There are some very simple ways to act quickly on indigestion. Eradicate the problem completely, and you will no longer need to take all those products that say they'll help when it's really a fifty-fifty chance. It's true that everyone's stomach and gastrointestinal tract are different. Some of the suggestions made here will not work for you necessarily but others will, without a doubt.
FOODS/HERBS
1) Mint:
Mint all by itself is a very common and extremely effective way to battle indigestion. The one you want for this purpose is peppermint. Spearmint is the form of mint most often used in cooking, and although it has the same properties as peppermint, they're much lessened. You want the mint with the highest concentration of Menthol. That is what calms your stomach.
It's been used for ages too. Back in the Roman Era, Pliny wrote that it helped prevent curdling of the stomach. The reason so many over the counter medications for indigestion are mint-flavored or have mint in them is that people find it so soothing. Tums, for instance, is actually calcium carbonate, but people tend to link them with mint because that's the most common flavor. A tip for those using mint: I keep a container of peppermints by the bed, so that I'm able to get to them fast if I'm feeling nauseous.
Interestingly enough, mint is NOT used as a modern medication component, for indigestion! Instead, it's always in the flavoring when it is there at all. Mint is normally thought of just for soothing sore throats - and menthol itself has in the past decade become very popular for joint ache or any kind of pain. So if you want to try mint for indigestion, take it straight.
2) Crackers (and bicarbonates)
Crackers will help settle your stomach well. They contain bicarbonate soda, and are very bland. That makes them very easy to digest.
Soda crackers have always been a very popular folk remedy for sour stomachs. A tip is to keep those packets of crackers restaurants give out. That way they'll be around and small enough to have on your nightstand.
Alka-seltzer is perhaps the most famous version of sodium bicarbonate around now. Its bubbles actually act in just a stronger way than the bicarbonate found in crackers.
3) Yogurt:
Plain yogurt is one of the better ways to combat indigestion, and is especially good for those of us who love spicy food! It's often seen in small cups, in Hispanic-flavor restaurants, with your burrito. You can also find it in many Indian dishes. It's known in these cultures that yogurt helps calm your intestines, when they've just been hit by a huge load of paprika, ginger, garlic and so on.
Nobody knows specifically where yogurt came from. The first account of its usage in Western Europe is from the 1500's in France. King Francis I of France apparently had bad diahhroea. He contacted his friend Suleiman the Magnificent of Turkey. As the story goes, Suleiman sent his doctor, who promptly cured the ailing Frenchman with yogurt!
ANTACIDS
1) Calcium Carbonate:
When calcium carbonate is used for indigestion, it's probably from limestone processing. It is also found as calcite, which is otherwise known of as chalk. It's actually used for everything from paper processing to shoe polish! The way it works for indigestion is as a simple antacid. That means that it absorbs and then neutralizes the acid in your stomach.
Tums is likely the most commonly used form of calcium carbonate. But it is also to be found within Rolaids, which are much less popular than they were twenty years ago. An important thing to note is that if you take Tum on a full stomach, when you're likely to be feeling a bit queasy after a spicy meal for instance, you won't feel the effects for 2-3 hours! Yet, if you take it when your stomach is empty and you're just feeling nauseous, it takes half an hour. So, calcium carbonate should probably be used for the flu or an intestinal virus.
2) Aluminum Hydroxide:
Aluminum Hydroxide is a naturally-occuring substance, actually. It's an aluminum salt, which shows up in nature as the mineral gibbsite. It's very soluble with acids, which is why it is used to treat indigestion. Interestingly enough, Karl Bayer who was the son of the founder of the Bayer company invented a process via which he could get regular aluminum out of aluminum hydroxide!
Aluminum Hydroxide is used in many drugs for indigestion, because the hydroxide in it blocks the acid in your stomach. Among the most famous of these are Maalox and Mylanta. One important thing to note, however, is that it doesn't prevent more acid from forming. Also you shouldn't take too much of it, because it's been known to cause both constipation and bone density loss.
3) Magnesium Hydroxide:
Magnesium Hydroxide, on the other hand, is a man-made Magnesium salt. Its components are Magnesium and (OH)2, or Hydroxide. It's often used to suppress acid of waste-water, and for growing new reefs. In 1880, Charles Phillips found that if he watered it down somewhat, he got a substance that helped the stomach but wasn't dangerous.
This is much better known as Milk of Magnesia. It is, in form, an alkaline substance. So, it neutralizes anything acid it comes near. Its main side effect is diahhroea, and to combat this it is often combined with Aluminum Hydroxide in antacids other than Milk of Magnesia.
OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER
1) Exercise:
If you are prone to indigestion, DO NOT exercise right after eating. If you do, your stomach and intestines are not able to work properly because they're getting too jiggled around. It's actually better to wait an hour or so according to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.
Exercises such as yoga have been found to be beneficial to indigestion. For instance, poses such as shoulder stand and sun salute are helpful for stress, while a pose called head-to-knee is good for gassiness.
2) Stress:
Meditation is good for this. There are some very good and simple meditations on the Yoga Journal website, or you can do other kinds of it. Any repetitive task is meditative. For instance, there's gardening, or chopping vegetables. I've found that peeling hard-boiled eggs gets me into a meditative state. Whatever you end up doing to meditate, it will relax your body and your mind, which then means stress is lessened within you.
Qigong, the medicinal version of Tai Chi, is also very good for stress. It forces your body to calm down by focusing the energy you are drawing in (your Qi), with slow movements. When your body is calmer, your intestines are calmer along with it.
One or two - or even all - of these ideas, should help your intestinal difficulties. Then, you can tell your friends the historical testimonies - hey, doesn't it sound neat to be able to say you are using the same cure that Francis I of France used?
http://www.botanical.com/
http://digestive.niddk .nih.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt
http://e n.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_hydroxide
http://en.wik ipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Bayer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi ki/Magnesium_hydroxide
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-i s-milk-of-magnesia.htm
http://calcium-carbonate.org.u k/
http://www.tums.com/faq_tums.aspx
http://www.gicare .com/
http://fdb.rxlist.com/drugs/
http://www.qi.org/
h ttp://www.yogajournal.com/