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If you are having digestion troubles, don't forget that quite often it
can be simply a matter of what you're eating, and when you're eating it.
Some digestion issues can be resolved with simple modifications to your
diet, or by having a better understanding of the reasons food can impact
your digestion.
HELP FOR OCCASIONAL PROBLEMS
Beano (digestive enzyme pills)
The old standby for gas problems due to beans (hence the name), it may
also help you digest whatever it is that normally disagrees with you.
Yogurts with active yogurt cultures
If you have, or think you have, a milk/lactose intolerance problem,
try some of this. Not everyone who's been told they're lactose intolerant
really IS - it may simply be a lack of proper digestive bacteria. Quite
often this happens if a person's been taking a lot of antibiotics; they're
known for pretty much demolishing your gut bacteria if you take them
long enough. (The idea is to kill the bad bacteria, but they're not
terribly discriminating about which bacteria they kill.)
Hot Tea
Preferrably a regular black tea with cream (REAL cream!) and sugar or
honey. This may help settle an upset stomach (between the hot/warm water
and the proteins in the cream) but you may have to experiment with brands
to see which one, if any, work for you. Absolutely NO fake cream / fake
sugar crap for this.
Peppermints
An old old old herbal remedy for an upset stomach. Buy boxes of Peppermint
Altoids (the regular, NOT sugar free) or a similar type of product.
You want the mints to have real peppermint OIL, not peppermint flavor,
and you want to AVOID artificial sweeteners (list is below) for safety
reasons.
TRACKING DOWN CHRONIC DIGESTIVE ISSUES
Keep a log of what you eat! This is often referred to as keeping a
"food diary".
Also record the quantities (even if they're notations such as "meal"
or "snack" for relative sizes) - sometimes issues can be with
how much of something you eat or drink. This will incidentally keep
a record of what you're eating in combination with other things (sometimes
things are better alone than in combination with certain other things.)
If the food is prepackaged/frozen/canned, note the brand as well -
different brands have different ingredients, and you may react to the
set of ingredients used by one brand of a product, and not to a different
brand. If you are able to isolate problems down to this level, then
start comparing ingredient lists on packages to see what's different
for the ones you do react to.
This is basic procedure for determining what your food allergies REALLY
might be. On the flip side, if the sheer number of foods that
disagree with you are that many, then keep track of what DOES agree
with you. Either way, you're bound to get some idea of what you can
and cannot eat, and that will make a difference in the long run. :)
If you find you're having constant troubles with anything that has
gluten (such as typical breads and pastas), you might find you have
celiac disease,
and should have it investigated properly by a medical professional.
If you find you're having constant trouble with fiberous things (some
salad greens, carrots, etc.) you may have Chron's
disease (one form of an irritable bowel problem), and should have
that investigated properly by a medical professional.
GENERAL ADVICE
Clean up your diet! Skip the junk food / fast food / "McFood"
options. Avoid things like artificial sweeteners (aspartame/Equal, sucralose/Splenda,
acesulfame-k/Acesulfame, Saccharin, Neotame, etc.) because artificial
sweeteners can cause a lot of bad reactions in a LOT of people - reactions
that you might not even be AWARE are from the artificial sweeteners
because they resemble reactions from other things, or may not be recognizable
as a reaction.
Yes, that means skipping the sodas, burgers, chips, diet food/drinks
and other things. Why?
Because less chemicals in the body, means the body isn't as overwhelmed
by trying to filter out what is essentially garbage - things the body
cannot use - and doesn't need to work as hard to clean it out.
I'm not saying cold-turkey quit junk food altogether - I do enjoy the
occasional chocolate bar - but I'm much more aware of the contents of
what I eat. My chocolate bars have real sugar, not "high fructose
corn syrup" or any kind of artificial sweeteners, for example.
Keep the junk food stuff in both small amounts, and only have them rarely.
I never EVER eat or drink anything with artificial sweeteners, though,
and honestly you shouldn't either - some I react to, some I don't....but
it's just safer to avoid them altogether.
What is the benefit?
Well, especially for vampires, simply having less garbage in your body
means that your body isn't going to drive you as crazy looking for missing
nutrients. This means you're more in control of yourself when around
others - and that can only be a good thing, right?
This article is presented as part of an ongoing
effort to present other views outside of, as well as within, the online
vampire community. As such, the views and attitudes contained in this
article are entirely those of the author(s), and may not necessarily
be shared by SphynxCatVP. The webmaster is not under obligation to update
or otherwise keep current the contents of this article. Most
importantly, only you can decide for yourself whether this article or
any of the author(s) other views are useful or applicable to you - use
your own reasoning and judgment.
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