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Eating too much salt for a long time, smoking, drinking alcohol, taking certain medicines, and H. pylori infection can really cause stomach problems.
Drinking porridge cannot nourish the stomach. For healthy people, eating one or several specific foods for a long time has no effect on nourishing the stomach.
Dietary recommendations for patients with digestive ulcers, gastritis, enteritis, diarrhea, gastroesophageal reflux are in the second half of the article, and there are related questions friends can view it accordingly.
People often ask me “what should I eat if I have a bad stomach”, and I can’t explain this question in two or three sentences. Today, I will talk about what things are for ordinary people. It will hurt the stomach organs, what to eat is good for the stomach, and how to eat if you have stomach problems.
5 Things That Really Hurt Your Stomach
1. Too salty
Eating too much salt for a long time not only affects blood pressure, but also hurts the stomach.
If the salt concentration in the stomach is too high, the gastric mucosal barrier will be damaged, inflammation and damage will occur, causing gastric mucosal degeneration and diffuse erosion, leading to various diseases and increasing the risk of gastric cancer. high.
And the damage to the stomach lining caused by a high-salt diet can also make you more susceptible to H. pylori infection. [1]
2. Drinking
Alcohol damages our stomachs in many ways.
Alcohol can directly damage the gastric mucosal epithelial cells, destroy the gastric mucosal barrier, and also damage the gastric mucosal vascular endothelium, causing gastric mucosal edema and congestion. The damaged gastric mucosal epithelium and vascular endothelium can A large number of inflammatory mediators are released, which in turn further damages the gastric mucosa. In addition, high concentrations of alcohol can cause mitochondrial dysfunction, resulting in metabolic acidosis, cellular edema, and intracellular calcium overload, which in turn can damage gastric mucosal cells. [2]
Long-term alcohol consumption may induce gastrointestinal dysfunction, chronic gastritis, and even gastric cancer.
The photo below is a photo of an “alcohol stomach” under a gastroscope, swipe up in the blank space to view (in the photo is the red stomach lining, people who feel uncomfortable with photos of human organs) don’t swipe)
3. Smoking
We all know that smoking hurts the lungs, but did you know that smoking also hurts the stomach?
The nicotine in smoke can stimulate the gastric mucosa, causing submucosal vasoconstriction and spasm, leading to gastric mucosal ischemia and hypoxia. Nicotine also relaxes the pyloric sphincter, leading toCause bile and duodenal juice to flow back into the stomach, causing gastric mucosal erosion and hemorrhage.
In addition, the considerable content of nitrogen oxides in tobacco can be converted into carcinogenic nitrosamines in the body, which has a significant promoting effect on the increase of the incidence of various cancers including gastric cancer. [3]
4. Long-term medication
Long-term use of certain drugs can also damage the gastric mucosa. I won’t go into details here. You can read the instructions.
5. Helicobacter pylori infection
Long-term Helicobacter pylori infection can lead to chronic gastritis, where cells mutate and proliferate, increasing the risk of stomach cancer in the long run.
Using public chopsticks and spoons and separating meals can reduce the chance of H. pylori infection. If you are worried, you can go to the hospital to check if you have it, and if you are unfortunately recruited, you can treated in time.
Two things that don’t hurt the stomach
Eat cold
Drinking ice water and eating smoothies will not have an essential effect on a healthy stomach. After eating, the temperature in the stomach will drop significantly, but it will take a few minutes. will return to normal temperature.
However, for people with irritable bowel syndrome, or those with weak digestion after surgery, eating cold food does bring some irritation and may cause discomfort. If it makes you uncomfortable, don’t eat it.
Spicy
Eating spicy food also will not have any essential effect on a healthy stomach, only a burning pain, if you can’t tolerate it, eat less.
Can porridge nourish the stomach?
No.
Porridge is really easy to digest. It can be short-term emergency only when the stomach problem is very serious and cannot eat anything else. It is only a last resort in special situations. It is not a long-term eating method for nourishing the stomach.
Long-term consumption of only porridge can easily lead to insufficient protein intake. Moreover, compared with rice or some pasta, porridge has a sufficient starch gelatinization process during the cooking process, so its blood sugar response will be higher.
Another disadvantage of porridge is that during the cooking process, the B vitamins in the grains are relatively lost, and it is not recommended to eat this way for a long time.
What can I eat to nourish my stomach?
For healthy people, eating one or several specific foods has no effect on the stomach.
What is really good for the stomach, besides quitting smoking and drinking, not eating too salty, and paying attention to dietary hygiene, is to balanced meals and eating regularly strong>, chew slowly, in addition, don’t always eat foods that are irritating to the stomach.
I already have stomach problems, what should I eat?
I have stomach problems, what should I eat?
First of all, there are many kinds of diseases of the digestive tract. If you have this problem for a long time, or you are suddenly very uncomfortable, you should first see a doctor. It is possible to have a definite diagnosis based on your own situation, test results, etc.
I can also tell you about the dietary precautions for several common digestive tract diseases.
Peptic ulcer
Peptic ulcer refers to the chronic ulcer that occurs in the contact part between gastric juice and gastrointestinal tract, and is often related to the influence of Helicobacter pylori, gastric acid and pepsin.
The severity of the disease varies. If there are complications such as bleeding, pyloric obstruction, acute perforation, etc., you should seek medical attention in time. In other cases, it is also recommended to go to the gastroenterology department to find out the cause and treat the cause. Don’t be afraid Do gastroscopy (now there is also painless gastroscopy).
For patients with milder ulcers, consider the following guidelines:
Small and frequent meals, 5-7 meals a day at regular intervals, not too many meals per meal
Avoid harsh foods
First is mechanical stimulation (food with more dietary fiber or hard and rough texture), such as whole grains, leeks, bamboo shoots, bacon, etc., followed by chemical stimulation, such as coffee, strong tea, Wine, fatty broth, peppers, etc.
Also be careful with foods that are prone to acid production, such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, desserts, sweet and sour foods.
Also beware of gas-producing: onions, garlic, radishes, onions.
And avoid eating large cold drinks at one time.
Choose soft, easy-to-digest foods
For example, milk, eggs, fish, lean meat, etc. should be guaranteed to provide sufficient protein. If there is anemia, it can be more, and fat should not be overly limited.
The staple food can be eaten more, and the general white rice porridge, noodles, and wontons are also good.
Make it as soft as possible. Of course, vitamins and minerals should be supplemented at the same time. You can take multi-vitamin and mineral supplements, and you can eat a small amount of liquid food when bleeding.
If you have a blender and don’t dislike the taste and visual effects, it is easy to digest all kinds of dishes by blending them into a homogenized state.
In cooking methods, pay attention to shredding and boiling, not frying, stir-frying, vinegar, etc.
Eat with a good mood and chew slowly
If you have a duodenal ulcer, you can add a meal before bed to reduce hunger pains.
Gastritis
Inflammation of the gastric mucosa caused by any reason is considered gastritis. From the perspective of more convenient dietary guidance, we can simply divide it into acute gastritis and chronic gastritis.
Acute gastritis
Acute gastritis may be related to heavy drinking, drugs, food poisoning, etc. In terms of nutrition, the first step is to remove the pathogenic factors and treat symptomatically.
Drink plenty of fluids (preferably sugar and saline) for water and sodium, and intravenous fluids if necessary.
It is best to choose light liquid foods such as rice soup and lotus root starch during acute attacks. After symptoms are relieved, you can try some low-residue diets. Pay attention to foods that have excess fat and are prone to gas production. Be careful with foods such as milk, sucrose (including sweetened beverages) and other foods, and you can gradually transition to soft foods after symptoms improve, but you should still pay attention to small, frequent meals.
Nutritional intervention should firstly remove the cause and quit smoking and alcohol and other foods or drugs that are harmful to the gastric mucosa.
Try to eat small meals frequently, and provide foods rich in protein and vitamins and minerals, such as animal liver, lean meat, fresh leafy vegetables, eggs, etc. Wait.
Chronic gastritis
Because there are actually different types of chronic gastritis, it is recommended that patients nutrition clinic go to the clinic to be guided by a dietitian. For example, patients with hyperacidity should abstain from thick broth Chicken soup, as well as sour and sweet foods, and those with insufficient gastric acid secretion, on the contrary, can eat some foods that promote appetite.
Enteritis
Basic nutritional principles for enteritis include high energy, high protein, less residue, low Fat (mainly by cooking and stewing), and vitamins and minerals such as B group and calcium should also be paid attention to.
Compress the volume of food as much as possible, the staple food is mainly refined white rice and noodles, and coarse grains should be eaten cautiously. The protein mainly depends on lean meat, chicken, duck, fish, liver, eggs, and refined soy products. You can also drink milk with caution for bloating and lactose intolerance.
Vegetable juices, fruit juices, and degreasing broths are also good.
Diarrhea
If diarrhea is the result of eating unclean food or a gastrointestinal disorder, treat the cause first.
A lot of diarrhea in daily life is related to overeating and eating spicy food. At this time, it is necessary to improve living habits, reduce stress, and avoid increasing the burden on the gastrointestinal tract.
When people have diarrhea, in addition to water, they also excrete a large amount of nutrients that have not been absorbed. Therefore, in order to repair the stomach and intestines, after the symptoms are relieved, in addition to hydration, you should eat some foods rich in protein and vitamins that are easy to digest and absorb.
Severe diarrhea remember to replenish water and electrolytes, such as drinking rehydration salts.
Gastroesophageal reflux
Overweight to control weight
It is recommended not to eat 2-3 hours before going to bed if the symptoms are obvious at night, and it may be appropriate to raise the head when falling asleep
Chocolate, coffee, alcohol, acidic or spicy foods should be avoided
Remind again, the above are just some basic principles from the nutritional point of view. It is very likely that you will not have to be so troublesome if you treat it in time, so you must go to the doctor when you are sick!
References:
[1] Wu Bo, Yang Dehua, Yang Shuhan, Zhang Guangzhe.Dietary Salt Intake and Gastric Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in Nutrition.V8.2021
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[2] Shi Yongsheng, Chai Ningli, Linghu Enqiang, Zhang Bo, Gao Fei. A case of “alcoholic stomach” under endoscopy [J]. Zhonghua Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Electronics Magazine, 2020,7(01):43-45.
[3] Liu Zhilan, Chen Ping. The relationship between smoking and ulcer disease and clinical intervention[J]. Medical Review, 2006(18):1148-1150.