Your stomach has an inner lining known as the gastric mucosa that protects the stomach and produces food-digesting enzymes and acid to aid in digestion. When this protective lining becomes irritated, you experience a condition called gastritis. Gastritis has many causes, including bacteria, parasites and fungi, but when conditions such as Crohn’s disease or inflammatory bowel disease cause gastritis, your diet may be partially to blame. An elimination diet can help you determine what particular foods irritate your stomach. Always speak to your physician before beginning an elimination diet to ensure that your dietary approach won’t compromise your health.
GASTRITIS CONDITIONS
Conditions that cause inflammation in the digestive tract, such as Crohn’s disease and inflammatory bowel disorder, are associated with causing gastritis. Symptoms indicating that you may be experiencing gastritis and these conditions include nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, especially in the upper portion of your stomach. If gastritis goes untreated and you continue to eat some of your trigger foods, you may experience more-serious complications, such as bleeding in your stomach lining. An elimination diet involves taking away foods in your diet known to cause stomach irritation to determine what in particular irritates your stomach.
WHERE TO START
An elimination diet involves evaluating your current diet for foods you eat that are commonly associated with gastritis, such as coffee and acidic foods or beverages. To begin your elimination diet, keep a food journal for one week of all the foods and beverages you consume. If you experience any gastritis symptoms, such as stomach upset, record the severity and duration of your symptoms. When evaluating your diet, you may want to think about what foods you eat to feel better or what foods you seem to eat most often. After the evaluation period, you may be able to pinpoint foods to eliminate first on your diet.
WHAT THINGS TO ELIMINATE
Because irritable bowel syndrome and similar conditions can contribute to gastritis, your elimination diet may start with foods known to irritate the stomach. These include dairy, wheat, high fructose corn syrup, eggs, nuts, shellfish, soybeans, beef, pork and lamb. You also may wish to avoid sorbitol, including chewing gum. Committing to eliminate these foods in your diet for two weeks may result in reduced gastritis symptoms. However, if you do not experience relief by eliminating these foods, you can try eliminating other food sources, such as sugars, yeast-containing foods, alcohol and caffeine.
WHAT THINGS TO EAT
When you cut out so many foods from your diet, it’s easy to wonder what's left for you to eat on a gastritis elimination diet. Protein sources include chicken, turkey and cold-water fish. You also can enjoy all vegetables and fresh fruits, with the exception of citrus and strawberries, which are acidic and can aggravate your gastritis symptoms. Because you are eliminating gluten-containing products made from wheat, you can incorporate starches such as potatoes, rice, buckwheat, millet and quinoa into your diet. You also can enjoy clear, vegetable-based soups, as well as fresh and/or unsweetened fruit and vegetables juices.
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