Eat when you're calm. If you're in a heated conversation, or if you're feeling tired, upset, angry or worried don't bother eating. Fatigue, negative emotions and stress impair proper digestion.

2. Wait to eat until you're really hungry. Your body simply isn't ready to receive food unless you're truly hungry.

3. Prepare your own food. And never eat on the run. As you take the time to cook your own meal, your body is visually stimulated, you smell the food, feel the food and begin the production of enzymes before it even reaches your mouth.

4. Avoid liquids close to meals. Only take occasional sips as you consume a meal, as drinking too much water dilutes digestive juices. Small amounts, however, will moisten the food and lubricate its passage down the gullet.

5. Don't overeat. More food that the body wants or needs will mean insufficient digestive juices to break down that meal and in turn, indigestion.

6. Chew your food well before swallowing. As you have learnt from the info above, digestion does not simply take place in the stomach. It begins in the mouth by masticating the food and mixing it with saliva.

If you suffer with digestive issues, try our Kiyah Bitters formula designed specifically for bloating and low digestive enzymes. For more personalised support, book a free 10 minute naturopathic call.