Due to the bothersome symptoms, many of us know exactly where the eaten meal is. Burning in the esophagus, a feeling of heaviness in the stomach, a bloated stomach and painful cramps under the navel – almost half of adult Poles complain about such ailments.
Paweł is 43 years old, has three adolescent children and a job that takes him more than 10 hours a day: “I always have some popular medications for heartburn and indigestion or other miracles with me, because I never know when smoking will appear under the breastbone.” Tests? Yes, he did. After pressure from the HR department, because these are the requirements of the employer. “Nothing disturbing has been detected, I have to stress less. And because it’s rather difficult, I still take my pills, ”she says.
Karolina is 10 years younger and does not leave home without the relaxants prescribed by her doctor a few years ago, when she was pregnant. “Now they are working great. Without them, I get twisted after almost every meal, ”he says.
Digestion like breathing – it should take place unnoticed for us and simply provide us with the substances necessary for life. And for most of us, it’s different. And less and less we can say that digestion is … a piece of cake for us. The pleasure of eating turns into a torment that lasts up to several hours and can exclude you from normal life.
Sensations justified
In some situations, the digestive system has the right to whim. For example, when someone goes too far with food at a party, or in a restaurant they treat him to something “yesterday”. Factors that contribute to digestive problems are also:
Age. Usually, metabolism slows down over the years, there are problems with the proper fragmentation of food, and the number of drugs taken by seniors for a longer time, greater than in younger people, also has an impact on digestion.
Travels. Changing the diet, and especially the water, also means a new, unknown bacterial flora for the body. This usually means the appearance of diarrhea or persistent constipation.
Pregnancy. The endocrine system of the future mother affects the work of all systems, including the digestive system. It works slower and the so-called muscles. The lower esophageal sphincter that separates the esophagus from the stomach is relaxed and flaccid, allowing food and harsh gastric juices to travel up rather than down.
Also read: Stomach and duodenal ulcers
We harm ourselves
When something goes wrong at some point in the digestive process, there is a feeling of discomfort, and often unpleasant ailments: embarrassing belching, heartburn, a feeling of fullness in the stomach, flatulence and constipation. Getting rid of them seems child’s play, as we are convinced by advertisements for miracle drugs for better digestion. In most cases, however, we hear that this remedy helps “combat digestive discomfort” and not the problem itself. Why? Because you need to change your daily habits to make digestion more “collision-free”. And the realization that we ourselves cause unpleasant ailments when:
– we avoid breakfast and … fiber. Meanwhile, a morning meal for the digestive system and its enzymes is a signal to start working. Leaving the house on an empty stomach disrupts this complex mechanism. We also eat too little fiber. And it improves metabolism, helps to deal with constipation. A daily amount of about 25-40 g of fiber is enough – a portion of groats, two slices of dark whole grain bread, 5 portions of vegetables and fruit and a tablespoon of added bran will satisfy this demand. You should also remember about water – about 2 liters of still, low-mineralized water every day.
– we take shortcuts. Too much and sloppy, littering the body. We throw him what we have at hand, what can be eaten right away, or what our friends and shop newspapers will persuade us to do. – By eating large portions of meals that are often rich in fat and simple sugars, we disturb our natural metabolism. By consuming highly processed products containing preservatives, we destroy the natural bacterial microflora of the gastrointestinal tract – says MSc. Dominika Florczak, specialist in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from Slim Catering. It has been proven that drinks from cartons, chips, soups from bags, a diet rich in fat help to reduce tension in the so-called lower esophageal sphincter, which means regurgitation of stomach contents causing heartburn, belching, burning in the throat, but also symptoms not associated with food processing: tiring, dry cough, pharyngitis or chest pain.
– we believe in supplementsexpecting instant results. – People often ask for a “magic pill” that will solve all digestive problems – says Katarzyna Przepiórka, pharmacist, author of the blog LekiPoLudzku.pl. There is no such drug. – However, you can remedy problems by getting to know your body and applying prophylaxis. If we know, for example, that our liver “does not digest” too much fat, it is better to let go of more gluttony and arm ourselves with, for example, a drug that stimulates the production of bile and digestive enzymes, mobilizes the intestines to work faster, soothes bloating and the feeling of fullness.
– we neglect “our” bacteria. Our bacterial flora ensures proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. It should be constantly rebuilt, especially when it is depleted, e.g. during antibiotic therapy. This is where probiotics come to the rescue. – Let’s not forget about the leveling of the bacterial microflora – says Dominika Florczak – here pro and prebiotic products (eg containing inulin) will be the best. Let’s enrich the diet with fermented milk drinks (yoghurt, kefir, buttermilk) with appropriately selected bacteria from the group: Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium.
– we downplay the problems. Even if symptoms haunt for months, seeing a doctor is rarely the idea that comes to mind. Most of us heal ourselves, masking ailments. If it is possible to get rid of them even for a short time, and the pills work, we skip the doctors. And not always the ailments are just that “feeling of discomfort”, caused for example by stress, but a symptom of the disease. – Patients often do not realize that long-term use of available agents without medical supervision may lead to serious complications – says Dr. Ryszard Peterlejtner from the Medicus clinic in Nowe Miasto Lubawskie. – Gastroscopy (examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract) is a very useful test in such cases. It allows you to carefully examine a large part of our digestive system, and in case of doubt, take a sample for testing, e.g. for the presence of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that causes similar unpleasant ailments, but poses a health hazard – he warns.
– we give in to stress. The digestive system is a delicate structure, sensitive to extreme emotional states. Permanent stress is one of the main culprits behind digestive discomfort. It can affect our digestive system in such a way that symptoms accompanying food infections appear. So while research excludes ailments, you should take a closer look at your lifestyle: slow down and stop worrying about small things.
– During my studies – like most girls – I treated the session as an express slimming treatment. I was not able to swallow anything, I had the impression that a hoop was tightening on my stomach – recalls Karolina. Unfortunately, it also happened that I could not leave the toilet for days and that was more troublesome. After the session, everything returned to normal – he adds.
– we don’t move enough. Sedentary, perpetrator of many civilization diseases, incl. obesity, hypertension, diabetes, slows down metabolism. It makes it difficult to get rid of the toxins we eat and inhale. And that means you are more prone to constipation and gas, food infections. Digestive disorders are more common in fat people.
– we have a kitchen that is open all the time. Few of us realize that day and night we are controlled by completely different systems and different processes take place, different hormones are released. Dinner eaten late in the evening remains in the stomach until morning, because there is a lack of enzymes that will “help” the meal pass through the entire digestive system. Such a meal does more harm than good. Therefore, it is worth following the rule: Between 20 p.m. and 00 a.m. we give the stomach a free time, and it will not pay off with heartburn and flatulence.
Text: Joanna Zielewska
Read more: Eat with common sense