The two principal causes of indigestion are Imperfection of the organs concerned in the process of digestion of food; or Unsuitability of food, either as regards quantity or kind. These two conditions usually co-exist.
What are the causes of Indigestion?
Eating:
Eating hurriedly, the food being only partially masticated and mixed with saliva is bad for the digestive canal. In the first place, more work is thrown on the stomach, work against which a weak stomach will rebel. Again, the food being in larger pieces, it is not so readily permeated by the gastric juice, and so it may escape digestion altogether.
Besides eating hastily, eating too frequently is a cause of indigestion. Before the lost meal is digested another is taken, and that in its turn, before half digested, is followed by a third, and so on continuously. In this way, the stomach has scarcely any relaxation from work. The stomach, like the brain or the body, requires rest in order to do its work well; otherwise, it gets exhausted and does its work imperfectly.
An interval of four hours should intervene between each meal, hence no more than four meals a day should be taken; and this should
be adhered to except in special cases, as where a full meal cannot be taken at once, then nourishment may require to be taken more frequently. This
never occurs in health. There are many who can never take more than three meals a day, supper being a proscribed meal. If properly distributed over the day, three will suffice. Most of us eat more frequently than is absolutely necessary for health, or the wants of the system. Bad cooking is also a fertile source of indigestion.
Drinking:
Drinking is as common a cause of dyspepsia as eating, and of all drinks alcohol is the worst. The system ‘requires only a limited quantity of fluid to make up the waste of the secretions and to assist in the digestion of food. In summer, the amount required is greater than in winter, because the perspiration is greater. When much exercise is taken, more drink will be required.
Tea and coffee, consumed in large quantities are also frequent causes of indigestion. Tea gives rise to flatulence, and coffee to weight or pain in the .chest.
Alcohol, however, in one or other of its various forms, is the most fertile cause of dyspepsia. Three points should be observed in drinking spirituous liquors: First, never take them between meals; Second, always have them well diluted; and Third, always get them pure, if possible. Of course the quantity taken has much to do with the effects, and the less that is drunk, the less will be the evil that will likely ensue.
Exercise:
This, when excessive after a full meal, is very apt to bring on indigestion. Similarly, Sedentary habits is also a well known cause of indigestion. Gentle exercise always promotes the digestion of a meal. The best exercise is that of walking. During sleep, the vital functions are in abeyance, and the nervous stimuli necessary for digestion are diminished. Hence the wisdom of a light supper and having its digestion well .advanced before bedtime. Nature agrees with the old saying: – “After dinner sit awhile, after supper walk a mile.”
Bad Hygiene:
Close, heated rooms, especially if much gas be used; living in low, damp localities; with heat and moisture impair the process of digestion in digestive canal.
Bathing:
If you take bath immediately after a full meal, it may affect the digestion process. The cold acting on the capillaries of the skin, drives the blood inwards, and the blood having already, by digestion, been determined to the stomach, the excess of blood interferes with the flow of gastric juice. A hot bath has a similar effect, though from a different reason; that of causing a determination of blood to the skin, and a derivation from the stomach and internal organs. For digestion is alike interfered with, whether the stomach receives too much, or too little blood.
These are a few of the more common causes of indigestion. Stomach is intimately connected with the other organs of the body, so, any organic or functional disorder is sure to influence the process of digestion.