Many people suffer from digestive ailments and take digestive health supplements for relief. These digestive ailments include heartburn, excess gas, constipation, diarrhea, and stomach cramps. To get long lasting relief and improve our health we must choose the right supplement.
These digestive ailments are caused by an imbalance in our intestinal flora, i.e. too much bad bacteria. So a supplement is needed that can correct this imbalance. It should be natural and not synthetic, have the correct combination of ingredients, and work in the digestive tract.
The best digestive health supplements include soluble fiber, enzymes, natural bioactive phenolics, and prebiotics. These four ingredients work together in the digestive system to make and keep it healthy.
Soluble Fiber
Soluble fiber is hard to digest. It is found in psyllium husks, and certain fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and grains. Soluble fiber absorbs water, becomes bulky, and slows down the digestive process. Fatty acids attach themselves to this bulk. This process of slowing down the digestive process reduces the risk of diabetes and heart disease, because it also slows down the release and absorption of sugar into the system, and lowers bad cholesterol.
New studies have shown that soluble fiber also enhances the immune system. Probably because sugar lowers the immune system's ability to fight disease, and soluble fiber lowers the amount of sugar in our systems.
In addition, a study on soluble fiber was conducted by the University of Illinois' College of Medicine. Gregory Freund, who is a professor there, stated, "Soluble fiber changes the personality of immune cells they go from being pro-inflammatory, angry cells to anti-inflammatory, healing cells that help us recover faster from infection." Therefore, you definitely want to have soluble fiber in your digestive health supplements.
Digestive Enzymes
Digestive enzymes are biological catalysts that actively break down the foods we eat. This process turns our food into energy for our bodies to use. It aids in the absorption of nutrients and the elimination of what is left over. This also helps to improve our immune systems.
The digestive enzymes found in digestive health supplements are food enzymes. The best natural sources of food enzymes are plant foods. Plant food enzymes are the best at breaking down the foods we eat. It is advised that we add enzymes to our diet, because enzymes that occur naturally in raw foods are destroyed during cooking and processing.
Phenolics
Phenolic compounds are naturally present in many food items. Clinical studies have shown that natural bioactive phenolics, present in kiwi, can slow down the development of bad bacteria, and encourage the development of good bacteria. Good bacteria help to balance our intestinal flora.
Prebiotics
Prebiotics are found naturally in the indigestible part of plant foods, such as the skin. Therefore, it is more pleasant to consume as a supplement, since one would need to eat a lot of skin to get the same effect. Prebiotics, like natural bioactive phenolics, slow down the development of bad bacteria and encourage the development of good bacteria.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Digestive Health Supplements: four Ingredients Digestive Supplements Should Contain for Lasting Relief
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