As Orthodox Ester is approaching I have considered appropriate to write this article in the attempt of giving you some tips on how to keep indigestion away from you and your family members. Even though you might have celebrated Easter in March, maybe you have orthodox friends that will invite you at their feast and you need to be prepared to help your body in the digestion process.

It is not easy for our body to jump from the 2 to 3 limited in calories daily meals to the bounteous Easter meals. If before we used to eat just one or two types of food now we will definitely want to eat five or six types of aliments.

Taken by surprise or body will ‘fight’ back with its own weapons: abdominal pains, migraines, nausea and gas accumulation. You can avoid all these unpleasant consequences by following some easy tips I have learned during my gastroenterology internship.

When we eat a lot of food and we do it especially fast, our stomach does not have enough time to predigest it and causes gastric reflux and stomach discomfort. After the predigested food gets to leave the stomach, the gall bladder’s function comes in place. As it has to produce a way to large quantity of bile (to help the food get digested), in a short period of time, the aliment/s going will be delayed once again. Due to this fact, abdominal cramps, nausea, headaches might install and completely ruin our Easter celebration. If we also associate alcohol intake with fats and carbohydrates then things are going to be a lot worse.

1. Chew thoroughly your food.

Digestion begins in the mouth. If you eat slowly and you check aliments right you help your stomach work less.

2. Protect your stomach.

If you don’t want your stomach to get overloaded try to eat bits from each type of food you want and do not drink too much during eating.

3. Do not rush.

Take your time for enjoying every meal. Do not pass to the next type of food as soon as you have finished your previous meal. Let your stomach work a little bit.

4. Keep a balanced meal.

If you have eaten aliments that contain a lot of calories (eggs, mayonnaise, sausages) try to eat at the next meal light aliments (chicken, fish).

5. Do not lay on the bed right after finishing your meal.

In order to help your body digest food you should maintain a vertical position for one hour after eating. This way you will also prevent acid reflux from occurring. You can sit on a chair, take a walk or do any light activity that interests you.

6. Do not forget about the ‘purification’ phase.

Once the holidays have passed, get back to your regular meals by passing first through a body ‘purification’ phase. This consists of eating light food for a few days (vegetables, poultry, and fish).

These few tips are easy to follow and even though you might not celebrate Easter right now, they will be helpful for the next celebration, so they should be kept in mind. We all want to enjoy Easter and Christmas, but we can’t do that if we get indigestion, do we?