Modern women are so busybuilding a career and earning money, that in the inevitable hustle and bustle of everyday life in a metropolis, they sometimes cannot even eat properly. Due to their busy schedules at work, they have to give up full meals in favor of short "snacks" on the go. Low-quality products, insufficiently purified water, bad habits and other negative factors also have a destructive effect on the human body, daily worsening its health. In such an environment, gastritis has become one of the most common diseases of the twenty-first century. But the main role in this issue is played by the show industry, dictating the fashion for thinness. Unfortunately, this forces girls and women of all ages to exhaust themselves with all sorts of diets to lose weight. Such experiments also lead to an increase in the number of gastroenterology patients. The Internet is teeming with quotes from the series: "The perfect diet! I started eating once a day, but plentifully, and in two months I lost fourteen kilograms. True, I got atrophic gastritis, but at least I achieved my goal! " Such a blasphemous attitude towards one's own body is horrifying, since it is very easy to harm one's health with an unreasonably chosen menu. And sometimes it is simply impossible to correct the current situation. Remember, a diet for weight loss has never brought any benefit to anyone. Perhaps you will lose an extra five to ten kilograms, but then you will have to allocate time and money for treatment.
Gastritis: why there were stomach problems
This disease has many forms and manifestations,differing in their properties and signs. Acute, chronic, superficial, atrophic, erosive, antral gastritis - almost each of us is familiar with this firsthand. As well as other various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, which are found in medical reports, medical books, printed and electronic sources of information. Sometimes it is difficult for a person who does not have a medical education to navigate this diversity and distinguish one form of the disease from another. Our article is intended to help readers with this. But remember that treatment should only be carried out by a doctor. By the way, a diet for your specific case is also developed by him. What is gastritis Gastritis is a disease of the stomach, accompanied by damage to its lining. Such inflammation (focal or diffuse) can appear as a result of the effect on the mucous membrane of too spicy food, too strong alcoholic drinks, poor-quality products, etc. A common prerequisite for the development of gastritis is a systematic violation of the diet - irregular meals and long (about 5-6 hours) intervals between meals. Severe stress and neuropsychic tension also contribute to the development of this disease. Today, doctors distinguish between acute and chronic gastritis. The main manifestations of acute gastritis are pain of varying intensity in the stomach area, discomfort in the epigastric region, a feeling of buckwheat in the mouth, belching, nausea. Most often, symptoms appear on average 2-3 hours after eating and are accompanied by increased salivation, rumbling in the stomach, loose stools and severe urges to vomit, which can bring relief (naturally, temporary). Another important sign is aversion to food, combined with headache, general weakness and fever. The symptoms of the disease are especially pronounced when products contaminated with pathogenic bacteria enter the body. Most often, these are poorly cooked meat and fish, salads made from poorly washed ingredients, spoiled confectionery products – profiteroles, choux pastries and cream cakes.
Diet for gastritis What is a diet?This is not only a restriction of harmful products, but also the inclusion of healthy food in the diet. Eat a complete, rational and varied diet of vitamin-rich vegetables and fruits. Replace your morning coffee with sandwiches with freshly squeezed juice with fruit salad, filled with kefir or yogurt - give yourself such joy at least on weekends. After all, a diet is not the end of life, but the beginning of a new one, where there is no place for pain. Proper treatment and a strict diet - all this together will help to overcome acute gastritis. In this case, the patient is usually shown liquid warm food - low-fat lean soup or broth, sweet tea, compote or jelly, fermented baked milk or kefir. Later, thin porridge, cream soup, mashed potatoes, soft-boiled eggs, steamed cutlets are allowed to be added to the menu. After a certain period of time (usually 2-3 weeks), vegetables, cottage cheese, boiled meat, steamed fish are included. This is done under the condition of constant improvement of health and good tolerance of consumed products. Please note that the diet should be followed even after your treatment is over. Chronic gastritis is more common among the urban population, and its treatment is considered more complex, expensive and time-consuming. The problem is that in supermarkets and markets it is quite difficult to find products that would not consist of various additives and chemicals. As mentioned above, gastritis occurs mainly due to improper nutrition, which leads to deterioration in the production of gastric juice by the digestive tract. Dry food (sandwiches, hamburgers, pastries, etc.), fasting, failure to follow at least an approximate meal schedule, abuse of spices when preparing dishes, reading during meals, insufficient chewing of food. All of the above at least once in her life, every representative of the fair sex did. And with systematic repetition, this disease occurs. Abuse of alcoholic beverages also plays an important role. As a consequence - damage to the gastric mucosa and subsequent anatomical changes. Gastritis is often caused by smoking (especially on an empty stomach) and improper medication intake. You should not self-medicate if you do not have a medical education. Taking various medications and drugs without a doctor's prescription, in particular, antipyretics, is a sure way to develop problems with the stomach and your health in general. Factors contributing to the development of the disease include foci of infection in the oral cavity (caries, inflammation of the tonsils, erosive or ulcerative lesions of the tongue, etc.), diseases of the pancreas, gallbladder, and liver.
Symptomatics and Diagnosis of Chronic Gastritis
Symptoms of chronic gastritis include pain"under the pit of the stomach", belching and heartburn, a feeling of fullness and distension in the abdomen, bouts of nausea, unstable stool (alternating diarrhea with constipation). During an exacerbation, these symptoms usually intensify. Patients with chronic gastritis need qualified help, constant medical supervision and effective treatment. A mandatory condition is almost lifelong adherence to the prescribed menu. The diet may change depending on your condition. Of course, sometimes you can treat yourself to delicious things, but everything should be in moderation. Additional measures such as treatment in specialized health resorts, including therapeutic physical training, special physiotherapeutic procedures, a diet with the use of mineral waters will contribute to recovery. The most popular resorts for gastritis patients are Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), Truskavets (Ukraine), Borjomi (Georgia), as well as Pyatigorsk, Zheleznovodsk and Kislovodsk (Russia). This list can go on and on. Fortunately, the choice is huge, so in this case everything depends only on you, your requirements and preferences, time and financial capabilities.
- Atrophic gastritis
Usually, two main forms of flow are distinguishedchronic gastritis - focal and atrophic. In the first case, there is a complete or partial lesion of the upper layers of the gastric mucosa, which does not have particularly serious consequences, since it does not affect secretion. Atrophic gastritis, on the contrary, is dangerous to health, because it leads to thinning of the stomach walls and a decrease in the number of secretory glands. This, in turn, causes a violation of the production of gastric juice. Atrophic gastritis is considered the most serious and difficult to treat, it is even called a "precancerous condition". Atrophic gastritis occurs in about 20% of cases. It should be noted that this disease is getting much "younger". This endemic is increasingly found in modern representatives of the fair sex, and by no means elderly. "Atrophic gastritis" is a morphological diagnosis, the establishment of which is preceded by a number of examinations. This can be, for example, an analysis of gastric juice, which is done to determine the level of acidity, an X-ray of the abdominal cavity (stomach, in particular), an immunological blood test. The causes of atrophic gastritis are varied – from the negative impact of coarse food on the stomach to advanced inflammations left without proper treatment. We do not like to visit hospitals, we try to get rid of the disease on our own. And this only makes it worse. The symptoms of atrophic gastritis are similar to the signs of chronic gastritis, which were described above. To the previously mentioned list, we can add weakness, excessive sweating, deterioration of general health (including weakness) after eating. At the same time, pain is almost completely absent. When the disease progresses, the patient may begin to complain of weight loss, deterioration of vision, hair loss, peeling nails. This is caused by a violation of the absorption of compounds and microelements from food that are useful for the body (atrophic gastritis has a strong effect on the human immune system).
- Antral gastritis
The most common form isGastritis of the antral part of the stomach, which is also called group B gastritis or antral gastritis. Such a diagnosis is also morphological (it is made based on the results of gastroscopy or gastrobiopsy). It is worth mentioning erosive (or erosive) antral gastritis, in which superficial ulceration (erosion) of the gastric mucosa occurs, which causes a lot of discomfort to the patient. The diagnosis of "superficial antral gastritis" is often found in young people. This disease also refers to types of chronic gastritis. The cause of its occurrence is licobacter pylori bacteria. Remember, you cannot determine by eye that you have this infection. You need to consult an experienced specialist. It is unlikely that you will figure out the difference between atrophic and focal gastritis on your own. And if you start treating yourself at random, listening to the advice of friends, you will only worsen your condition. After all, the symptoms in this case can be similar. Chronic antral gastritis, which is a superficial disease of the stomach, is characterized by increased acidity of the gastric juice. Please note that this disease is often asymptomatic. Individual measures for the prevention of gastritis include control over the food you buy (avoiding the consumption of stale, expired products), and avoiding the abuse of spicy and peppery foods. Diet is the basis of your treatment. And it does not matter whether you have antral gastritis or not. You should also not forget about giving up bad habits (smoking, drinking alcohol). Your stomach (and body as a whole) will thank you very much for following the regime. The diet is based on fractional and frequent meals. You need to eat at least 4-5 times a day, and in small portions (in no case should you allow one or two large meals). Take care of your health so that you don’t have to endure complicated and expensive treatment and simply spoil your mood with visits to a gastroenterologist. By the way, as mentioned above, in this case, a diet should be followed constantly, and not during an exacerbation. Remember: if you find any symptoms of gastritis, then immediately contact a doctor for qualified help. Do not self-medicate under any circumstances – it can be harmful. We recommend reading:
