Digestive Health Guide: Relief for Reflux, IBS & Inflammation

Digestive conditions such as GERD and colitis are best managed through targeted dietary triggers avoidance, nutritional therapy, and identifying biochemical markers.

Woman holding her belly in bed

What Are the Causes of Abdominal Cramping & Period Lateness?

Few women experience their periods at exactly the same time each month. Although menstrual cycles normally range between 21 and 35 days, stress, illness and change in routine can affect cycle length in a given month. A late period combined with abdominal cramping may occur for several reasons.

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Foul Smelling Flatulence in Children

Most people pass gas between 14 and 23 times a day, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders states. While passing gas is embarrassing and often slightly odorous, truly foul-smelling gas is more uncommon.

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Milk in glass bottle in the refrigerator

Can I Drink Lactaid Milk If I Am Not Lactose Intolerant?

Lactaid milk contains enzymes that break down lactose, the sugar in milk that breaks down into two other sugars, glucose and galactose. People with lactose intolerance don’t produce enough lactase enzymes, which break down lactose in simple sugars so it can be digested and used in the body.

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Young female nurse attending to female patient in hospital bed

Appendicitis Rupture Symptoms

Approximately 5 percent of all Americans will develop appendicitis. The Merck Manual states that before surgery and antibiotics were readily available, 50 percent of those patients would die, a rate that is now almost zero.

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Woman Suffering From Abdominal Pain.

Nutritional Absorption After Gallbladder Removal

The gallbladder serves mostly as a storage unit for bile, which is released from the liver to digest fats so they can be absorbed. During gallbladder surgery, your surgeon removes the gallbladder, usually because it has filled with gallstones.

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Healthy eating

Can Consuming Apples or Apple Juice Cause Diarrhea?

Your grandmother might be disappointed to learn that a study published in March 2015 in "JAMA Internal Medicine" failed to find convincing evidence supporting the old adage that "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." Nonetheless, apples can be an appetizing, versatile component of a healthful diet.

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Lemon Drops, (Close-up)

How to Drain Salivary Glands With Sour Candy

Being told to eat candy to cure a medical condition may sound too good to be true. But if you have problems with your salivary glands, sour candy may be just what the doctor ordered. Infection, decreased saliva production or stones in the salivary ducts can cause pain and swelling in the salivary glands.

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Ginger root

Does Ginger Cause Diarrhea?

Ginger, an herb sold as an over-the counter supplement, has a long history of use to treat stomach ailments in Chinese herbal medicine.

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Ginger root

How Ginger Affects Gallstones

Ginger has a long history of use in folk and alternative medicine. While you may associate ginger with its stomach-settling properties, practitioners also use it to treat high blood pressure and to improve blood circulation, among other uses.

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Healthy breakfast

How Do Humans Benefit From Bacteria Living in the Digestive System?

With the advent of probiotics sold as health supplements, it has become common to refer to bacteria in the intestinal tract as "good" bacteria or "bad" bacteria. The average person hosts around 100 trillion bacteria in the gut, according to the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide. "Good"

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Shiitake mushrooms

Food Poisoning From Shiitake

Shiitake mushrooms, a traditional food also used as a medicine in Asian cultures, are the third most popular mushroom in the United States, according to ScienceDaily. The mushrooms, which grow on oak logs, are low in calories but high in minerals such as potassium and zinc.

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Garlic

Food Poisoning From Garlic

When you think of food poisoning, garlic may not come immediately to mind. But garlic can cause a serious type of food poisoning called botulism. The bacteria that cause botulism, called Clostridium botulinum, are found in many soils in the United States, particularly in the Western half of the U.S.

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Diet Restrictions with Ischemic Colitis

It's estimated that ischemic colitis, which is when blood flow to the large part of the colon is narrowed or blocked, is responsible for 1 out of every 1,000 hospitalizations, according to clinical practice guidelines from December 2008 published in "World Journal of Gastroenterology."

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Female hands with a dinner at restaurant

Eating and Muscle Contractions Starting in the Stomach

Although your stomach muscles always contract after you eat in order to break down food and start the digestive process, you don't usually feel it. Many disorders can cause stomach cramping after eating, some temporary and some chronic, some serious and others merely annoying.

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Stomach problem

Why Does My Stomach Hurt After Eating?

Stomach pain is a common and usually short-lived, benign symptom. Almost everyone has experienced a bout of stomach pain after eating, often as a result of dietary indiscretions.

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Causes of Pain in the Lower Jaw Bone

The jaw consists of two bones, the maxilla, or upper jaw, and mandible, or lower jaw. Pain in the lower jaw can occur from many different causes, and can be acute or chronic. Pain may also occur from conditions in the jaw bone itself or may be "referred" pain from problems in nearby regions, such as the mouth or neck.

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Team of surgeons in operating room

Complications of Colostomy Reversal

Colostomies divert stool from the colon to an opening on the abdominal wall. While many colostomies are permanent, some are placed temporarily to allow damaged bowel to heal after infection or removal of a portion of the intestine.

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