Dyspepsia Signs & Symptoms + 8 Natural Remedies

Have you ever experienced an upset stomach after eating? Maybe it was accompanied by excessive gas and bloating? There’s actually a more scientific term for this common health problem: dyspepsia.

What is dyspepsia? Well, aside from being a fancier word for upset stomach or indigestion, dyspepsia is defined as “any or all of the unpleasant symptoms that are associated with the malfunctioning of the digestive system.”

Medically speaking, the indigestion definition and dyspepsia definition are identical. These terms describe the same set of symptoms, including things like bloating and stomach or upper abdominal pain.

Dyspepsia is said to affect over a quarter of the population — up to 30 percent to be exact! The good news is there are some highly effective natural remedies for indigestion that are either free or very inexpensive, and they’re all very easy to do.

What Is Dyspepsia?

First off, in order to properly define dyspepsia, it’s important to know that it’s not a disease. Rather, dyspepsia is a set of commonly experienced symptoms like burping, bloating and nausea.

Indigestion or dyspepsia, also called upset stomach, is a general term used to describe physical discomfort or pain in the upper abdomen most commonly felt during or right after eating. Some people experience dyspepsia daily or even at every single meal, while others only experience it on occasion.

Many people experience heartburn along with dyspepsia, but these are two separate issues.

Under normal conditions, there is a healthy peristalsis that takes place when we consume food. Peristalsis is the involuntary contraction and relaxation of smooth muscles that propels food through the esophagus and intestines. When peristalsis doesn’t take place in an optimal fashion, this slows down the processing of food in the digestive tract and makes dyspepsia more likely.

Functional dyspepsia is a chronic improper functioning of the upper digestive tract with no observable abnormalities to explain chronic symptoms. Some possible causes of functional dyspepsia include food allergies, inflammation of the stomach or duodenum, excessive acid secretion, medication side effects, psychological factors, or an infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori).

Some research has shown that there may be a genetic predisposition to functional dyspepsia. In addition, about 40 percent of people with functional dyspepsia have displayed an “impaired accommodation” or an inability for their stomachs to relax as they should in response to consuming food. Abnormal stomach emptying and suboptimal contractions of the stomach are also believed to play a role in functional dyspepsia.

Symptoms

What does indigestion feel like? Most often, sufferers describe indigestion as an uncomfortable fullness in the stomach accompanied by pain in the upper abdomen or chest. For most people, indigestion symptoms come on during or right after eating.

Classic symptoms of indigestion (dyspepsia) include:

• Abdominal pain


• Acidic taste in the mouth


• Bloating/a full feeling in the stomach region


• Belching and gas


• Burning sensation in the stomach or upper abdomen


• Diarrhea but not always


• “Growling” stomach


• Nausea


• Vomiting

Causes and Risk Factors

You may be familiar with what indigestion is, but do you know specifically what causes indigestion? Most of the time the roots of dyspepsia can be traced back to food, drink, poor eating habits and lifestyle choices. Other times, an infection (like H. pylori) or another digestive medical condition may be the cause.

Indigestion can be brought on by:

• Eating too fast


• Eating too much in one sitting


• Drinking too much alcohol


• Eating spicy, fatty or greasy foods


• Excessive caffeine consumption


• Stress


• Smoking


• Consuming high-fiber foods

Other possible causes of dyspepsia include medical conditions such as:

Indigestion can also commonly be caused by medications, like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antibiotics, steroids and birth control pills. Other drug triggers include thyroid, cholesterol, blood pressure and pain medications.

Diagnosis and Conventional Treatment

A diagnosis of dyspepsia is typically based on a patient’s medical history, a physical examination and sometimes an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Other tests — like H. pylori testing, blood and/or stool tests, and imaging tests — may also be conducted.

The most common conventional treatment of dyspepsia is some type of over-the-counter or prescription acid-blocking medication. Some common medications recommended include ranitidine and omeprazole, which both come with some serious possible side effects.

If you have an infection in your stomach, such as H. pylori, then your doctor will likely prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection. If you continue to have pain after eight weeks of medication or your pain goes away and then returns, your doctor may order an upper endoscopy.

8 Natural Remedies for Dyspepsia

1. Ginger

When it comes to dyspepsia relief, ginger has been used for thousands of years as an effective digestive aid and natural remedy for nausea. Taiwanese researchers discovered that three capsules (1.2 grams total) of ginger can actually help the stomach release its contents into the small intestines in people with functional dyspepsia — a condition in which 40 percent of patients suffer from abnormally delayed gastric emptying.

Furthermore, research published in 2023 found that “s ginger can be considered as a promising alternative supplementary medicine for” functional dyspepsia.

This is a major reason why ginger helps people who are bloated, constipated and have other gastrointestinal disorders. It relaxes the smooth muscle in your gut lining and helps food move along throughout the system.

Eating whole fresh ginger, drinking fresh ginger juice and inhaling diffused ginger essential oil are all highly effective natural ways to improve stomach disorders like indigestion.

2. Artichoke Extract

Along with ginger, a study in 2015 showed that artichoke extract can also improve indigestion symptoms. Compared to the placebo takers, subjects who took ginger and artichoke extract for four weeks had decreased symptoms of nausea, fullness, pain and bloating. The study concluded that not only is artichoke extract (and ginger) supplementation safe, but it is highly effective at treating functional dyspepsia.

3. Relax

This natural remedy may sound too simple, but it’s truly huge for dyspepsia sufferers because there is a direct correlation between stress and indigestion.