Clove
This popular spice is of great value as a gas relieving food. It is highly beneficial in the treatment of several digestive disorders like indigestion and flatulent colic. A decoction should be prepared by boiling 6 cloves in 30 ml of water. This decoction should be taken thrice daily after meals as a carminative medicine in treating these conditions.
Coconut
Coconut Water is a carminative food of great value. It is an excellent remedy for gas formation and heartburn. It gives the stomach necessary rest and provides vitamins and minerals. The stomach is greatly helped in coming back to normal condition, if nothing else except coconut water is taken during the first 24 hours.
The mature, dried coconut is also a good remedy for acidity. The oil of the coconut reduces the acid secretion of the stomach and gives much relief to the patient.
Cucumber
This popular vegetable fruit helps greatly in relieving acidity and gas in the stomach. The juice of the cucumber is a medicine par excellence for hyperacidity and gastric ulcer. It gives immediate relief to the burning sensation in the stomach. This juice should be given to the patient every two hours in doses of 120ml to 180ml, at a time, in treating these conditions. As the cucumber is about 96 per cent water, sufficient juice can be easily extracted from it.
Dill
Dill is a valuable carminative food. Its oil, obtained by distillation of the seeds, is an effective medicine for hyperacidity and flatulent colic. A drop of dill oil given with castor oil prevents gripping pain in the abdomen and increases its purgative action by relaxing the intestines.
Fennel Seeds
Fennel seeds are a valuable food for relieving gas and removing wind from the stomach. An infusion is prepared by boiling a tablespoon of fennel seeds in 100 ml of water for half an hour. This infusion is highly beneficial in the treatment of indigestion, biliousness and flatulence.
Garlic
Garlic is reputed in folk medicine as an anti-flatulent food of great importance. Adding a little garlic while cooking beans or other gaseous vegetables takes away their harmful gas-forming properties. Recent studies at G. B. Pant University in India have shown its effectiveness as a carminative food. After discovering green peas to be a major producer of gas in animals in experiments, the investigators did a test on dogs by adding a little garlic, amounts generally used in cooking, to the peas.
They found garlic to be preventive against gas formation. It took away nearly all the gas-producing power out of peas. When the dogs got peas with garlic, gas production was no greater than it was from a wheat cereal, which was the least gaseous food tested.
Ginger
Ancient physicians used ginger as a carminative and anti-fermenting medicine. Taken internally, it is a stimulating carminative. It is a valuable drug in flatulence. Chewing a fresh piece of ginger after meals regularly is an insurance against these ailments. This protective action is attributable to excessive secretion of saliva, diastase enzyme and volatile oil. A hot drink made by infusing a small quantity of powdered or root ginger makes an excellent carminative. It should be taken after meals and should always be slowly sipped.