Digest Relief

Introducing Digest Relief by Organikawith Ginger and Activated Charcoal Ditch the digestive pain! Digestion issues can vary from an upset stomach, to lack of appetite, nausea, digestive spasms, and indigestion. Those that experience digestive issues know it can be extremely uncomfortable, and let’s face it, who has time for that? Luckily, there is relief and a natural way to combat digestion issues carefully, effectively, and efficiently. Let’s be honest, we all need this from time to time. Digest Relief to the rescue. Organika has created Digest Relief which combines Ginger and Activated Charcoal. This formula is the sigh of relief your digestive tract will breathe and will love you for. It helps to alleviate the pain and discomfort that comes along with any digestive issues. The product is made free of preservatives, artificial sweeteners, colours or flavours, so there is nothing but goodness in a bottle. Let’s break it down. Organika's® Digest Relief™ Ginger with Activated Charcoal is formulated with 25mg of Ginger 20:1 Extract and contains 250mg of Activated Charcoal. Why Ginger and Activated Charcoal? Ginger has long been used in both traditional and alternative medicine as a digestive aid and to reduce nausea. It also has amazing anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, hence why you may also see it being used for the cold and flu. The main active compound in ginger, gingerol, helps to empty the stomach and this helps to alleviate indigestion and any stomach discomfort. Activated Charcoal has recently been popularized in masks and beauty products, but did you know that it’s been used in traditional medicine for acute remedies related to digestion? First off, the charcoal is “activated” with oxygen which expands the charcoal so we can get to the carbon inside. To this, the nasty toxins bind to the charcoal, then get absorbed and get carried out of the body. The result is a toxin-free, clean, and healthy system. So, it makes sense that activated charcoal is great for indigestion, flatulence, bloating, and you guessed it... detox! Don’t Let Digestion Get You Down Again Beat your digestive issues, feel your best and get back to doing what you love daily. Digest Relief comes in convenient V-caps, so you can consume with water, for fast absorption and release. Suggested Use: Pair with Probiotic + Prebiotic Powder which feeds the healthy bacteria in the gut. Clean and alleviate your digestive system with Digest Relief, while Probiotics + Prebiotics take care of the gut ongoing. Shop New Digest Relief

Gut health is an absolutely essential component of total body health. We cannot have regulated moods, well-functioning brains, resilient immune systems, balanced hormones or optimal fertility without a healthy gut. So how do we ensure gut health? STEP 1: REMOVE The first step to a healthy gut is to remove anything that is irritating the gut, impairing digestive function, or causing inflammation. Those factors all make it harder for the body to break down the food we eat and absorb nutrients. If this impairment is severe, and/or ongoing, it can result in malabsorption, nutrient deficiencies, dysbiosis and all sorts of digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, indigestion, etc. Some things are universally irritating to human digestive tracts, such as: Alcohol; caffeine (especially coffee); NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen); additives and preservatives found in processed foods. Most people should ideally be consuming these things only occasionally and in moderation. However, if you are experiencing significant issues with your gut, you may benefit from cutting these things out entirely for a period of time. Individuals may also be irritated, inflamed or impaired by other things. This is largely dependent on an individual’s particular sensitivities and digestive capacity. People with weakened or damaged digestive systems commonly react to, or have trouble digesting gluten-containing foods, dairy, refined sugars, legumes and even some gluten-free grains. As with the universally irritating things, most people would benefit from consuming these foods only in moderation. Some people may benefit from avoiding them entirely, while they are healing their gut. Any type of gut infection (bacterial, parasitic, fungal) can also cause significant damage to the digestive tract and digestive function. Infections must be addressed and treated first, prior to healing the gut. STEP 2: REPLACE Once the substances causing irritating and inflammation have been eliminated, the next step is to provide the digestive system with anything it is missing that is necessary for digestion and general health. Difficulty digesting animal protein and legumes may be an indication of low stomach acid. Bitter foods, bitter herbs and/or a betaine HCl supplement can support the body’s production of stomach acid. A generally weakened or inflamed digestive system may have trouble digesting most foods, especially those that are high in fibre like vegetables and legumes or grains, and so may benefit from some digestive assistance via a digestive enzyme supplement. Both of these support methods can be really helpful, but are insufficient to correct the problem on their own, and shouldn’t be taken long term. It’s important to make sure they are just one component of a gut healing treatment plan! Individuals who have been experiencing chronic digestive issues may also have specific nutrient deficiencies; some of the most common ones are vitamin D, iron, vitamin B12, and magnesium. It’s always important to get these things checked, and corrected if necessary. STEP 3: REINOCULATE If you’ve been on the internet in the past decade, you’ve probably at least heard of the gut flora. The gut flora are the trillions of bacteria that live in our large intestines and help us to digest food, absorb nutrients, metabolize toxins and hormones, maintain a strong immune system, and build many of our neurotransmitters. Without a healthy gut flora, we aren’t healthy, period. Antibiotics, stress and improper digestive function can damage that community of good bacteria. So the next step in ensuring a healthy gut is to make sure the right bacteria are making the large intestine their home. There are three main things to consider when it comes to the gut flora. Probiotic foods These are foods that naturally contain healthy, good bacteria and can be used to repopulate or rebalance the gut flora. Probiotic foods include: kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, anything else fermented. They are great to consume regularly in your diet, to keep your gut flora happy and healthy. Probiotic supplements While probiotic foods are a great source of good bacteria, probiotic supplements provide much higher doses of good bacteria. This is often necessary to help folks whose gut flora have been damaged. Choose a good quality probiotic supplement that has multiple different strains, and be sure to take it daily with food, for the duration of your gut-healing plan, as directed by your clinician. Prebiotic foods and supplements And lastly, it’s vital to ensure that you are providing all those good bacteria with the nutrients they need to stay alive in your gut. Prebiotics are a category of fibre that human digestive systems can’t break down, but that our gut flora can use as fuel. Ensuring you have a good amount of prebiotic foods in your diet is necessary to maintain your gut health, and supplementing with a prebiotic fibre can be useful when trying to correct dysbiosis and repair the gut. STEP 4: REPAIR We’ve now removed all the irritants, replaced all the missing nutrients, and repopulated the community of good bacteria. The next step in gut healing is to repair any damage that may be present in the gut tissue itself. In some individuals who have been experiencing inflammation, indigestion and dysbiosis for long periods of time, physical damage to the intestinal walls may have occurred. This can weaken the integrity of the intestinal barrier and allow for food particles (and hormones, toxins and other molecules) that shouldn’t be able to leave the intestines and enter into the body to do so. (This is often what’s happening in individuals who are experiencing “leaky gut”.) In addition to allowing inappropriate molecules into the body, the damaged intestinal membranes can also further exacerbate digestion issues. That is because those membranes produce a large number of our digestive enzymes. Collagen and L-glutamine are two of the key molecules used by the body in repair of a damaged intestinal lining. Soothing herbs like marshmallow root and aloe vera can help to alleviate some of the irritation. Vitamins A, C, E, Selenium and Zinc are also often used to support the repair of a damaged intestinal lining, as these are some of the most vital nutrients necessary for tissue healing. STEP 5: REBALANCE The last, but arguably most important component of a healthy gut is a healthy brain. The gut and the brain are intimately connected. When your brain is chronically overworked, stressed, anxious or fatigued, your digestive capacity diminishes. When an individual lives in any of those states ongoing, it essentially dials the activity of the digestive system way down. As a result, people often end up putting food into a digestive system that’s not ready to receive food. This causes indigestion, gas, bloating, dysbiosis and intestinal damage. Fatigue is another major factor to gut health. Sleep is when your body does the majority of healing and repair. Getting inadequate sleep is going to seriously reduce your body’s capacity to heal and maintain a healthy gut. Living in a perpetually fatigued state also drastically increases your stress levels. There is no tissue, organ or system in our body that can operate independently from the rest of the body, the digestive system included. So optimizing brain function and enabling your brain to keep your body in balance is a key component of gut health. The three most important factors to a healthy brain are: minimizing stress and optimizing stress coping mechanisms, exercising regularly, and getting adequate, good quality sleep. If you can get those three things solid and use them as the foundation to your gut-healing plan, your gut will be functioning optimally in no time.

Adjusting to the “new norm” of COVID-19 has led to a drastic increase in hygiene practices. To protect our health, businesses and organizations are following protocols and adhering to recommendations made for our safety. Unfortunately, a lot of these hygiene practices include harsh disinfectants and chemicals that kill off our natural microflora. While we still learn about this emerging new disease, it is definitely important that we take all measures to protect ourselves and others. However, to keep ourselves safe, it is also vitally important that we keep our immune system strong. In order to do this, we must protect our natural microflora. Humans are naturally home to trillions of beneficial bacteria of an immense variety, that make up our microbiome. These bacteria live both on us, and in our digestive tract, protecting us and keeping us healthy. Antibacterial products, such as the ones used for disinfecting, are a threat to our natural microbiome. I am in no way saying stop using strong antibacterial products during this time. Instead, I am suggesting we take into consideration ways in which to implement practices that will balance some of the adverse effects of the chemicals we are using to disinfect and clean. So, until we fully understand transmission of COVID-19, let’s remember the basics that will help protect our microflora. The gut is #1 Protecting our digestive tract is fundamental in caring for your internal microflora. When your digestive tract is healthy, it helps your microbiome flourish, and in turn, works to keep your immunity strong. Here are some considerations to implement when thinking of the overall health of your digestive tract. Reduce stress. Stress is incredibly taxing on the health of your digestive system. Pay close attention to your stress levels and be sure to fully address them in a way that works best for you. Slowing down and taking a few deep breaths in a time of elevated stress can be incredibly helpful and allow the body to reduce its output of cortisol. Consider taking a probiotic. A good quality probiotic may restore balance to your gut and introduce healthy new flora. Drink bone broth. Bone broth is very beneficial for your intestines. It can help strengthen the integrity of your gut, and is a rich source of nutrients that can help your immune system stay strong. Add collagen to smoothies or hot beverages. Collagen helps to repair tissues, including the lining of your digestive tract. Cut out refined sugars. A lot of not-so-beneficial bacteria strains flourish in the presence of refined sugars, which can allow them to grow out of balance with the rest of the microbiome. Replace these foods with fruits and vegetables that will feed and help your healthy bacteria thrive. Remember to get outside Find yourself in nature more often. Being in nature will not only reduce stress levels, but can also have a positive impact on your microbiome. Breathing in fresh air, and being close to trees, dirt and water, can increase the diversity of your microbiome. Adjusting hygiene practices When in the safety of your home, use good hand washing techniques with natural soaps, and save the alcohol-based/antimicrobial disinfecting for when you are out in public. Make at-home cleaning supplies that are effective and safe for you and the environment. Homemade cleaning products are typically very simple and effective, and can be a fun project, that can also save you money in the long run. Health officials and scientists are working hard to narrow down the most effective hygiene protocols to keep us safe. The information at times can be confusing. What is clear, is the importance of preventative health measures, and staying on top of our health at all times, to keep us strong and safe! Take care out there! XO Amy Wilson