Whathelpswithdigestion.
Natural ways to settle bloating, nausea, and an unhappy gut. Every option here is backed by published research.
Functional digestive complaints like bloating, mild IBS, post-meal heaviness, and nausea respond reliably to a small set of botanical remedies with strong research backing. Where the picture is murkier (chronic constipation, severe IBS-D), the natural-medicine playbook leans on dietary structure first, with select herbs as adjuncts. Below is the curated catalogue.
On prescription medication? Check interactions first.
The strongest gut-health remedy
00% response% response
of IBS patients improved on enteric-coated peppermint oil vs placebo across 12 randomised trials. The coating is essential. Uncoated formulations give heartburn, not relief.
Khanna 2014, J Clin Gastroenterol
Ask about this study
Try this now
When to take each remedy
Same supplement, different timing.
Each remedy lands best before, with, or after eating — and the why is mechanistic, not folklore. Tap any chip for the dose and the reason.
Before the meal
Wake the system up
With the meal
Support the work
After the meal
Help the cleanup
5 to 10 drops in water
Gentian or Swedish bitters. Stimulates gastric and biliary secretion ahead of the meal so the food is met with the digestive juices it needs.
What works.
Tap any card for the full evidence.
Look for the ⚠ Pregnancy chip on individual cards.
Not only supplements.
Habits, programs and techniques that have moved the same outcomes in trials — often with the strongest evidence base of all.
Post-meal walking
10–15 minute walk after meals blunts the post-prandial glucose spike.
How it works
Mediterranean dietary pattern
Olive oil, fish, nuts, legumes, plants. The most-studied diet for cardiovascular and cognitive longevity.
How it works
DASH dietary pattern
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. Strongest dietary RCT evidence for blood pressure reduction.
How it worksMarkers worth tracking
A short list of the bloodwork and daily signals most likely to move when something is actually working. Tap any card for the full rationale and where to test.
Stool calprotectin
<50 µg/g
Gut inflammation marker — distinguishes inflammatory bowel disease from functional IBS. Persistently elevated calprotectin warrants gastroenterology referral.
Ask about this marker
Vitamin B12
>500 pg/mL
Absorbed in the terminal ileum. Low B12 with normal intake is a proxy for compromised small-bowel function — particularly relevant in post-antibiotic or post-surgery contexts.
Read full marker
Ferritin
30–100 ng/mL
Iron absorption depends on intact gut function. Low ferritin with adequate dietary iron points to malabsorption — coeliac, IBD, or chronic gut inflammation.
Read full marker1 in 10
adults live with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Sperber 2021, Gastroenterology
7%
of adults worldwide live with functional dyspepsia — bloating, fullness, post-meal upper-gut symptoms.
Aziz 2018, Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol
30 min
is all it takes for ginger to start easing nausea after a single dose.
Marx 2013, Nutr Rev
Frequently asked
Practical answers to the questions readers most often arrive with.
Enteric-coated peppermint oil — why does the coating matter?
Peppermint oil works on the lower-GI smooth muscle. Without enteric coating it releases in the stomach (heartburn risk, no IBS benefit). Enteric coating ensures release in the small intestine where the antispasmodic effect lands.How much ginger for nausea?
1–2 g of powdered ginger root daily, divided into 250–500 mg doses. For acute nausea (motion, post-op), a single 500–1000 mg dose 30 minutes before is typical. Pregnancy: 1 g daily is supported by Cochrane review.Probiotics — when to take, with or without food?
With food, usually with the largest meal. Stomach acid is buffered by food, increasing survival of viable bacteria. Refrigerate where labelled; many strains are heat-sensitive in storage.Slippery elm — is it safe?
Yes, generally. The main caution is timing: it forms a mucilage that can reduce absorption of any co-administered medication. Take 1–2 hours apart from prescriptions.Are digestive bitters effective for post-meal heaviness?
Yes for some. Traditional bitter formulas (gentian, Swedish bitters) stimulate gastric and biliary secretion. The EMA monograph recognises gentian for dyspepsia. Start with 5–10 drops in water 15 minutes before meals.
Read about the science behind it
The science of digestion
How digestion works from mouth to colon. Why the gut shapes mood, immunity, and inflammation downstream.
Open the science section