Gastritis is the name given to an inflammatory process in the stomach lining, which inevitably leads to digestive problems. A person begins to digest food poorly, as a result his health deteriorates and weakness and lethargy appear. According to statistics, about half of the entire population of our country experiences 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, as proper nutrition is a large part of the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. If you have gastritis, you should always follow a gentle diet and if your health improves, you can only gradually return to your normal eating habits. In some cases, doctors prescribe a personalized diet for gastritis.
It is also necessary to remember that with gastritis an 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 types can be accompanied by both high and low gastric acidity. Acute gastritis is of the following types:
- fibrous (emphasis with the appearance of infectious diseases);
- catarrhal (with a violation of the integrity of the outer mucosa of the stomach);
- phlegmonous (causes a purulent inflammatory process on the stomach walls);
- corrosive (one of the side effects of poisoning).
Chronic diseases, on the other hand, come in the following forms:
- superficial;
- hypertrophy;
- polyposis;
- bacteria;
- granulomatous;
- autoimmunity.
Another type of chronic gastritis is typical for those who have damage to the stomach walls due to the systematic consumption of alcohol in large quantities.
The main principles of the diet for gastritis
Remember that the right diet for gastritis is the key to successfully overcoming symptoms. If the acidity of the gastric juice increases, then you need to eat foods that help reduce its activity. Follow three rules:
- Mechanical principle. Avoid foods that contain coarse fiber. Such products include onions, beef and bran. In addition, dishes cooked in oil are strictly prohibited.
- Chemical principle. Avoid foods that can increase gastric secretions. This list includes alcohol, sparkling water, citrus fruits (including their juices), coffee, black bread, cabbage and rich meat broth.
- Heat police. Do not eat food that is at a very high or very low temperature. They irritate the esophagus and cold food stays in the stomach longer than usual.
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;
- egg white omelette;
- oatmeal and buckwheat porridge;
- milk;
- zucchini, pumpkin, tomatoes, carrots, various vegetables;
- berries with a high sugar content;
- cooked and pureed fruits.
What should be missing from the diet?
If you have been diagnosed with gastritis caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, it is not advisable to prescribe a diet for yourself. Be sure to consult with a gastroenterologist or nutritionist so that gastritis treatment is consistent and effective.
With this disease, the menu should not include:
- Freshly baked, especially rye bread, as well as puff pastry. Instead, it is better to eat white bread, regular cookies and pies.
- Soups with rich broth, including mushroom soup, cabbage soup and borscht. Such dishes should be replaced by 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 from boiled or steamed meat (cutlets, meatballs). Allowed types of meat are chicken and lamb.
- Hard-boiled eggs and fried omelettes. They should be replaced by soft-boiled eggs and steamed omelettes.
- All salty and spicy 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 this can worsen your health. However, you should not completely remove these products from the menu. Avoid foods that can stimulate stomach acid production and choose acid-reducing foods. By eating right, you are more likely to lose some weight than gain weight. Below is a table showing permitted and prohibited products:
| Vegetables: carrots, pumpkin, potatoes, beets. Light vegetable salad. Tomatoes: ripe, chopped. Cucumber without skin. | Greenery. |
| Fruits: non-acidic, ripe, without skin (banana, pear, apple). It is best to eat fruit not raw, but baked. Watermelons and melons - in very limited quantities. | Fried potatoes, pickled foods, sauerkraut. |
| Milk (from cow or goat), cream, yogurt. Fresh cottage cheese. | Sour cream, kefir, hard cheese. |
| Soup with broth. | Cabbage soup and borscht in a rich broth. |
| Pasta | Legumes |
| Boiled chicken or rabbit meat, lean river fish. | Smoked meat, fish and meat with a high fat content, canned food. |
| Oatmeal and buckwheat | Dried fruits |
| Soft boiled eggs. | Chocolate |
| Biscuits, white bread (that has been out for a few days), dry biscuits. | Hard-boiled eggs, fried omelette. |
| Weak tea and coffee, cocoa with added milk. | Rye and freshly baked bread. Cakes, confectionery with cream filling. |
Low acidity diet
In such a situation, you need to eat differently than in the previous case. You need to eat foods that promote gastric secretion. The table below shows dishes that are suitable for indulgence. If you have a lot of pain in your stomach, you need to exclude from the menu dishes that irritate the stomach tissue.
Vegetables: baked potatoes, tomatoes, vegetables, carrots, beets, pumpkin, pickles.
Diet for gastritis - general recommendations
Patients with gastritis should exclude spices used in the cooking process from the menu. You can improve the taste of food with fresh herbs (parsley, dill, celery). Vegetables will also help add vitamins to your diet: try to season as many dishes as you eat with finely chopped vegetables.
You need to eat small meals, but avoid snacks; that way, the stomach will not have difficulty digesting food. Chew your food thoroughly and eat slowly. Food eaten in a hurry can worsen your health and increase stomach inflammation. Chew your food until it turns into an easily digestible paste.
Do not forget that proper and balanced nutrition is the key to treating gastritis. Many patients who followed a strict diet during treatment report that it helped them overcome all symptoms and pain associated with this disease within 4 weeks.
Important: before use, read the instructions or contact your doctor.
What to eat for gastritis in the stomach?
Symptoms of gastritis
Gastritis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the stomach lining, which leads to pain, loss of appetite and other symptoms. Of all diseases of the digestive tract, most patients suffer from this disease.
Many people underestimate the importance of timely diagnosis of gastritis and consider it a minor abnormality that does not require treatment. They think that the disease will not cause any harm and will gradually disappear on its own, without treatment. But if treatment methods and diet are not applied in time, the pathology can gradually develop into 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 of the development of inflammatory diseases in the stomach is Helicobacter pylori. This is a bacterium 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 in the mucosa, causing malignant degeneration.
- Eating bad food. It contains fatty, fried, spicy, smoked and excessively salty foods. This type of food has an aggressive effect on the walls of the stomach, causing an inflammatory process. Because of the damage, Helicobacter pylori begins to multiply actively.
- Kurenie. Nicotine and secondhand smoke from smoking are distributed in the respiratory and digestive tracts. It has a negative effect on the mucous membrane, causing irritation and increased inflammation.
- Drink large amounts of alcohol. This has a toxic effect on any tissue in the body, including the digestive tract. It leads to the occurrence or increase of inflammation.
- Stress. A lot of physical and mental and emotional stress. These factors cause the active production of cortisol. It leads to increased release of hydrochloric acid. If it acts on the walls of the stomach without receiving a dose of food, damage will occur.
If the patient is simultaneously affected by several factors, the disease develops faster.
Clinical features
In the early stages, the patient and the doctor may not notice the visual symptoms. The greater the damage, the more actively the inflammatory process develops.
- pain in the stomach, aggravated by stress, eating, hunger;
- nausea, vomiting that occurs regardless of food intake;
- constipation, diarrhea.
There are markers that can be used to determine if a patient has gastrointestinal pathology.
- frequent frequency of pain in the stomach;
- point pain in center of abdomen;
- heartburn;
- frequent belching;
- constipation, diarrhea;
- occasional nausea;
- vomiting without reason;
- the presence of any gastrointestinal diseases in close relatives;
- presence of bad habits (smoking, frequent alcohol consumption, overeating);
- regular use of a strict diet.
It is impossible to determine the diagnosis independently, as symptoms may 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 lesion.
Diet
- gastroenterologist;
- nutritionist.
It is better if these doctors work together to provide good treatment.
- damage to the mucous membrane;
- the degree of spread of the lesion to different parts of the digestive tract;
- the reasons for the defeat.
After complete information has been collected, a nutritional plan is made. This is one of the basic treatment methods that reduces the stress on the digestive tract.
- with high acidity;
- with low acidity.
Regardless of the type of diet chosen, the gastroenterologist should remind you of the basic principles of proper diet during illness.
- Break up. The total amount of products that the patient should consume in 1 day is highlighted. It is divided into 6 parts, spreading the meals evenly throughout the day. That is, the patient must eat food every 3 hours. You should not overeat or starve, as these factors have a negative effect on the condition of the stomach. One serving of food is about the volume of two palms.
- Chew. The ingested food begins to be digested in the oral cavity under the influence of saliva containing 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 digestion process starts without obstacles.
- Temperature. If an inflammatory process is suspected, eat hot food. It should not be too hot or cold.
- Water mode. Drink at least 2 liters of water a day to maintain a constant balance of water and electrolytes and prevent dehydration. Drink water little by little throughout the day.
- Mandatory protein intake. Proteins are the building blocks of the body. Thanks to them, tissue damage recovers faster after gastritis.
- Ban on eating too coarse food. It should not contain pieces that could harm the relevant structure of the mucous membrane.
- Proper cooking. It is boiled, steamed, baked. It is forbidden to fry or smoke.
- Ban on alcohol consumption, caffeine, energy drinks, soda.
- Maintain vitamin concentration. If they are normal, metabolism and metabolism improve, the nervous system and the digestive tract are strengthened. If there are not enough nutrients, multivitamin preparations are used.
The application of these rules reduces the stress on the stomach during treatment.
Fruits with high acidity
Gastritis, accompanied by normal or high acidity, requires special nutrition. It is necessary to monitor the temperature of food: it is not recommended to eat food with a temperature above 40-50 ⁰C. Fruit can be consumed pureed, steamed, boiled, baked or stewed, or in a puree, mousse, jelly, jelly or compote. It is not recommended to consume fruits with a high content of organic acids (pomegranates, citrus fruits, fresh apricots), unripe or acidic fruits. During an exacerbation, all fruits should only be used in pureed form. The rest of the time is better to use:
- sweet varieties of apples;
- avocado.
Fruits with low acidity
For the opposite form of gastritis, when acidity is reduced, 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 they can be eaten only by patients who are not allergic to fruits.
Attention! 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;
- an increase in 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;
- weathering;
- wounds;
- perforation
Gastritis can develop at different ages. Prolonged exposure to harmful factors is enough for an inflammatory process to occur. If the acidity of gastric juice increases, you need to follow a certain diet that reduces these indicators.
Attention! Many patients know that taking antacids lowers 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 results.
- Avoid foods that cause or worsen damage to the stomach lining. This is a food that contains fiber and solids. For example, grains, buns, bran, string meat. All food should be as mild as possible and easily digestible.
- Refusal of foods and drinks that cause an increase in the acidity of hydrochloric acid. For example, citrus fruits, canned food, coffee, alcohol, soda.
- Eating food at hot temperatures. Do not consume boiling water, hot liquids or food. Cold food is also unacceptable. The best limit is 25-35 degrees.
If the patient's gastritis has worsened significantly and causes unbearable pain, it is necessary to immediately start a strict diet. This will help to significantly 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, in order not to cause increased stress on the digestive tract due to the appearance of a high concentration of lactose.
If there is a severe exacerbation and acute pain, each product is added gradually, in small doses. This will allow the digestive tract to get used to it and will not cause a negative reaction. But if food causes nausea or increased pain, it is better to replace it with other types of food.
As soon as the acute period is over, the diet is resumed.
- boiled, baked eggs, they contain a high concentration of proteins (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 has a beneficial effect on the digestive tract and nervous system;
- milk that needs to be boiled first;
- soups with added grains (all grains are allowed except semolina);
- vegetables that are sold in the store according to the season;
- fruits, which are recommended to be consumed between main meals, in order not to cause stress on the digestive tract, but not to leave the stomach empty;
- quality sausages;
- olive oil, sunflower oil;
- dumplings and similar products prepared at home from natural mince and a thin layer of dough;
- offal, of which the liver has the most positive effect, as it contains a large amount of micronutrients and vitamins;
- soft cheeses;
- honey, weak tea, herbal tea, dried fruit compote.
- bakery products, muffins, fresh pastries;
- sweets, chocolate;
- dairy products.
All of these foods increase stomach acid levels. Carbohydrates have a negative effect on any part of the digestive tract, causing strong acidity. This is a favorable environment for the proliferation of Helicobacter pylori. Additionally, chewing gum is avoided, as hydrochloric acid is actively produced when using it. If there is too much of it, acid reflux will intensify. This can lead to the formation of erosions and ulcers.
Diet for gastritis with low acidity
With this type of inflammatory process in the stomach, the concentration and acidity of hydrochloric acid decreases. As a result, food is poorly digested, large pieces of food get into the intestines, which leads to a lot of stress on it. This has a negative effect on the entire condition of the digestive tract. Usually people aged 40 years and above suffer from such gastritis.
- atrophic state of the gastric mucosa;
- tissue thinning;
- impaired parietal cell function.
Gastritis with low acidity is one of the most dangerous diseases that are difficult to treat. Therefore, it is important to start treatment at an early stage, before the pre-cancer occurs.
To correct the pathology, you need to consume foods that stimulate the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. You also need to increase its acidity so that the alimentary canal is processed.
Attention! It is necessary to simultaneously increase acidity and not put a strain on the digestive tract. Therefore, it is forbidden to use fatty, spicy, fried, smoked food, fast food and alcohol, regardless of the fact that they increase acidity.
- before eating, drink 200 ml of slightly carbonated mineral water;
- chew food thoroughly, consume each piece gradually; the whole meal takes at least 30 minutes;
- In between meals, it is recommended to eat fruits that increase acidity; you can pre-bake them to avoid stress.
- lean types of meat - chicken, turkey, rabbit, young veal;
- all types of fruits and vegetables that do not have a coarse fiber structure (citrus fruits, cabbage and cauliflower are recommended);
- vegetable and meat broth;
- low concentration of carbohydrates in the form of sweets and baked goods;
- any fermented milk products;
- canned food;
- herbal tea, tea, berry and fruit compote.
Since milk in any form reduces the acidity of gastric juice, it is forbidden to consume it when preparing a diet.
Gastritis is one of the most common digestive problems among the population. The disease can affect patients of all ages. It can be prevented if you use the rules of prevention. But if the pathology has already developed, it is important to undergo a timely diagnosis and start treatment to prevent complications. The treatment is based on a proper and high-quality diet, improved lifestyle and avoiding bad habits. The diet is selected individually for each patient, depending on the damage and acidity of gastric juice.