Natural Digestive Enzymes

As I mentioned in my last post, heartburn/reflux has been a major issue for me in recent weeks. Just when I thought I might make it through this pregnancy without it (ha!) it struck worse than I had ever experienced before. Waking me up countless times through the night to the point that I was getting almost no sleep because of how painful it was. I had it throughout the day as well even while standing/sitting straight up. I was beginning to feel as if nothing would help.

I prefer to not rely on any OTC or prescription pharmaceuticals unless I exhausted all other options first. I prefer to find a natural and healthy solution that works long term. So my first line of action was to try any and all natural remedies that are available. This includes diet changes, natural supplements, chiropractic, acupressure… just to name a few. So I had a long list of things to try before resorting to less-ideal options and even if everything I tried only helped a little, I was planning on sticking with it as long as I could possibly stand it.

My midwife highly recommended digestive enzymes. I had tried a few different kinds in the past with not much luck so I was skeptical but she reassured me that if I got the right kind, it might work, and she said it was worth trying again. So we picked up a new kind I had never tried before. An all-plant-based combo of digestive enzymes by Rainbow Light which is a favorite vitamin brand of mine. My prenatals are also by Rainbow Light. I figured these were worth a try before moving on to something else.

The idea of enzymes is to aid in your own digestive processes so that heartburn just doesn’t happen. They give a little added boost to your natural digestion by providing good bacteria or probiotics to help you more easily break down food during a time (pregnancy, in my case) in which your digestion is typically slowed and/or not as affective due to a crowded tummy.

I have to say that the difference since I started on these has been night and day and I’ve never felt such relief from heartburn even better than any over-the-counter remedies I’ve used in the past. This isn’t just suppressing symptoms either, my heartburn is gone! And I just feel better all around because I guess my digestion really needed the extra help! I haven’t been woken up at night at all and I’m not having any reoccurrences during the day either! I’m rather shocked and amazed because I wasn’t really expecting it to work and I definitely wasn’t expecting it to make this much of a difference.

I’m sure that digestive enzymes are not the solution for every mom as heartburn has all sorts of different underlying causes, but for me it was totally the answer this time. I also plan on adding more probiotics into my diet both in supplement form and by eating more plain yogurt and/or Kefir etc. Probiotics also have the added benefit of hopefully preventing GBS. Along with being careful about what I eat and when; keeping a healthy dose of yogurt/probiotics and almonds around; and the digestive enzymes; I’m hoping that the agonizing heartburn is a thing of the past. I definitely recommend a heavy-duty digestive enzyme to anyone dealing with any sort of digestive issues, and especially to pregnant moms! It’s a great natural way to improve digestion and cure acid reflux. Definitely at least worth a try!