Gastrointestinal Diseases Require The "diet Of The Third Millennium"

Author: Maryam Ayres Time for reading: ~8 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

Gastrointestinal Diseases Require The "diet Of The Third Millennium"

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

Inflammation of the intestines leads to unpleasant consequences that can be prevented or controlled with a proper diet.

The interview is part of the series "Nutrition - part of the treatment" of the "Helping Health" Foundation in Puls.bg

- What is the role of nutrition in the treatment of the digestive system?

Nutrition is the main way in which gastrointestinal diseases can be prevented and treated. To achieve a really good result in treatment, we must look for the reasons why the problem arose. And especially in these diseases, the main factor that triggers them is improper nutrition - what, how much, when we consume and how we prepare food. There are also concomitant factors such as smoking, stress, coffee, alcohol, which further damage the digestive system.

- What are the main diseases of the stomach and intestines, the root cause of which is poor nutrition?

One of the most common gastrointestinal diseases is chronic gastritis, which is an inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It occurs and becomes chronic in recurrent eating errors. Another disease is gastro-phase reflux, in which food cannot pass to the duodenum, but returns to the esophagus, which is accompanied by heartburn, burning, belching, discomfort after eating. Gastric and duodenal ulcers are also common gastrointestinal diseases. They are often accompanied by inflammation of the small intestine or colon. And they can manifest themselves. Inflammation of the colon (colon) can be expressed in chronic colitis, which has several forms - spastic colitis, which is accompanied by flatulence, bloating, heaviness and discomfort; and easily irritated colon,

Another type of injury is polyps and diverticula of the colon, which can become complicated and lead to inflammatory processes, intestinal obstruction and surgery. When food is not digested well, we have an irritable bowel with frequent diarrhea. With simultaneous inflammation of the small intestine and colon, we have enterocolitis.

One of the most severe and incurable diseases is Crohn's disease - an autoimmune disease in which ulcers form in the bowel with blood, mucus and pus. It is accompanied by severe pain, weight loss, fatigue, anemia.

All of these diseases are associated with the consumption of inappropriate foods and inappropriate combinations, with insufficient chewing, with the lack of a 4-5 hour interval between meals, which ensures good digestion, with a late dinner, which requires twice as much time for digestion. When we eat dinner after 7 pm, the digestive system needs twice as much time to process the food - instead of four hours, it needs eight hours. This means that at night the food ferments and instead of resting the stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys, brain work. That is why in the morning people wake up tired. The very fermentation of food at night leads to the diseases I have listed.

- How to change our eating habits to cure already existing diseases of the digestive system?

First of all, we need to know which are the most appropriate foods. They are five groups known as the "third millennium diet." They are all rich in vitamin C, cellulose, B-group vitamins. They do not have saturated fat, do not carry antibiotics, hormones, cancer viruses, nor do they increase uric acid and cholesterol. The first group of foods includes fruits. The second group are vegetables. The third group - whole grain cereals - includes wheat, bulgur, einkorn, oats, millet, buckwheat plus imported chia, amaranth, quinoa and others. The fourth group are legumes and the fifth group - raw nuts: walnuts, almonds, sunflowers, pumpkin seeds, cashews and many others.

These are the ideal five food groups that provide the body with all proteins, carbohydrates, and in their best form - complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals.

- How many times is it good to eat?

There are various recommendations, but the best way to match the physiology of our body involves two or three meals a day. Two meals a day is a good option. It is no coincidence that the saying goes: eat breakfast alone, share lunch with friends, and give dinner to enemies. But eating three meals a day is also healthy. There is another saying for him: have breakfast like a king, have lunch like a queen, have dinner like a beggar. Dinner is the easiest meal, and earlier - before 19 hours, so that the food can be digested and when we go to bed, we should already have a completely free stomach and duodenum to avoid the fermentation of food. Then we will sleep peacefully and in the morning we will wake up rested.

It is a very important habit to chew well when eating. This means that the taken bite turns into a porridge, into a juice. The more teeth we have in our mouth - about 30, the more times we have to chew one bite. Only well-chewed food is fully digested, with all its useful ingredients. Otherwise we can eat the food quickly and not charge us with its useful substances at all. And from the rough mechanical irritation of undigested food to get inflammation of the stomach and intestines.

I usually recommend preparing flaxseed water: boil one tablespoon of flaxseed in a liter of chlorinated water, boil for 5-10 minutes and after it cools, strain it. Flaxseed water is drunk half an hour before a meal in a glass of 250 ml, because it protects the inflamed lining of the stomach, duodenum and intestines from mechanical and chemical irritation of food. Before breakfast we can drink a tea cup of freshly squeezed apple juice. You can add to it the juice of pear and pumpkin and any other fruit. The apple is the most suitable fruit because it contains pectin, vitamin C and other useful substances. But before the apple juice we drink a glass of flaxseed water, ie. 40-50 minutes before breakfast. And it is from 8 am to 8.30 am, lunch is from 1 pm to 1.30 pm, and dinner is from 6 pm to 6.30 pm or from 6.30 pm to 7 pm, which means a 4-5 hour interval between meals. We must observe this interval and between meals not to take anything but water, flaxseed water, flavored with a little lemon and honey herbal tea - from rose hips, mint, linden blossom and other good Bulgarian herbs. If the inflammation is more acute, add a little lemon juice. Then it is good that flaxseed water predominates.

The juice before lunch can be from carrots, from potatoes - soothes the inflamed lining of the stomach and has a good restorative effect on gastritis, ulcers and inflammation of the intestines. The juice from the head or leaves of celery has an alkalizing and generally healing effect on the stomach. In the phase of exacerbation of gastritis is good to eat Moro soup of potatoes, onions, carrots, oatmeal or noodles. When it is removed from the heat, add parsley or dill and when served, add olive oil and a few drops of lemon. The amount of lemon depends on the severity of the inflammation. If it is very pronounced, we may not add lemon. But the role of lemon is to achieve the acidity of the stomach at which proteins are best absorbed. Especially in people who often eat concentrated proteins - meat, cheese, cheese, the acidity cannot reach that level at which the proteins are processed. When this does not happen, the sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach cannot close. And when it is not closed, the food returns to the esophagus and causes pain, burning, heartburn. The simplest solution for heartburn instead of drinking soda is to drink lemon juice. To protect the mucous membrane before eating we have already drunk flaxseed water. The necessary level of acidity in the stomach is reached through the lemon juice and the sphincter is closed. The result is a quality digestion of proteins. The simplest solution for heartburn instead of drinking soda is to drink lemon juice. To protect the mucous membrane before eating we have already drunk flaxseed water. The necessary level of acidity in the stomach is reached through the lemon juice and the sphincter is closed. The result is a quality digestion of proteins. The simplest solution for heartburn instead of drinking soda is to drink lemon juice. To protect the mucous membrane before eating we have already drunk flaxseed water. The necessary level of acidity in the stomach is reached through the lemon juice and the sphincter is closed. The result is a quality digestion of proteins.

- What should people with Crohn's disease consume, especially during an exacerbation?

The first 2-3 days can be left only on alkalizing juices at lunch and dinner. To these can be added Moro soup (fat-free), which is nutritious, alkalizing and most gentle on the mucous membranes. It is very suitable, especially for disorders. Boiled or baked potatoes are also suitable. Good effect has mint tea, rose hips, combined with cabbage juice, carrot juice. In the first one to three days the patient is on juices, tea and flaxseed water and in the next few days he adds Moro soup until the acute phase is controlled. This is both a treatment and nutrition of the body. It is best for patients to continue to eat this way, gradually including whole grain rice with vegetables. In the soup add cauliflower, broccoli, brown rice. At first, the rice may be white until the crisis is over. In about 10-15 days the crisis is controlled, the pain and diarrhea stop.

- What can we expect from the observance of the regime?

I had a particularly severe case 4 years ago. A man with eight bowel movements with pus and mucus, with constant pain, without strength, lost weight. As a result of this diet, after a month he felt much better, and in the third month he went to work. This person is accustomed to eating only the good five food groups, chewing well, observing the intervals between meals and not forgetting about flaxseed water and alkalizing juices. So he has already regained his weight.

Each case is individual. Some people have a combination of gastrointestinal and other diseases or have long-term suffering in old age. In addition, we are fighting the bad habits - smoking, drinking coffee, etc., so that there is a complete recovery of the body and good health in the future.