Your Body and Digestive Function

Indigestion may be considered a mild condition for most people, but we all know that it can be very discomforting and affect our day-to-day activities. In clinical terms, indigestion, or dyspepsia, refers to pain or discomfort around the stomach and under the ribs.

More severe indigestion cases can occur together with heartburn, when acid from your stomach moves up into the gullet (oesophagus). Indigestion, however, is not new in human history and our ancestors must have experienced them enough to come up with many kinds of remedies. Derived from Ayurvedic texts is one recipe where healers combine fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), ginger and yellow guava (Psidium guajava) to treat this condition. In Germany, one of the most common traditional remedies is the combination of ginger and juniper berries (Juniperus Communis).

Ginger is apparently the common herb being used for indigestion across multiple continents, which may be due to its ability to enhance intestinal lipase activity, a process crucial for fat digestion. Fenugreek helps digestion by improving carbohydrate digestion, while yellow guava has been known to have antimicrobial effects that help relieve symptoms of diarrhea.