The Digestion Blog

Review: DigestActiv Digestive Enzymes From Source Naturals

Digestive enzymes are an essential part of the digestive process. They are one of the three main things(enzymes,acid & muscle contractions) your stomach uses to breakdown foods into things like sugars and peptides which your small intestine can then absorb. Some are born with digestive enzymes up the wazoo while others may be deficient or as they age become deficient. Signs of enzyme deficiency are rather generic and may mimic many others issues. Usually the symptoms are bloating, belching, heartburn, nausea or indigestion. Digestive enzymes are used mainly in the stomach & don’t normally affect the intestinal tract, however upper digestive issues can manifest new or worsen existing problems in the intestinal tract.

Today I am reviewing DigestActiv by Source Naturals which is a multiple vegetarian digestive enzyme pill. It’s pretty much a standard mix of enzymes such as Amylase, Lactase, Protease, Pancreatin(vegetable based), Bromelain along with some herbs such as ginger root, peppermint & black pepper extract. They also throw in some Betaine Hydrochloric Acid(stomach acid) for good measure.

DigestActiv is a good starting point when trying out digestive enzymes because it contains lower doses of these enzymes than some of the other brands. Taking too many digestive enzymes may have the opposite effect of what you’re trying to achieve. The pill size, while not small, is about the same size as a quality multi-vitamin capsule. The serving size on the nutrition info is 2 capsules, but I usually only take one. Continue reading “Review: DigestActiv Digestive Enzymes From Source Naturals” »

Fighting Nausea with Ginger & Peppermint.

I’ve probably talked about ginger & mint here before, but I’d like to highlight two products that not only help with nausea but also are quite addictive, err tasty…

Ginger Chews are chewy candies that have a strong ginger kick. They come in individually wrapped rectangular chunks and are lightly coated with powdered sugar. These aren’t at all like those weird jellied fruit squares you might find masquerading in the produce section of your local grocery. They have real ginger flavor & they’re not sickly sweet. There is quite a bit of chew to them(as the name would suggest), so they can get stuck in your teeth if you’re not careful. It’s not a requirement that you chew them, you can treat them like you would a hard candy and they’ll slowly melt.

I get Ginger Chews locally from Trader Joe’s. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you or check out the Ginger People’s Store Locator.

Altoids are “Curiously Strong” mints as the slogan on the front of the tin states. Don’t be too shy about their strength, you’ll soon get used to them, although this is coming from someone who is certifiably an Altoid Fiend™. I think they need to make an Altoids Anonymous 12-step program for me & I know there are others out there! Once you get started, it’s hard to stop nibbling on these things. You’ll start with just one, then two, then three or four at a time. You suddenly realize you just ate the entire tin over the span of one evening. Alas, don’t let my tale of addiction keep you away from Altoids. There aren’t actually any addictive substances inside of Altoids, so maybe if you’re not as compulsive as I am you’ll be able to control their power!

I’d strongly suggest sticking with the Peppermint flavor. Altoids does make a Ginger flavor as well as other minty flavors, but Peppermint uses all natural flavors and no colorings. Some of the other flavors have less than natural flavorings & colorings, plus they taste much sweeter.

Altoids can usually be found at your local grocery in the candy section or in the impulse buy area near checkout. They are usually a bit more pricey if you by them individually(up to $2/tin). If you check the candy aisle you might be able to find a twin-pack for a lower cost per unit($3/2-tins, $1.50ea). You could also check out restaurant supply stores & buy them in a 12-packs($17.04/12-tins, $1.42ea). Sometimes local pharmacies run ads for Altoids as low as $1/tin, which is quite the value! I once found a local grocery offering them for $0.75(75 cents) per tin if you bought 10. I bought the last 10 they had :D! If you can’t find them locally, you could can also buy Peppermint Altoids.

There are other products that use ginger and/or peppermint to help combat nausea. GPAdvocate recently did some reviews for QueaseEASE & some Sea-Band Anti-Nausea Ginger Gum. You might want to check those out as well :)!

Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel(IBS) – Buy Iberogast from Amazon.com

Today I’ll be reviewing Iberogast, a natural herbal pro-kinetic motility agent from the company Medical Futures.

So first off, what is a motility?