What you can and cannot eat if your stomach hurts

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

These rules will help you maintain strength and speed up your recovery.

Everyone experiences an upset stomach and the accompanying pain in the stomach from time to time. Gastrointestinal problems can have a variety of causes, from food poisoning to rotavirus infection (intestinal flu), gastritis, or gallstones. And all these reasons require an individual approach to treatment.

If abdominal pain is palpable, does not go away for several hours, or appears regularly, you should consult your doctor - therapist or gastroenterologist. He will diagnose and prescribe treatment. Well, he will also tell you how to eat in order to alleviate the condition and stress on the gastrointestinal tract.

The principles of such nutrition can be applied independently by Upset Stomach - University Health Services - UW – Madison. But only if you are sure that the discomfort is associated with mild poisoning or rotavirus infection. In any other case, it is better to consult a doctor after all.

When you need not think about food, but urgently seek help

Here are the signs of Abdominal pain when to see a doctor that abdominal pain is dangerous.

• Severe soreness arose after a blow to the abdomen.
• The pain is accompanied by a tight feeling or chest pain.
• Severe, sharp pain lasts longer than a few minutes and does not get better.
• Together with the pain, a high temperature appeared - above 38, 5 ° C.
• Constantly vomiting or vomiting.
• There is blood in the urine, stool, or vomit.
• The skin has acquired a yellow tint.
• It hurts to touch the stomach.
• The abdomen looks swollen.
• You are pregnant and the pain is accompanied by bleeding from the vagina.

For these symptoms, dial 103 or 112 immediately, or go to the nearest emergency room.

And only if there are no dangerous signs, but you want to eat, you can try to eat something light. According to the following rules.

How exactly to eat

Principles and therapeutic diets The standards of diet therapy for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, aimed at improving the condition of chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, and sparing 5 lifestyle tips for a healthy tummy nutrition are generally the same. Here they are.

• Small portions. The digestive system is already not good, do not overload it with work. It is better to eat more often (for example, five to six times a day instead of the usual three), but little by little.
• Soft consistency. Food should be liquid, crushed, or soft, boiled, baked, or steamed rather than fried. Serve solid foods as mashed potatoes. Chew food thoroughly if for some reason you cannot grind or grind it.
• Body temperature. To facilitate digestion, heat food to a body temperature of 36–38 ° C.
• Adequate amount of liquid. Diarrhea or vomiting, which often accompanies abdominal pain, can lead to dehydration. WHO recommends Water Requirements, Impinging Factors, and Recommended Intakes to drink at least 2.7 liters of water a day if you are a woman, and 3.7 liters if a man.

What can you eat

For each disease of the digestive system, there is a different diet. And if the doctor lists what foods you can and cannot eat, listen carefully and remember. In diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, proper nutrition is no less important than medication.

If we are talking about a banal indigestion, you can borrow from therapeutic diets foods and dishes that are easiest to digest and provide the body with the necessary energy.

• Bouillon. Clear vegetable or low-fat broth is a great first course for those who are just feeling better after bouts of stomach pain and nausea. Boil it with minimal salt and no spices.
• Bananas. This is the first element of the so-called BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast - bananas, rice, applesauce, croutons), which is considered to be as gentle as possible. Bananas are soft, high in calories, and also high in potassium, which Mom's Advice Is Still the Best for Treating Diarrhea needs to restore salt balance if you've had vomiting or diarrhea.
• Rice. Plain white rice, cooked until soft. It is low in fiber, digests quickly and easily, provides the body with energy and, like a banana, improves diarrhea.
• Baked apple puree. Apples contain a lot of pectin, thanks to which the puree will have a mild astringent effect and help to cope with diarrhea. In addition, it is easy to digest and contains many beneficial substances.
• Crackers. Better white bread or rolls. Whole grain breads with indigestible fiber will not please your tired intestines.

What you can't eat

While the abdominal discomfort continues, skip the following foods.

• Everything is spicy and spicy. Forget about spices, pickles, smoked meats, pickled and canned foods until healthier times: they irritate the walls of an already irritated stomach and intestines.
• Fresh vegetables and fruits. They have a lot of coarse fiber, which means they are difficult to digest.
• Dairy products. Especially fatty and fermented milk. If you really feel like it, you can try skim milk or unsweetened and low-fat yogurt. But just a little bit.
• Fried and fatty. In general, try to eat less fat, because the body spends a lot of energy on their digestion.
• Eggs. It's not that simple with eggs. Steam omelets without yolks can be used for almost any disease, but boiled eggs and yolks are far from always.

What is important to remember

On a sparing diet, you should not stay too long: it does not contain enough calories and essential nutrients. As soon as you feel better, return Infectious Diseases A – Z: How to tell if your upset stomach is a viral infection to your usual diet.

And carefully monitor your well-being. If the painful sensations in the abdomen do not subside after 1-2 days, and even more so if they become more noticeable and become overgrown with other symptoms - fever, increased nausea and vomiting, weakness, palpitations, blood in the urine or feces, immediately contact a therapist, gastroenterologist or (depending on the severity of the symptoms) call an ambulance. Such signs may indicate a developing appendicitis or an inflammatory process in one of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract. This is dangerous, so don't waste time on a home diet - you definitely need the help of specialists.