Supplements, supplements. I’ve been taking a lot of them lately to combat a problem I hope to blog about soon (when it’s fixed!). I’ve also been trying out a new herbal digestive supplement called Dicon, which was sent to me for review. Dicon is marketed as “active defense for stomach distress” and claims to treat the most common digestive problems: constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. It’s recommended you take it every day (hence the “defense”), but you can also take it for relief from one of the aforementioned problems.
The Dicon box refers to a trademarked “Combination Herbal Therapy”, which is a blend of:
- Artemisia herba-alba, which, when Googled, comes up as a species of sagebrush purported to have antibacterial and anti-spasmodic properties.
- Lemon Balm, an herb in the mint family often used in homeopathic medicine to relieve digestive upset, as well as sleep problems and anxiety.
- Spearmint and Lemon Verbana extracts, also common herbal treatments for indigestion, cramps and gas.
Here’s the explanation of how Dicon works from the company’s website:
“…When the stomach becomes accustomed to excessive gastric juice secretion, internal systems tend to register such quantities as “normal,” thus harming the digestion process as a whole. Combination Herbal Therapy effectively recalibrates these subsystems and restarts their activity, eliminating the factors that detracted from their original functions. Dicon corrects aberrations that develop in the timing and activity of the digestive system and related bodily systems, restoring the original state of equilibrium that was disrupted.”
While I find this summary a bit jargon-y, I had a good experience with Dicon. Unlike many herbal supplements that can be gross to take even in pill form (looking at you, Oil of Oregano), Dicon is pleasantly minty and goes down easy. I started taking it as a daily supplement as recommended, but because I’m taking a bunch of other supplements at the moment, I decided it was then best to test in more isolated scenarios when my stomach was bothering me.
And I’m happy to report I did get relief from Dicon. I took it following instances of indigestion and gassiness after meals and felt my stomach ease up. I also took it after a night of alcohol consumption when my stomach was less than impressed with me, and when I was feeling bloated and crampy in general during that time of the month and needed something soothing.
Because I take probiotics on a regular basis and digestive enzymes from time to time, taking another daily supplement for digestive health is not in the cards for me right now. But I would definitely keep a pack of Dicon in my purse, desk or overnight bag for those times when my stomach is feeling less than stellar. And it’s a good natural alternative to over-the-counter remedies (though I can’t vouch for if its effectiveness at controlling more serious bouts of constipation or diarrhea).
Dicon supplements are available to buy online via the company’s website for $30 (plus shipping – and it does ship to Canada) or on Amazon (but not amazon.ca) for a discounted price.
