Inflammatory processes in the gastric mucosa, which inevitably lead to digestive problems, are called gastritis. A person begins to digest food poorly, as a result of which his health deteriorates and weakness and lethargy appear. According to statistics, about half of the inhabitants of our country experience painful symptoms of gastritis to one degree or another.
Diet for gastritis
Many people wonder: what diet should you follow for gastritis? This is a very important question, since proper nutrition is an important part of the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. If you have gastritis, you should always follow a bland diet, and if your health improves, you can return to normal eating habits only gradually. In some cases, doctors prescribe a personal diet for gastritis.
It is also necessary to remember that with gastritis, enzyme deficiency develops, so in some cases, along with a diet to improve digestion, it is worth using enzyme preparations such as Micrazim.
There are two types of gastritis: acute and chronic. In different people, these forms may be accompanied by both high and low degrees of gastric acidity. Acute gastritis is of the following types:
- fibrous (exacerbated with the appearance of infectious diseases).
- catarrhal (accompanied by a violation of the integrity of the outer lining of the stomach).
- inflammatory (causes purulent inflammatory processes in the gastric walls).
- corrosive (one of the side effects of poisoning).
Chronic disease, in turn, appears in the following forms:
- perfunctory;
- hypertrophic;
- polyposis;
- bacterial;
- granulomatous?
- autoimmune.
Another form of chronic gastritis is characteristic of those people whose stomach walls are damaged due to the systematic intake of alcohol in large quantities.
Basic principles of nutrition for gastritis
Remember that proper nutrition for gastritis is the key to successful treatment of symptoms. If the acidity of your gastric juice is increased, then you need to eat foods that help reduce its activity. Follow three rules:
- Mechanical principle. Avoid foods that contain crude fiber. Such products include onion crops, meat with veins and bran. In addition, dishes cooked in oil are strictly prohibited.
- Chemical principle. Avoid foods that can increase gastric secretion. This list includes alcohol, carbonated water, citrus fruits (including their juices), coffee, brown bread, cabbage and rich meat broth.
- Thermal principle. Do not eat foods that are at very high or very low temperatures. They irritate the esophagus and cold food, among other things, stays longer than usual in the stomach.
What foods can you eat if you have gastritis?
Include lean meat (such as rabbit) in your diet. Duck, lamb and goose are not allowed, but chicken can only be eaten without the skin.
Other acceptable foods and dishes include:
- River fish?
- seafood;
- omelette white;
- oat and buckwheat porridge.
- milk;
- zucchini, squash, tomatoes, carrots, various greens.
- berries with a high sugar content.
- boiled and pureed fruits.
What should be missing from the diet?
If you have been diagnosed with gastritis caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, then it is not recommended to prescribe a diet for yourself. Be sure to consult a gastroenterologist or nutritionist so that the treatment of gastritis is consistent and effective.
With this disease, the menu should not include:
- Fresh pastries, especially rye bread, as well as puff pastry. Instead, it is preferable to eat white bread, plain cookies and pies.
- Soups with rich broth, such as mushroom soup, cabbage soup and borscht. Such dishes should be replaced with light vegetable soups with potatoes, cabbage, carrots and onions.
- Smoked dishes, as well as meat with fat and veins. Instead, it is better to eat dishes made of boiled or steamed meat (cutlets, meatballs). Allowed types of meat are chicken and lamb.
- Boiled eggs and fried omelettes. They should be replaced with boiled eggs and steamed omelets.
- Any salty and seasoned dishes, marinades, chocolate, carbonated drinks, coffee and kvass.
- Alcohol.
Diet for high acidity
With this form of gastritis, you should not overuse fruits and vegetables, as they can worsen your health. However, you should not completely remove these products from the menu. Avoid foods that can stimulate the production of stomach acid and prefer foods that reduce acid. By eating right, you're more likely to lose some weight than gain it. Here is a table showing the allowed and prohibited products:
| Vegetables: carrots, pumpkin, potatoes, beets. Light vegetable salads. Tomatoes: ripe, chopped. Cucumbers without skin. | Greenery. |
| Fruits: non-acidic, ripe, without skin (banana, pear, apple). It is better to eat fruits not raw, but cooked. Watermelons and melons - in very limited quantities. | French fries, pickles, sauerkraut. |
| Milk (from cow or goat), cream, yogurt. Fresh cottage cheese. | Sour cream, kefir, hard cheese. |
| Soup with dietary broth. | Cabbage soup and borscht in a rich broth. |
| Pasta | Legumes |
| Boiled chicken or rabbit meat, lean river fish. | Smoked meats, fish and meats with a high fat content, canned goods. |
| Oatmeal and buckwheat | Dried fruit |
| Soft-boiled eggs. | Chocolate |
| Crackers, white bread (that has been sitting for a couple of days), dry cookies. | Boiled eggs, fried omelettes. |
| Weak tea and coffee, cocoa with added milk. | Rye and freshly baked bread. Cakes, pastry products with cream filling. |
Low acid diet
In such conditions, you need to eat differently than in the previous case. You must eat foods that promote gastric secretion. The table below shows dishes that are suitable for recession. If you have severe stomach pain, then you need to exclude from the menu dishes that irritate the stomach tissue.
Vegetables: baked potatoes, tomatoes, greens, carrots, beets, pumpkin, pickles.
Diet for gastritis - general recommendations
Patients with gastritis should exclude from the menu spices used in the cooking process. You can improve the taste of food with fresh herbs (parsley, dill, celery). Greens will also help you add vitamins to your diet: try to season as many dishes as you eat with chopped greens.
You should eat small meals, but avoid snacks. this way the stomach will not have difficulty digesting the food. Chew your food well and eat slowly. Food that you consume in a hurry can worsen your health and aggravate gastritis. Chew your food until it becomes an easily digestible paste.
Do not forget that a proper and balanced diet is the key to treating gastritis. Many patients who followed a strict diet during treatment say that it helped them successfully overcome all symptoms and pain associated with this disease within 4 weeks.
Important: before use, read the instructions or consult your doctor.
What to eat for gastritis of the stomach?
Characteristics of gastritis
Gastritis is a chronic inflammatory condition of the lining of the stomach, leading to pain, loss of appetite and other symptoms. Of all pathologies of the digestive tract, most patients suffer from this disease.
Many people underestimate the importance of early diagnosis of gastritis and consider it a minor deviation that does not require treatment. They think that the disease will not cause any harm and will gradually go away on its own without treatment. But if the treatment methods and diet are not implemented in time, the pathology can gradually develop into a peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum and malignant transformation.
Causative factors
Many studies have been conducted, statistics have been collected, according to which the basis for the development of inflammatory pathologies of the stomach is Helicobacter pylori. This is a bacteria that attacks the walls of the stomach and duodenum. Most people are only carriers of the bacterium, but under the influence of negative factors it begins to multiply actively, causing pathology. It is Helicobacter pylori that over time can lead to the development of atypical cells of the mucous membrane, which will cause malignant degeneration.
- Eating poor quality food. It includes fatty, fried, spicy, smoked and excessively salty foods. This type of food aggressively affects the walls of the stomach, causing an inflammatory process. Due to the damage, Helicobacter pylori begins to multiply actively.
- Kurenie. Nicotine and smog during smoking spread to the respiratory tract and digestive system. It negatively affects the mucous membranes, causes irritation and increased inflammation.
- Drinking large amounts of alcohol. This has a toxic effect on any tissue in the body, including the gastrointestinal tract. It leads to the appearance or intensification of inflammation.
- Stress. Great physical and emotional stress. These factors cause active production of cortisol. It leads to increased release of hydrochloric acid. If it acts on the walls of the stomach in the absence of a bolus of food, damage is caused.
If the patient is simultaneously affected by several factors, the disease progresses faster.
Clinical signs
In the initial stages, the patient and the doctor may not notice visual signs. The greater the damage, the more actively the inflammatory process develops.
- pain in the epigastric region, aggravated by anxiety, eating, hunger.
- nausea, vomiting that occurs regardless of food intake.
- constipation, diarrhea.
There are signs that can be used to determine whether a patient has gastrointestinal pathology.
- frequent occurrence of epigastric pain.
- point pain in the middle of the abdomen;
- heartburn;
- frequent belching;
- constipation, diarrhea;
- occasional nausea;
- vomiting for no reason;
- the presence of any gastrointestinal diseases in close relatives;
- presence of bad habits (smoking, frequent alcohol consumption, overeating).
- periodic use of a strict diet.
It is impossible to independently determine the diagnosis, since symptoms can be present in temporary disorders or other acute, chronic diseases. It is important to undergo an examination and diagnosis by a doctor who will prescribe conservative or radical treatment, depending on the developing lesion.
Diet
- Gastroenterologist;
- nutritionist.
It is better if these doctors work together to provide quality treatment.
- degree of mucosal membrane damage.
- the degree of spread of damage to various parts of the gastrointestinal tract.
- reasons for defeat.
After collecting complete information, a nutrition plan is drawn up. This is one of the fundamental methods of treatment that reduces the burden on the gastrointestinal tract.
- with high acidity;
- with low acidity.
Regardless of the type of diet chosen, the gastroenterologist should remind you of the fundamental principles of proper nutrition during the illness.
- I'm breaking up with you. The total volume of products that the patient must consume in 1 day is determined. It is divided into 6 parts, distributing meals evenly throughout the day. That is, the patient must eat food every 3 hours. You should not overeat or starve, as these factors adversely affect the state of the stomach. A portion of food is about the size of two palms.
- chew. The food consumed begins to be digested in the oral cavity under the influence of saliva, which contains enzymes. Therefore, it is important to chew each piece for a long time.
- Rest after eating. You need to sit and lie down for 30 minutes so that the digestive process can start without obstacles.
- Temperature. If an inflammatory process is suspected, eat warm food. It should not be excessively hot or cold.
- Water function. Drink at least 2 liters of water a day to maintain a stable water-electrolyte balance and prevent the development of dehydration. Drink water little by little throughout the day.
- Mandatory protein intake. Proteins are the building blocks of the body. Thanks to them, damaged tissues recover faster after gastritis.
- Prohibition of eating too hard food. It should not contain pieces that could injure the affected structure of the mucous membrane.
- Proper cooking. It is boiled, steamed, baked. No frying or smoking.
- Prohibition of alcohol consumption, caffeine, energy drinks, soda.
- Maintenance of vitamin concentrations. If they are normal, metabolism and metabolism are improved, the nervous system and the digestive system are strengthened. If there are not enough nutrients, multivitamin preparations are used.
The application of these rules reduces the load on the stomach during treatment.
Fruits with high acidity
Gastritis, accompanied by normal or high acidity, requires a special diet. It is necessary to monitor the temperature of the food: it is not recommended to eat food with a temperature higher than 40-50 ⁰C. Fruit can be eaten pureed, steamed, boiled, baked or boiled or in purees, mousses, jellies, jellies or compotes. It is not recommended to eat fruits with a high content of organic acids (pomegranates, citrus fruits, fresh apricots), unripe or sour fruits. During an outbreak, all fruits should be used only in pureed form. The rest of the time it is better to use:
- sweet apple varieties;
- avocado.
Fruits with low acidity
For the opposite form of gastritis, when acidity decreases, doctors recommend other fruits:
- citrus fruits - prevent the formation of malignant cells, keep acidity normal.
- Pomegranate and its juice help restore the gastric mucosa.
- peaches - promote the production of gastric juice, but can only be consumed by patients who are not allergic to fruits.
Caution! For any gastrointestinal pathology, it is important not to overload the stomach and follow the diet prescribed by the doctor.
Diet for gastritis with high acidity
- Excessive production of hydrochloric acid.
- increasing the acidity of hydrochloric acid.
Normally, hydrochloric acid is meant to break down stomach contents. But it must be within certain limits so as not to damage the body's own tissues.
- inflammation;
- corrosion;
- ulcer;
- perforation.
Gastritis can develop at different ages. A prolonged exposure to a harmful agent is enough to develop an inflammatory process. If the acidity of the gastric juice increases, you must follow a specific diet that reduces these indicators.
Caution! Many patients know that taking antacids reduces the acidity of gastric juice. However, it is forbidden to take these medicines on your own. They have contraindications and side effects.
When using a diet, it is important to follow certain rules in order to achieve success.
- Avoiding foods that cause or aggravate damage to the stomach walls. It is a food that contains plant fibers and solid elements. For example, cereals, rolls, bran, meat with strings. All food should be as soft and digestible as possible.
- Refusal of foods and drinks that cause an increase in the acidity of hydrochloric acid. For example, citrus fruits, canned goods, coffee, alcohol, soda.
- Eating food at hot temperature. Do not consume boiling water, hot liquids or food. Cold foods are also unacceptable. The optimal limits are 25-35 degrees.
If a patient's gastritis has seriously worsened and causes unbearable pain, it is necessary to start a strict diet immediately. This will significantly help to reduce the inflammatory process and allow the tissues to recover. Already on the 3rd day a person will feel relief. But this is possible only with the help of additional use of drugs prescribed by a doctor.
- low-fat chicken or vegetable broth with crackers, which can be replaced with soft porridge (for example, oatmeal).
- pasta soup with milk (hard pasta is allowed).
- boiled young potatoes without cream, salt.
- milk with a reduced fat content, so as not to cause an increased load on the gastrointestinal tract due to the appearance of a high concentration of lactose.
If there is a strong flare-up and sharp pain, each product is added gradually, in small portions. This will allow the digestive system to get used to it and will not cause negative reactions. But if the food causes nausea or increased pain, it is better to replace it with other types of food.
Once the acute period is over, the diet is resumed.
- boiled, baked eggs, contain a high concentration of protein (the yolk can be removed to limit the amount of fat).
- lean meat of chicken, rabbit, beef, which can be baked, boiled, steamed (remove the skin before cooking).
- fish and seafood, which contain a large amount of omega-3, which have a beneficial effect on the digestive system and the nervous system.
- milk that must be boiled first;
- soups with added grains (any grain except semolina is allowed);
- vegetables sold in the store depending on the season.
- fruits, which are recommended to be consumed between main meals, so as not to cause stress on the gastrointestinal tract, but not to leave the stomach empty.
- quality sausages;
- olive, sunflower oil;
- pasta and similar products made at home from natural minced meat and a thin layer of dough.
- offal, of which the liver has the most positive effect, as it contains a large amount of trace elements and vitamins.
- soft cheeses;
- honey, weak tea, herbal teas, dried fruit compote.
- Bakery products, muffins, fresh pastries.
- candies, chocolate;
- dairy products.
All of these foods increase stomach acidity. Carbohydrates negatively affect any part of the digestive system, causing strong acidity. This is a favorable environment for the proliferation of Helicobacter pylori. In addition, they refuse to chew gum, as hydrochloric acid is actively produced during its use. If there is too much, acid gastritis will intensify. This can lead to the formation of erosions and ulcers.
Diet for gastritis with low acidity
With this type of inflammatory process of the stomach, the concentration and acidity of hydrochloric acid decreases. Therefore, food is poorly digested, large pieces of food enter the intestines, which leads to a heavy load on it. This negatively affects the entire condition of the digestive tract. Typically, people aged 40 years and above suffer from such gastritis.
- atrophic condition of the gastric mucosa.
- tissue thinning;
- reduced function of parietal cells.
Gastritis with low acidity is one of the most dangerous diseases that is difficult to treat. Therefore, it is important to start treatment at an early stage, before a precancerous condition appears.
To correct the pathology, you need to consume foods that will stimulate the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. You also need to increase its acidity to process the food bolus.
Caution! It is necessary to increase the acidity at the same time and not burden the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, the use of fatty, spicy, fried, smoked foods, fast food and alcohol is prohibited, regardless of the fact that they increase acidity.
- before eating, drink 200 ml of slightly carbonated mineral water.
- chew the food well, gradually consuming each piece; the whole meal takes at least 30 minutes.
- Between meals it is recommended to eat fruits that increase acidity; you can pre-cook them so as not to cause stress.
- lean types of meat - chicken, turkey, rabbit, young veal.
- any type of fruit and vegetable that does not have a coarse fiber structure (citrus, white cabbage and cauliflower are recommended).
- vegetable and meat broths;
- a small concentration of carbohydrates in the form of sweets and pastries.
- all kinds of fermented milk products;
- canned foods;
- herbal decoctions, tea, berries and fruit compotes.
Since milk in any form reduces the acidity of gastric juice, it is forbidden to consume it during the preparation of a diet.
Gastritis is one of the most common digestive problems in the population. The disease can affect patients of any age. It can be prevented if you use the prevention rules. But if the pathology has already developed, it is important to undergo a timely diagnosis and start treatment to prevent the development of complications. Treatment is based on a proper and high-quality diet, improving lifestyle and avoiding bad habits. The diet is selected individually for each patient, depending on the degree of damage and the acidity of the gastric fluid.