Digestive Support
Maintaining a healthy digestive system is central to maintaining health, and digestive complaints are among the top reasons that people visit their medical providers today.
Dyspepsia, literally “bad digestion,” is the most common upper GI presentation in the modern clinic. It is generally characterized by epigastric pain, fullness, discomfort, burning, early satiety, nausea, vomiting, and belching.
Our digestive systems are complex ecological networks that maintain balance through the interrelationships between the tissue environment and the symbiotic species that live there. Healthy absorption and assimilation of nutrients depend on many factors, including the health of the brush border, the mucus layer, the gut microbiota, and the immune system.
Stress, poor eating habits, and environmental toxins upset the balance within the digestive system, leading to imbalances that negatively affect our ability to effectively digest, absorb, assimilate, and eliminate the food that we eat. Additionally, the nervous and digestive systems are interdependent networks that directly influence one another. Often, digestive complaints are rooted in mental or emotional disturbances such as anxiousness and chronic worrying, and digestive disruptions can cause emotional instability or changes in cognitive function.
Digest Mend
Daily dose: 3 capsules, once per day
Active dose: 6 capsules, once per day
This formula soothes the digestive tract, improves mucus layer function, regulates microbial balance, and supports healthy immune regulation of the microbiota populations. It is best consumed between meals and is especially effective for reducing symptoms associated with occasional GERD when taken after meals. It is a treasure trove of botanical agents that restores and preserves the GI system.
Peps-Aid
Daily dose: 2-3 droppers, twice per day
Active dose: 3-4 droppers, three to four times per day
This formula eases digestive upset and is specifically indicated for symptoms associated with dyspepsia. It is an ideal formula for almost any digestive disruption, and it soothes an irritated digestive tract, especially in the upper GI. This is an excellent remedy for any of a number of digestive maladies, and it can be taken daily as a preventive and GI restorative, or to address symptoms as they arise. Peppermint essential oil is a key ingredient in the formula owing to its powerful anti-spasmodic effects.
Peps-Aid actions:
- Calming
- Gently stimulating
- Digestive tonic that improves digestion
- Facilitates nutrient absorption
- Enhances nutrient assimilation
Tranquility
Daily dose: 2 capsules, twice per day
Active dose: 3 capsules, three times per day
This formula calms nervous digestion by calming the central nervous system.
Approach to digestive health:
- Apply individualized therapies
- Apply lifestyle and dietary interventions
- Calm the nervous system
- Combine formulas and agents for effectiveness
- Control potentially damaging acidification
- Identify constitutional patterns based on symptoms and exam
- Regulate microbiota
- Soothe and protect tissues
- Use harmonizing formulas
Lifestyle approaches to improve digestion:
- Address medications that may be triggering indigestion
- Avoid foods that trigger indigestion (e.g., spicy, acidic, specific sensitivities)
- Avoid late-night meals
- Avoid NSAIDs or use demulcents to protect from damaging effects on the mucus layer
- Calm the central nervous system
- Chew your food and slow down
- Eat smaller meals
- Eat with family and friends
- Exercise
- Improve body composition
- Just eat, turn off media
- Minimize sugar intake
- Prepare your own meals
- Reduce or eliminate the use of alcohol and caffeine
Disclaimer
The Fullscript Integrative Medical Advisory team has developed or collected these protocols from practitioners and supplier partners to help health care practitioners make decisions when building treatment plans. By adding this protocol to your Fullscript template library, you understand and accept that the recommendations in the protocol are for initial guidance and may not be appropriate for every patient.
Fullscript content philosophy
At Fullscript, we are committed to curating accurate, and reliable educational content for practitioners and patients alike. Our educational offerings cover a broad range of topics related to integrative medicine, such as supplement ingredients, diet, lifestyle, and health conditions.
Medically reviewed by expert practitioners and our internal Integrative Medical Advisory team, all Fullscript content adheres to the following guidelines:
- In order to provide unbiased and transparent education, information is based on a research review and obtained from trustworthy sources, such as peer-reviewed articles and government websites. All medical statements are linked to the original reference and all sources of information are disclosed within the article.
- Information about supplements is always based on ingredients. No specific products are mentioned or promoted within educational content.
- A strict policy against plagiarism is maintained; all our content is unique, curated by our team of writers and editors at Fullscript. Attribution to individual writers and editors is clearly stated in each article.
- Resources for patients are intended to be educational and do not replace the relationship between health practitioners and patients. In all content, we clearly recommend that readers refer back to their healthcare practitioners for all health-related questions.
- All content is updated on a regular basis to account for new research and industry trends, and the last update date is listed at the top of every article.
- Potential conflicts of interest are clearly disclosed.