IBS Diet Kit #1 - Best for Irritable Bowel Syndrome bloating, gas, and abdominal pain.

Product

Jacque from Newton, KS
Purchased on 10/25/2011
Reviewed on 11/17/2011

office administration assistant

The Peppermint caps make me belch every few minutes and this went on for a long time. Didnt like that at all so it is hard to keep taking them

Speed of Delivery

Customer Service

Heather says:

Hi Jacque,

There are a few things we have found that help to prevent this from happening.

1) Take the peppermint capsules on an empty stomach an hour before the meal to allow them time to reach the intestines and dissolve before the food arrives. Taking them too close to meal time can be problematic for people with reflux.

2) The peppermint caps should not be taken during or after a meal because the food will block them from reaching the intestines and this could cause them to dissolve in the stomach.

3) Drinking only enough liquid to swallow the capsules seems to help them pass through without dissolving in the stomach. The enteric coating makes them resistant to stomach acid, but they are still water soluble. Limiting the amount of liquid they’ll be floating around in will help them reach their destination.

4) You shouldn’t take them at the same time as any medication (prescription or over-the-counter) designed to lower the stomach acid. Lowering the stomach acid makes the enteric coating less likely to work (remember it is resistant to high acid). For folks who need to take these medications, what we came up with is taking the peppermint caps about an hour before you take the acid lowering/blocking medication. This will give them a better chance of making it down to the intestines where they will dissolve and start to take effect without affecting the upper GI.

On a related note, not being able to tolerate the enteric coated peppermint oil capsules because they are dissolving in the stomach and causing heartburn or peppermint burping might indicate low stomach acid. In naturopathic medicine, heartburn is often thought to be caused by low stomach acid which causes the undigested food to sit in the stomach too long and create pressure. It can also contribute to inadequately digested protein in the stomach. This can disrupt the digestive process downstream as well. If you followed the tips I listed above and still experienced heartburn, you might want to follow up with a provider to test your stomach acid levels. A naturopath or nutritionist would probably be the best type of provider to address this for you.

The other thing that can cause some people to have to difficulty using the peppermint oil capsules is a sensitivity to the natural compounds in peppermint such as salicylates. The peppermint oil is very concentrated and contains a higher amount of these natural compounds than you would consume in a cup of tea. People who have a sensitivity seem to experience burning in the intestines when they take the peppermint caps. It may come as a surprise because until the peppermint capsules, they’ve probably never noticed a sensitivity like this because they’ve honestly never consumed the compounds in this amount before.

Of course if you are unable to take the peppermint oil capsules, please feel free to return them even if you have used part of the bottle.

Best,
Heather

IBS Diet Kit #1 ~ Dietary Help For IBS Bloating, Gas, And Abdominal Pain!

Order the IBS Diet Kit