Suffering With Digestive Issues? Here’s All You Should Eat And Avoid

Stay Young Bureau | Oct 05, 2023, 11:05 IST

In this article, famous acupuncturist Dr Jewel Gamadia talks about what causes digestive issues and what all foods you must avoid and add to your diet to get rid of them.

Indigestion can be painful and create a lot of discomfort, which is enough to ruin your day. Common digestive issues include bloating, acidity, IBS, constipation, and diarrhoea. If you too are suffering with any of them, be mindful about what you consume. Avoid foods that are harder for the body to digest.

What causes digestive issues?

As per Dr. Jewel Gamadia, when you eat something, it enters the stomach after passing through the oesophagus. Here the food is marinated by mixing it with the right enzymes. After this, food enters the small intestine where all the nutrients and minerals are absorbed. Then comes the large intestine, whose job is to dehydrate what’s left of the food and help detox the body by throwing out all the unwanted food in the form of stool. The three organs namely liver, pancreas and gallbladder are also intimately associated with the proper functioning of the digestive tract.

All the organs starting from mouth to anus are a part of the gastrointestinal tract, which is also known as gut. When something goes wrong with your gut, you start facing digestive issues. Depending upon the issue, you should eat and avoid certain food items.

Bloating

It occurs when food stays in your gut for long or takes a lot of time to marinate in the stomach.

What to avoid: Cut out foods which are high in sodium. These include packaged and processed foods. If you want to have something crispy, have it fresh.

What to add: Have high fibre grains like rice, amaranth or quinoa. If you want to eat a heavy meal, either have an apple cider or a little bit of ginger before.

Acidity

Also referred to as acid reflux, it is caused due to excessive production of acid by the stomach, which flows back into the food pipe and causes pain or burning sensation in the lower chest area.

What to avoid: Say Goodbye to coffee as it reduces the pH level making the stomach more acidic. Moreover, it also reduces the zinc levels in the body making the stomach lining more prone to damage. Along with it, also avoid citrus fruits, onions, spices, foods containing corn syrup and too much water intake with food. Chew your meals properly because if less food will stay in the stomach, less acidity will be produced. Also avoid eating too many things together as it will require more acids to break it down, thus making your stomach more acidic.

What to add: Have one teaspoon of aloe vera before every meal as it will keep your digestive enzymes stimulated. Also have probiotics as they will help ease symptoms of acid reflux.

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)

IBS is a common disorder that occurs when the stomach is excessively stressed. Those who suffer with IBS, their body gets sensitive to certain foods.

What to avoid: Completely cut out wheat and avoid eating broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and processed and frozen foods.

What to add: Have 20-25mg of zinc supplement every day after any of the meals. It will make sure that your stomach lining doesn’t get affected.

As per Dr Gamadia, as liver and pancreas also play an important role in digestion, there are few foods that you must add and avoid in your diet to keep them healthy.

For the better functioning of the liver, avoid foods containing high sugar, preservatives, food colours, artificial colours and corn syrup and start taking mint leaves after every meal.

And for pancreases, avoid intake of milk and food containing more of animal fat and increase the quantity of garlic in your daily diet.

Wrapping up

Good digestion is very important in maintaining good health. The better you digest your food, the more vitamins, nutrients, proteins, fats and carbohydrates you extract which break down into functional units and better you eliminate waste and toxins from your body.

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