Today I’m going to be sharing with you the best supplements for Crohn’s disease, IBS and other gut health issues. These supplements are my suggestions for digestive issues and I’ll give you a little breakdown of the science behind why! I usually encourage people to get as much nutrition from their diets as possible but the ones I’ve suggested can be difficult to get by diet alone.
A quick word of warning if you’re new to the blog: I always, I encourage you to do your research and get tested for as many deficiencies as possible by your doctor. Remember, that it’s not advisable to suddenly add lots of supplements into your diet! This is an extensive list of possible supplements that might help. Instead, I’d recommend starting them one at a time and monitoring any effect carefully. As you’ll discover as we read, a lot of these supplements link closely together. and if you’re digestion is not in a good place, you won’t get the maximum benefit of taking them. So, this blog post is all about small steps!
Why is it important? Vitamin B is super important for gut health because it’s one of the few vitamins that are directly made in the gut. So if you are struggling with any kind of gut issue, you’re likely to be struggling with maximizing vitamin B12 into your body. The most well-known side effect of this is fatigue but it’s also massively linked to anxiety and depression. If your gut isn’t in shape, it can’t make Vit B and this has a knock -on effect on your mental health which is why this supplement for IBD is really crucial.
How can I get it? You can try adding eggs and good quality meats to your diet or if you are vegan then Nutritional Yeast is also a good source. You can also take a supplement like this range from Holland and Barrett. If you are severely deficient, you may be given a Vit B drip.
Magnesium
Why is it important? If you are struggling with stress, lack of sleep, muscle cramps, anxiety and craving chocolate (which is basically my definition of a Monday morning!) then Magnesium is your best supplement. It also helps with bone development; despite many people thinking you just need calcium for that. Finally, it can ease constipation as it helps with gut contractions: however, don’t let this put you off, it shouldn’t have a laxative effect in normal doses. As you can see, it does all kinds of fantastic things. The chocolate craving is real too- since dark chocolate is high in it.
How can I get it? The best thing you can get for this is a Magnesium spray. I’ve used Better You Goodnight Magnesium Oil Spray(pictured above) for about a month now and I spritz it on before bed. They also do flakes that you can add to the bath if you suffer with cramps in particular. I’ve found this really helps me get to sleep quicker with much less wracking my brains! It’s nice as it contains other relaxing ingredients as well as the magnesium. At first, the spot I sprayed was a little itchy- but this is often a sign of deficiency and it lessened each time I sprayed it. Despite these positive results, my desire for chocolate still remains strong so it’s not a miracle worker!
Turmeric
Why is it so important? Two words here: anti-inflammatory. I’ve written a whole round up of why turmeric is so important in another post but absolutely brill for inflammatory conditions; which most gut issues are linked to. It is one of the key supplements for IBD.
How can I get it? There are so many different turmeric supplements on the market and I’ve tried a couple. Firstly make sure, it has Bioperine in which is really important (so always check your supplement has this!) Without it, it’s difficult for the body to absorb turmeric. At the moment I take Cytoplan’s Phyte-Inflam .It is pricey but you can use JF10 at the checkout for 10% off your orders. The bonus of this is it comes with added ginger too. HealthSpan make turmeric that also comes with vitamin C, which is handy if this is something you are also trying to increase.
A cheaper alternative is Together Health’s version at £8.79 (I really like Together Health- they focus on low-cost vitamins that are based on natural food ingredients so they tend to be easier to digest. You might also try cooking with turmeric, but you’ll need larger amounts! Try my turmeric mylk or my turmeric smoothie as easy recipes to get started!
Digestive Enzymes
Why is it so important? When your gut is under strain, it can often lack the enzymes it needs to fully digest foods. Leading to lots of problems such as leaky gut and indigestion. Digestive enzymes help support the body with this process. Many people also suffer from things like burping, indigestion, low vitamin B12 (see, I told you these things are linked!) and difficulty to digest red meat. These can be a sign of low stomach acid (I made a video explaining this below- taken from m
How can I get it? There’s plenty of these kinds of supplement available and you might find you only need to take them after a big meal or when you’ve indulged. You can buy betaine and pepsin as a stand alone supplement to help if you suspect you have low stomach acid. Or you can buy a general digestive enyme. I personally take cytoplan’s betaine and pepsin (you can get 10% off with the code JF10) You can also buy one with betained and other digestive enzymes such as this one by Quest (buy at Amazon or at Holland and Barretts)
Vitamin D
Why is it so important?
Vitamin D is hugely crucial for our overall wellbeing. I wrote a previous post on how vitamin D is closely linked to IBD so go have a read of that post for all the information!
Where can I get it?
Your doctor can easily check if you are deficient in Vitamin D, so I’d advise checking this before supplementing it. Obviously getting out in the sunshine can be of great benefit but otherwise a vitamin D supplement can help. I haven’t personally taken a vitamin D supplement but have heard good things about Better You’s vit D oral spray.
Omega 3
Why is it so important?
Omega 3 is a fatty acid that is hugely beneficial for anti-inflammation. In fact it was found that a microscopic level that those who took a supplement had lower levels of inflammation in the cell.
Where can I get it?
Omega 3s can be sourced through food. Namely: good quality fish avocado, flaxseed and chia seeds. You might also wish to take a fish oil- you can buy this in liquid form like this one
Probiotics
Why is it so important?
Probiotics are good gut bacteria. More and more research has linked probiotics to all sorts of illnesses and it’s thought those of us with IBD, have different gut bacteria to the rest of the population.
Where can I get it?
Because probiotics are so complicated, I’d advise first of all looking at how probiotics can be gained through food-such as introducing saurkraut into your diet. Because probiotics can sometimes cause die off symptoms and make things worse, food based sources can be a better introduction.
I hope this blog post helped, make sure you stay in touch with my blog by the following opitions below:
Jenna
Original article and pictures take www.abalancedbelly.co.uk site
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий