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Gastritis Food Tips – The Best and Worst Foods

Gastritis is the inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach, which doubles as its protective lining. It occurs in two forms – acute and chronic. Acute gastritis [1] occurs when the inflammation arises suddenly giving outbursts of severe pain but the pain is usually short lived and self-limiting though it may recur. It can be caused by a variety of factors unhealthy diet, poor-quality food, excessive alcohol consumption, and smoking, lack of vitamins and protein, proliferation of Helicobacter pylori, long-term medication and stress. Chronic gastritis [2] on the other hand, involve a long term inflammation of the gastric mucosa gradually wearing away the stomach’s protective covering. If left untreated gastritis may lead to gastric ulcers and further lead to precancerous changes in the stomach, eventually give rise to stomach cancer. It can be caused by factors like chronic stress, chronic alcoholism and medications like NSAIDs. Symptoms of gastritis include: melania stool (black stool), nausea, vomiting and indigestion. The treatment of gastritis depends largely on what caused it, options like antibiotic therapy, antacids and proton pump inhibitors are common therapeutic options. Irrespective of the therapeutic option, it is important to supplement treatment with an adjuvant dietary plan as poor diets will worsen gastritis symptoms.

Gastritis Diet

Nutrition plays an important role in the management of gastritis. It is important to know and follow a diet that is best done by consulting a doctor. Basically, for any type of gastritis disease, the frequency of consumption of food also matters a lot, it is best to eat at the same time, every three hours, dividing by 4-6 times. It can be more beneficial to eat small food in bits frequently than eating a large piece 3 times daily. You will also have to embrace a new type of diet and deliberately avoid foods that may worsen the condition. It should be noted that diets are adjuncts to therapy and not in themselves therapeutic.