Unit 2 - How stress, lifestyle, and the food we eat can play a part in our digestive symptoms.

The causes of digestive symptoms part 1a: why stress is a key factor in digestive symptoms. 

Test your stomach acid levels : quick test you can do at home!

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Here is a test you can do at home to make sure you have the correct amount of stomach acid for your food to be properly digested in your stomach.

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• Add 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda to 250 ml water.

• Drink when you first wake up (before eating or drinking anything else.

• Time how long it takes before you burp. Normal is between 1 and 2 minutes, too much is indicated by a time under 1 minute and too little is indicated by result of over 2 minutes. 

• Repeat on 3 consecutive days.

Discuss your results with your practitioner.

The causes of digestive symptoms part 1b: why stress is a key factor in digestive symptoms. 

Kefir is a great natural way to boost your gut bacteria - this recipe is for milk kefir, although I advise reducing diary during your reset programme, kefir is much easier to digest that other milk prdducts as the kefir grains do most of the work breaking down the milk sugars for us.

If you have a severe dairy intolerance you can try sugar water kefir instead (information on sugar water kefir can be found on this website as well as lots of great info on fermenting your own foods at home https://happykombucha.co.uk/collections/all-kefir-grains-and-kits/products/live-water-kefir-grains-1 )

The causes of digestive symptoms part 4: How the way we eat as well as what we eat can play a part in digestive symptoms.