- Who is an easily digestible diet for?
- What are the main principles of an easily digestible diet?
- Food processing in an easily digestible diet
- What products especially soothe the digestive system?
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VERIFIED CONTENTAuthor: Dominika Wilk
An easily digestible diet is the only right way (apart from medications) to treat diseased organs. It is helpful especially when we have stomach erosions or inflammatory bowel diseases. Also, if you suffer from temporary indigestion or diarrhea caused by an infection, it is worth switching to lighter food to soothe the irritated digestive system.
Easily digestible dietis intended for people who have permanent or temporary digestive problems and need to limit typically heavy foods, such as fried foods, containing a lot of fat. A more gentle diet soothes the irritated stomach, supports the treatment of stomach ulcers and reduces inflammation in the intestines. Thanks to easily digestible food, the digestive system is relieved, which means that the energy that would be spent on digestion can be devoted to the renewal of cells or mucous membranes.
Who is an easily digestible diet for?
An easily digestible diet is primarily recommended for people:
- with stomach ulcers,
- inflammation of the gastric mucosa or esophagus,
- inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) e.g. in Crohn's disease,
- with infectious diarrhea,
- for travelers' diarrhea,
- suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease or heartburn,
- preparing for surgery,
- suffering from constant flatulence,
- with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS),
- those in need to relieve the digestive system after overeating on public holidays.
What are the main principles of an easily digestible diet?
Contrary to appearances, an easily digestible diet is not eating rusks, rolls or rice. A menu composed in this way would not provide any nutritional value, and at the same time would quickly cause constipation and general weakening of the body.
It is primarily a special method of food preparation and processing, which allows the stomach to digest food faster and the intestines to absorb nutrients better.
The same food, such as a piece of chicken fillet, can be both light and hard to digest at the same time. If we cook the meat, bake it, our stomach will put much less work into digesting it than if we fry it or serve it in breadcrumbs.
Fried chicken,in accordance with the assumption that fat significantly slows down food processing and extends the time it takes to leave the stomach, will aggravate dyspepsia (indigestion) and will challenge our digestive system.
In an easily digestible diet, we have a limitation above all:
- fatty foods,
- with a lot of fiber (daily fiber intake should not exceed 25 g),
- puffers, e.g. pods,
- smoked,
- spicy,
- fried.
Food processing in an easily digestible diet
In order for food to be easily digestible, it must be properly processed. This means, for example, that we do not eat fruit with the skin on, but only peel it. In an easily digestible diet, fruit and vegetable juices and purees are preferred over whole foods with fiber. For example, to reduce the amount of fiber, we remove the parts of the fruit that contain them (e.g. the white peel of an orange).
From small fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, currants, remove the stones by wiping them through a strainer. Fruits that we choose to eat on an easily digestible diet must be ripe and vegetables must be young.
Besides, we stew and cook food, not fry it. We choose more easily digestible fats, e.g. a little butter or he althy olive oil, and not margarine, cream or lard. We try to overcook the food, not to prepare al. dente.
If our he alth requires it, e.g. our stomach is very irritated, we blend the food and their additives. For example, we can blend pumpkin noodles.
What products especially soothe the digestive system?
Following the principles of an easily digestible diet is important to regenerate the gastric or intestinal mucosa and to relieve them, but there are also products that can heal the digestive system and have a soothing effect on it. These include mainly: linseed, aloe, honey and chamomile.
Linseed
Flax is a plant with known therapeutic properties. Research has shown that it helps to alleviate the effects of menopause, lowers cholesterol, and lowers blood pressure.
Provides many valuable nutrients, e.g. vitamins such as: B, PP, CC, minerals such as: potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc and iron, and extremely valuable omega-3 acids and phytoestrogens. In addition, it is an excellent raw material for the preparation of gruel, which has a protective effect on the mucous membranes of the digestive system.
The mucus in linseed covers the mucosa of the throat, esophagus, stomach, duodenum and large intestine. Thus, it protects the cable sectionsagainst irritating products, e.g. grains, flecks or sour pickled cucumber juice.
In people who suffer from erosions in the stomach, i.e. defects in the mucosa, the effect of flax is extremely important. It allows you to protect the stomach from irritation not only by food, but also, for example, by drugs that the patient must take at a given moment, e.g. antibiotics.
The coating function of linseed is also important for people with gastric or duodenal ulcers, who often suffer from excessive production of hydrochloric acid, which damages the mucosa of the digestive system. The seed infusion then protects the mucosa against destruction.
Linen has a similar protective effect on the large intestine. This is also where the mucus obtained from linseed reaches ( although to a lesser extent) and protects against damage by irritating substances. In this way, it reduces the inflammation that exists there.
Aloes
Aloe is a plant known and used around the world as an immunomodulator, a drug supporting the regeneration of the digestive system, or a healing agent for skin diseases. Aloe Vera, belonging to the aloe family, has proven healing properties.
In addition, woody aloe, or Aloe arborescens, is also valued. The main component of the aloe vera pulp is water, which makes up 96% of the dry matter. The remaining 4% of the pulp is a real we alth of nutrients and minerals supporting the healing process.
First of all, it contains as many as 18 amino acids, including 7 exogenous. Amino acids are protein components necessary for the regeneration of the body, they support, for example, the healing process. In addition, aloe contains vitamins from the B group, e.g. B1, B2, B6, as well as folic acid, choline, vitamin C or α-tocopherol. In addition, this plant is rich in minerals such as: magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, chlorine, zinc and sodium.
What positively affects the condition of the irritated digestive system, and is an ingredient of aloe, are numerous enzymes that show anti-inflammatory properties. By neutralizing reactive oxygen species, they bring the body into balance, which is helpful, for example, in the case of intestinal inflammation. Similar, because antioxidant effects, have polyphenols and vitamins E and C found in aloe.
It is important to emphasize the fact that in acute inflammatory diseases of the digestive system, you should be careful with the use of aloe - in larger amounts it may have a strong laxative effect, similar to e.g. senna or buckthorn bark.
The antraglycosides are responsible for this action, thereforewhen buying ready-made aloe products from the store, it is worth checking on the packaging what amount of alonin or similar compounds of this type they contain, e.g. per 50 ml (standard drinking dose).
Camomile
The chamomile plant belongs to the family of Asteraceae plants. Drinking the infusion of its flowers soothes the digestive system, calms it down and relaxes it. For this reason, it is used, for example, in the case of abdominal pain caused by intestinal cramps or also in the case of flatulence. It also has an anti-ulcer effect, which has been proven in the studies of Szelnya et al.
These researchers conducted an experiment on rats that had previously intentionally induced gastric ulcers. They gave them an extract of chamomile flowers or a substance isolated from it called α-bisabolol.
As the research results showed, both the extract and α-bisabolol significantly accelerated ulcer healing. Other studies, carried out by Khayyal et al., Showed that alcoholic chamomile extracts can support the renewal of the gastric mucosa.
Honey
The beneficial effects of honey on the stomach are used primarily in the case of functional disorders of the digestive system, when bad work of the stomach or intestines is a consequence of some stressful situation. Then the honey causes the relaxation of the squeezed muscles, relaxes them, which causes relaxation or relief of symptoms.
In addition, it is used for indigestion accompanied by: heartburn, unpleasant taste in the mouth, or excessive belching.
In both of the above-described situations - functional disorders and indigestion, it is best to consume 30 g of honey before a meal, dissolved in half a glass with warm water.