My grandmother told me, “When your baby has a stomachache, drink fennel tea, the best of the ingredients will pass to your baby, through your milk.” Many years later on a visit to a middle eastern market, I met a spice merchant who makes a special “breastfeeding tea”, with plants that relieve gas in babies I told him about my grandmother’s tea and he said his recipe came from his grandmother too! Over the past ten years, I have met thousands of nursing mothers and seen mothers and grandmothers preparing a variety of drinks and foods for their daughters to relieve stomach pain in babies.
In traditional herbal medicine all over the world, herbs have been used especially those containing aromatic compounds (such as chamomile, fennel, ginger, etc.), to alleviate common abdominal discomfort conditions in adults, infants, and children. Here are some examples of plants that are commonly used for this purpose in traditional medicine all of which are in Calmi our unique blend for colic.
Chamomile – (Matricaria)
Chamomile has a tradition of thousands of years as a medicinal plant. As early as ancient Greece, it was used to treat digestive and sleep problems. Chamomile is still used today in naturopathy to treat a variety of common daily problems, including abdominal discomfort and gas buildup after meals. It’s an ideal plant for an herbal formula designed for nursing mothers.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Fennel is a plant with a distinguished history in traditional medicine. In India, it is an important plant in Ayurvedic medicine. Fennel is used in traditional medicine to treat common digestive problems, abdominal discomfort, and gas. In the wisdom of motherhood, it is passed down from generation to generation as a plant that is recommended to be drunk in tea to relieve gas in nursing babies.
Angelica Sinensis
Angelica is considered one of the most important plants in Chinese medicine. According to Chinese medicine, it is used to “drive” processes in the body, including those related to digestion and absorption. We decided to include it in our formula as a plant, which from a Chinese perspective encourages movement in common states of stagnation, the same kind of stagnation that can cause discomfort after meals.
Ginger – Zangwill (Zingiber officinale)
Ginger root has a bold and unique aromatic flavor that, in Chinese and Indian herbal medicine, is attributed to a warming quality that supports the normal digestive activity. The root has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years, and to this day ginger is commonly used among pregnant mothers to relieve nausea as well as relieve common digestive problems such as flatulence, swelling, and abdominal discomfort.
Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra)
Licorice is considered to be a plant with sweet and rejuvenating qualities. It is used to strengthen nourishment and healing. Traditional Chinese medicine uses it to support health through its unique effect on all energy channels (meridians) in the body, including those that act on the digestive processes. In naturopathy, licorice root is known to contain components of “moisturizing” quality that are harnessed to regulate digestion in situations such as constipation.
What is special about Calmi capsules designed to support common conditions of colic and gas in infants?
Calmi is a unique gas relief product intended to be taken by the nursing mother. Calmi was created to replace the formulas that are designed to be dripped directly into the baby’s mouth. Because dripping thick liquid into the baby’s mouth can cause coughing and even suffocation, we decided to follow the traditional herbal medicine approach and prepare a unique formula that a mother can take. With Calmi breastfeeding mothers no longer need to give any supplement for colic directly to their baby.
Want to enjoy all the benefits of plant extracts to support common conditions of gas, colic, and abdominal discomfort? Buy Calmi, a dietary supplement from the world of complementary medicine based on concentrated extracts of plants traditionally used to support these common conditions.
Post-author, Maya Dubinsky, is an IBCLC-certified lactation consultant and a TCM practitioner. Maya has ten years of experience in supporting breastfeeding women and guiding new parents on their journey into parenthood. Among other things, Maya specializes in increasing milk supply and relieving gas in breastfed babies.