A little while back, I came to know that my mum again suffered stomach ache and she often had acid reflux which irritated her a lot. My mother is also a long-time “stomach patient”. About ten years ago she had undergone a series of gastroscopy, and other examinations followed by treatments because of stomach ache. Although the effect was extremely good at that time, after a while, she again became disordered in the stomach. She is quite often troubled with stomach discomfort like abdominal distension, acid reflux, and dull pain.
The doctor talked straight that the stomach is the crucial digestive organ of the human body. If you want to have a healthy stomach, then you must have good habits in your everyday life. In particular, patients with gastritis who desire their gastric mucosa to be healed and the symptoms not to return must be extraordinarily careful. These three unnoticed habits in which you might be indulging could be the reason for the constant irritation of your stomach. You need to fix them right away if you want to prevent the stomach from suffering from these bad habits.
Habit 1: Eat fast
On one side, fast eating will put the mechanical part of the stomach under more stress. The food is not properly chewed and the particles are big. Hence, the stomach is forced to carry out the more vigorous grinding and peristalsis. Gradually, it will be the cause of stomach fatigue and even damage to the mucosa.
On the other side, quick eating may result in the delayed release of digestive juices, and chewing is a main signal that triggers saliva secretion (which contains digestive enzymes) and the release of gastric acid and pepsinogen. When someone eats very fast, not enough digestive juices will be secreted, and the food will not be tentatively digested and will rest in the stomach, which can cause flatulence and indigestion quite easily.
Habit 2: Drink water after meals
Most people, including me, are accustomed to drinking water after meals but if someone drinks water right after the meal, it will reduce the gastric acid concentration and the activity of the digestive enzymes and the food will still be in the stomach for a longer time. If the food remains in the stomach for a long time, then there will be some uncomfortable reactions like abdominal distension and belching. If a person has gastritis, then the place of discomfort will become more pungent and even the inflammation level will be deepened.
Habit 3: Nap on your stomach
When you are sleeping on your stomach, the whole of your body weight is over the upper abdomen, and as a result, the stomach cavity is directly compressed. There is thus, an increase in the pressure inside the stomach, and the big pressure in the stomach can easily make the gastric acid and the undigested food to escape the constraints of the cardia and go back to the esophagus. The esophageal mucosa is an acid non-tolerant part hence, heartburn, acid reflux, and burning chest are the symptoms that happen quite fast. However, patients with gastritis already have a low gastric mucosal defense capacity, and the refluxed gastric acid is the cause of the double damage to the esophagus. Besides this, stomach compression itself, at that time, might also be a factor that is causing the site of inflammation to become aggravated because of the reaction.
Damage to the stomach is most of the time silent but repair takes a long time. Particularly for patients with gastritis, the core of recovery is to avoid irritation and be very careful in maintenance. These 3 habits mentioned above may not be noticeable as the main causes of stomach health degradation, but they are eroding the defense line of the stomach over time. If you really want your stomach to be healthy, then it may help you to do these things.
1. Eat slowly and chew well: chew 20-30 times with each mouthful of rice, chewing slowly is the gentlest care for the stomach.
2. Drink water in a scientific way: Soup is good for the stomach and it is not easy to drink too much. It is good to have water at least 30 minutes away from meals so that gastric acid is not diluted and digestion is not affected.
3. Change your nap position: You can opt to lie on your back with the support of the chair or use a special nap pillow that is not putting pressure on your belly. If you are limited, taking a short walk before the nap after a meal may also lower the chances of reflux.
Nourishing the stomach is a “protracted war” that requires perseverance, focusing on law and moderation. If you have gastritis, you should be very careful in your lifestyle, doing fewer things that are harmful to your stomach and also fixing the bad habit of your stomach. Do not let these ordinary things become the last straw for your stomach.
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