Digestive Health Supplements
Digestion is essential to properly break down your food, absorb nutrients, and maintain your healthiest self. Unfortunately, many of us struggle with our digestion. Gastrointestinal (GI)-related conditions like IBS, diarrhea, constipation, and nausea are common. Thankfully, several natural supplement options exist that can alleviate such conditions. This article will discuss digestive health supplements.
Supplements for digestive health support
Chicory
Chicory root is an effective functional food with antibacterial, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, and hypolipidemic effects. It is also a digestion supplement that controls appetite and lowers your risk of GI disease. It also has potential effects as a prebiotic (1).
Inulin
Plants create inulin, a prebiotic fiber found in several vegetables, fruits, and grains. It can promote good digestion in several ways, first by activating bowel movements. Because it is a form of fiber, inulin also fosters activity throughout the digestive tract and solidifies loose stools. Fiber also helps you maintain satiety and regulates blood sugar. Inulin also supports the gut microbiome, promoting the diversity of positive gut bacteria (2).
Mullein
Traditional Spanish medicine utilizes mullein, a plant, for inflammatory conditions such as otitis, arthritis, respiratory disease, rheumatism, and arthrosis. It influences several systems, including the respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems. It is included in digestive support supplements for gallstones, diarrhea, constipation, ulcers, tooth pain, and more (3).
Sea Moss
Sea moss is a form of red algae that is a source of good bacteria and fiber, making it an excellent ingredient for gut health. It promotes a healthy microbiome, balancing the good bacteria throughout your digestive tract (4).
Quinine
Quinine is a medicine commonly used to treat malaria. Outside of its anti-parasitic properties, it also works as a supplement for digestive system health. It has demonstrated effects on pancreatic hormones, gut hormones, and pyloric pressure (5).
Spearmint
Spearmint is an effective treatment for postoperative nausea when blended with other herbal remedies such as peppermint and ginger. Peppermint, similar to water mint and spearmint, has demonstrated effects on the gallbladder, small bowel, esophagus, and colon (6).
Sarsaparilla
Sarsaparilla is a natural supplement that can treat infections, arthritis, cancer, and skin conditions. It possesses antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-aging, and anti-inflammatory properties, making it a potent herbal remedy for many conditions, including digestion.
Sage
Sage is a promising herbal remedy with a long history as a traditional medicine. Individuals have used it for various digestive ailments, including low appetite, stomach pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and heartburn. In addition, it has uses in memory, diabetes, cancer, cholesterol, infection, obesity, and more. It is relatively safe when used in therapeutic doses (7).
Turmeric
Turmeric contains curcumin, its active component which gives Indian curry its yellow color and rich flavor. Turmeric has treated numerous conditions over the last 4,000 years. Turmeric may be effective in inflammation, cancer, and digestive conditions. It activates the gallbladder, creating bile and thus improving digestion. In one study, turmeric decreased bloating and gas in subjects with indigestion.
Other trials investigated turmeric’s effects on indigestion and ulcerative colitis (UC). In these studies, it lowered symptoms of gas and bloating and decreased relapsed rates in UC (8).
Red Sage
Red sage supplements come from the dried roots of red sage, which is related to culinary sage. It contains polyphenols, providing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. In animal models, sage protects against alcohol damage and acetaminophen overdose. It may also protect against chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (9).
Mastic Gum
Mastic gum originates from a Greek island, possessing powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved mastic gum to treat indigestion and skin inflammation. One study evaluated 148 individuals with indigestion and randomized them to receive either 350 milligrams (mg) of mastic gum three times daily or a placebo for three weeks. Mastic gum significantly improved symptoms of heartburn and stomach pain (10).
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll is a natural substance that gives plants their rich, green color. It is essential to photosynthesis, in which plants absorb the sun’s energy. Chlorophyll improves digestion by diversifying your gut’s microbiome, promoting healthy gut bacteria’s growth and development.
Motherwort
Motherwort belongs to a class of bitter herbs commonly used as medicinal plants. Its use cases extend to conditions such as high blood pressure, epilepsy, insomnia, heart conditions, and more. Some even use it in the context of GI diseases (11).
Mimosa Pudica
Mimosa pudica, commonly called the “touch me not” plant, comes from tropical America and Australia. Traditional healers have used it for many ailments due to its anti-asthmatic, antidepressant, and analgesic effects. Traditional medicine uses it for alopecia, insomnia, urogenital infections, and tumors. With regards to digestion, mimosa pudica has the potential to treat diarrhea (12).
Angelica
The Angelica species of plants are integral to the practice of traditional Chinese medicine. It has numerous pharmacologic mechanisms, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibacterial activity. Some digestive system supplements contain Angelica to treat intestinal and stomach issues (13).
Cryptolepis Root
Central and West African natives have used cryptolepis for fever and infectious diseases. It demonstrates powerful effects against malaria (14). It may also help with digestion support, mainly diarrhea. It inhibits the growth of Entamoeba histolytica, a common pathogen that causes diarrhea (15).
Goldenseal
Retailers often combine goldenseal and echinacea in the US to prevent the common cold. It is a natural antibiotic and can kill harmful bacteria, thus helping with conditions such as diarrhea, urinary tract infections, and vaginal infections. It can also ease digestion and alleviate an upset stomach (16).
Product benefits
In addition to offering a wide selection of natural digestive supplements, we also prioritize healthy and organic ingredients and engage in high-quality manufacturing processes.
- Vegan Supplements. Herbamama never uses animal ingredients, so our products are suitable for almost any type of diet.
- GMO-Free. Our supplements do not contain any genetically modified organisms. We use natural substances that come straight from mother nature.
- Good manufacturing practice. We continuously use good manufacturing practices (GMP), prioritizing our supplements’ quality, purity, and potency.
- Made In an FDA Registered Facility. We register all our manufacturing sites with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA ). Because of this, we uphold all their standards and regulations.
If you want to purchase a dairy digestive supplement or a supplement for overall gut health, place an order today on our website.
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8912540/#:~:text=A%20substantial%20amount%20of%20clinical,of%20gastrointestinal%20diseases%20%5B1%5D.
- https://health.clevelandclinic.org/inulin-benefits/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8301161/
- https://health.clevelandclinic.org/sea-moss-benefits/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35325161/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814329/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4003706/
- https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/herb/turmeric
- https://www.healthline.com/health/red-sage#drawbacks
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8838553/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911030/
FAQs
The digestive system consists of the mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and rectum. It is essential to support your digestive tract to ensure you correctly process foods, absorb nutrients, and more.
Some of the best foods to address digestion and leaky gut health are foods that have probiotics. Probiotics are the collection of healthy bacteria that can help feed your gut microbiome. A diverse and healthy gut can ease digestion and relieve GI-related ailments. Probiotic sources you can integrate into your diet include:
- Yogurt Sourdough bread
- Kombucha
- Fermented foods (e.g. pickled onions, kimchi, sauerkraut)