Digestive Health Guide: Enzymes, Probiotics & Intolerance

Digestive health depends on a balance of enzymes like pepsin and beneficial bacteria. Understanding lactose intolerance and how pH affects digestion can help alleviate common issues like bloating, fatigue after eating, and chest discomfort.

Asian rice.

IBS & Bloating After Eating Rice

The symptoms of Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, can vary greatly from one person to another, but bloating is high on the list of commonly reported problems, particularly after eating a meal.

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Red peppers hanging on wall, drying, Andalusia, Spain, close-up

Effects of Capsaicin on Digestion

When you eat a chili pepper, a substance called capsaicin gives you that hot, spicy sensation. Capsaicin is so potent that it's even used in anti-bear sprays. However, far from irritating the stomach, as you might expect, some evidence suggests that capsaicin can help with digestion.

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Fresh spinach salad with tuna and corn, cherry tomatoes

Magnesium & Digestion

Without magnesium, your body could not properly digest foods. Your body uses the mineral magnesium to aid in the digestion process and to help regulate copper, potassium, zinc, vitamin D and calcium levels within your body. Magnesium also helps muscles contract and activates enzymes that your body needs.

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Diseases That Cause Foods Not to Be Digested

The human digestive system is a system of organs and glands that processes the food we eat. When the system works as it should, we can eat food and digest its nutrients to provide our bodies with the energy and nutrition we need.

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Diet for Borborygmi

If you experience borborygmi, or rumbling noises coming from your digestive tract, chances are you’re just hungry. Eating anything should stop the rumbling.

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Causes of Dark Stool During Pregnancy

Pregnancy introduces many changes to nearly every system in the female body, including the digestive system. Dark stools can occur during pregnancy and may be accompanied by constipation depending on the cause of the dark stools.

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Sour cream in a bowl

Lactobacillus and Lactose Intolerance

Lactobacillus acidophilus is a strain of bacteria that can digest lactose, the sugar in milk and other dairy products. If you're lactose intolerant and experience digestive complications upon consuming dairy, you may be wondering whether supplemental Lactobacillus can help alleviate your symptoms.

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Jogger running on trail through forest, low section

After Running I Experienced Stomach Cramps and Blood in Stools

Tiny amounts of blood in the stools occur in about 20 percent of marathon runners, according to "Marathon Medicine." This occult -- or hidden -- bleeding is only detectable by laboratory tests. Visible blood in the stools plus cramping are much less common.

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Brunette eating healthy salad

Digestive Importance of Ptyalin

Ptyalin is an enzyme that is part of your saliva and aids with digestion. Enzymes are compounds that help speed up chemical reactions. In the case of saliva, the enzymes help speed up reactions that break down the food you eat.

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Mid section of a man with chest pain

Pressure in the Chest After Eating

Pressure in your chest may occur with or without pain and arise at various times for various reasons. Some people describe chest pressure as the feeling of a band tightening around the chest or a heavy object sitting atop it, according to BetterMedicine.com.

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Milk jug on wooden desk

Lactose Intolerance and Stools

The primary symptoms of lactose intolerance include explosive and sudden bowel movements with loose and watery stools. Lactose-intolerance produces uncomfortable and embarrassing symptoms, but they do not cause any permanent damage to your digestive system.

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Mmm, a mouthful of goodness!

Steps of Food Digestion

Digestion is the process in which the body breaks down food into molecules that can be used for nourishment. The stomach is not the only organ involved in the digestion process. A series of organs comprise the human digestive tract, including the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestines, liver and large intestine.

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Pork chop with salad close up

What Pork Does to the Digestive System

If you're a fan of pork but have heard that it has negative effects on the digestive tract, you needn't worry -- clean, well-cooked pork meat doesn't have detrimental effects on health. Instead, you digest it as you would any other animal protein.

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Closeup of Fish & Chips served in the newspaper

Does Grease Affect Food Digestion?

Eating too much of any one food component can affect your digestion. Grease, in particular, can impact how your body digests a meal because of the specific chemistry of the fats you eat. A high intake of fatty foods may result in indigestion and cause gastrointestinal distress.

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