Is your stomach upset?

"The stomach pain is probably just because I over-ate" "I'm feeling bloated because my period is due?" "I'm feeling uneasy; the food must have been spoilt" during the lockdown a lot of my clients are facing these issues.

When there is a digestive problem we often come to these conclusions but what if there's a larger problem at hand? It could be as simple as constipation, bloat, flatulence or early symptoms of life altering conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn's Disease, Dysbiosis and many more.

Don't freak out so soon. These are all easily manageable and if you hear me out carefully, we can prevent these from ever lurking.

Your gut can either be your Trojan horse or your Achilles's heal. Like the Trojan horse had soldiers hidden inside of it, your gut has microbes. Like any notable army, they need to be well fed and large in number. Their choice of fuel is prebiotics - Onion, garlic, banana, wheat bran or oats. Increase the ranks of your probiotics using fermented foods like yogurt, buttermilk, kanji, pickles which add to the microbe population that protecting the digestive tract from harmful infections. Vitamin B12 increases growth of microbes so include mushrooms, yoghurt, paneer eggs or fish in your diet.

Another key player in the digestive game is sleep. Melatonin is a hormone secreted while we sleep and it detoxifies the liver. Maximum assimilation and excretion of food occurs between 10 pm and 4 am and therefore sleeping late and waking up late is detrimental to your digestive health.

An easy way to check your gut health is by checking the quality of your stool. If it's not smooth, S-shaped, light brown in colour and without odour then we have a problem!

We are all well acquainted with constipation. But it is time to permanently throw him off your friends list. The easiest way is to include high fiber foods such as wholegrains, leafy greens and fruits. The C.R.A.P diet including cherries, raisins, apricot and prunes is a quick fool proof fix. On the other hand, if an unwanted guest - diarrhea comes knocking about, follow the P.B.R.A.T. Diet where you add pomegranate, bread, rice, apple and toast which will firm up your stools.

I am sure like most Indian women you too have a masala box in your kitchen. Don't mistake it for just a box as it is a treasure trove of healing spices and gut protecting compounds. Ginger, cumin seeds and asafetida when added to your meals can do wonders preventing bloat and constipation. Cooking your food with Indian spices in A2 cow's ghee increases their potency.

Limiting gut harming foods like processed white sugar, white flour and aerated drinks will protect the gut biome and prevent indigestion.

Keep in mind that your gut is the epicenter of your mental and physical health. If you want a disease free existence, take upmost care of it.