The digestive system has a big role to play in keeping your body healthy. With most of the bacteria found in the body residing here, it is critical to maintain the balance between the good and the harmful ones. A compromised gut health has a huge impact on the body’s immune system and leaves us vulnerable to a horde of other minor and major illnesses. The Week talked to Dr Ajit Khanal, gastroenterologist at Bir Hospital, to know more about some basic digestive health issues and how we can tackle them.
The most common issues
Gastric
The stomach contains acids that help break down the food we consume and kill the bacteria that have reached the stomach. The wall of the stomach is also lined with mucus glands that help protect it from the acid. Although the pH level of stomach acid isn’t high, an imbalance between the two is what causes gastric. When the stomach is empty for a long period of time, the acid starts to eat up the mucosa that gives you a stomachache, makes you feel bloated and nauseous. Severe gastric may lead to the formation of an ulcer in the stomach and cause internal bleeding that can lead to anemia.
“Some of your daily habits predispose you to gastric,” says Dr Khanal. If you drink strong coffee throughout the day, drink alcohol, smoke or chew tobacco or even eat food that is too oily or too spicy, you are highly susceptible to gastric. Stay away from these, especially when you are experiencing the symptoms.
For good digestive health
A balanced diet helps to bring gastric under control and it is more common amongst women who fast up to four to fives days a week. He encourages fasting once in a while since it can help make your immune system stronger by detoxifying it. However, fasting regularly for a long period of time only brings with itself an onslaught of health conditions. Stress also increases acid production in the stomach, which is why most people say they stress eat. So leading a healthy, stress free life is another way to combat gastric.
Dr Ajit Khanal
Constipation
Gastrointestinal (GI) transit time is the time it takes for a person’s bowels to empty. It is different in different people so for some people, going to the bathroom three times a day could be normal while going to the bathroom three times a week could be normal for someone else. In constipation there is a deviation from your regular routine. If you usually defecate three times a day, but if you have only been doing so once, for a week or two, then you are suffering from constipation.
Or if you are following your regular routine but at the end of the bathroom time you still don’t feel like you have emptied enough, that is constipation too. It can be caused by many reasons that range from your dietary habits to the supplements and medication you might be taking.
When your GI transit time is slow, the liquid waste that gets passed on from the small intestine becomes solidified because a large amount of liquid is reabsorbed back into the body. This leads to a tightly compact mass that is hard to excrete and that leads to constipation.
Calcium and iron supplements are known to cause constipation. If this happens, Dr Khanal advises you to talk to your doctor and maybe get the dosage reduced. Also, if there is an infection or a wound in the anus, defecation becomes very painful and thus the body starts rejecting the need to defecate that might lead to constipation. Similarly, a tumor in the colon may be blocking the feces and leading to constipation as well. “If you face any hiccup in your normal bowel movement, make sure you go to the doctor for a thorough checkup,” says Dr Khanal.
Dr Khanal reveals the importance of a high fiber diet to keep constipation at bay. Apparently, people with a high fiber diet have a lower risk for hypertension, diabetes, and even colon cancer. The western food culture doesn’t have the same amount of fiber we do and thus diverticulum colon (an out pouching of the colon) diseases are more common. “Constipation should not be treated lightly because it can lead to other problems. It could also be a sign of a medical condition that needs timely intervention,” he says.
Correcting our food habits for better digestive health
Make sure that you get enough fiber by incorporating spinach, cabbages, broccoli, peas etc in your diet. Have a balanced diet that contains 50 percent carbohydrates, 25 to 30 percent protein and 25 to 30 percent fat with vitamins and minerals.
Warm milk often acts as a balm for an upset or irritated stomach. However, avoid milk tea or strong coffee as these have high caffeine levels that increase the production of acid in the stomach.
Try to avoid spicy and oily food as well as alcohol, tobacco and cigarettes completely. Although alcohol has a sedative effect and might make you feel better for a while, in the long run it will further irritate the mucous linings.
