Gastritis Support Group
Gastritis is a medical term for inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It means that white blood cells move into the wall of the stomach as a response to some type of injury. Gastritis has many underlying causes, from infection with the bacterium H. pylori, bile reflux, or excessive consumption of alcohol or certain foods or drugs like aspirin.
I have been doing some very interesting reading lately about the different ways H pylori can affect the stomach & how if it affects your lower stomach you can get increased acid production because it affects certain cells & this is why it can burn through to the small intestine & cause a duodenal ulcer or duodenitis (which I have).
However if H pylori affects higher up in the stomach then it can cause a different type of gastritis where low stomach acid is the problem because of the cells affected.
Anyway whilst doing this reading I found some VERY INTERESTING FACTS about what can control stomach acid production & we might be able to use this to our advantage!
The most useful one is as follows....
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Presence of Fat or Oil in the duodenum (small intestine) can reduce gastric acid production in the stomach. This is a scientific fact.
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I did a bit more searching on this topic & found some studies had been done on this which found using oils containing Oleic acid are really effective at this....
Olive oil & avocados are excellent sources of oleic acid. The more I read about this, the more I kept coming across traditional remedies like having a dessert spoonful of olive oil 30 minutes before a meal to reduce excess stomach acid.
Anyway to cut a long story short... I have been trying this for the last 2 days & have noticed an unbelievable difference.
Since coming off my ppi 10 days ago, I'd been in a bit of a state & having to have masses of ranitidine & gaviscon etc to control my acid during the day. This was even with taking my herbs etc. Whereas with taking the olive oil before meals I'm not having to take any antacids in the day, although I'm still taking my 300mg ranitidine at bedtime.
Perhaps this is a coincidence. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be back here writing about being in pain! But perhaps, just perhaps I'm onto something that really works for me!!!
The olive oil has other advantages too like it coats the lining to protect from acid & also it is an anti-inflammatory!
Luckily my stomach can handle olive oil at this time. I know it couldn't a few months ago.
Anyway I thought I'd share this!
However if H pylori affects higher up in the stomach then it can cause a different type of gastritis where low stomach acid is the problem because of the cells affected.
Anyway whilst doing this reading I found some VERY INTERESTING FACTS about what can control stomach acid production & we might be able to use this to our advantage!
The most useful one is as follows....
*********************************************
Presence of Fat or Oil in the duodenum (small intestine) can reduce gastric acid production in the stomach. This is a scientific fact.
*********************************************
I did a bit more searching on this topic & found some studies had been done on this which found using oils containing Oleic acid are really effective at this....
Olive oil & avocados are excellent sources of oleic acid. The more I read about this, the more I kept coming across traditional remedies like having a dessert spoonful of olive oil 30 minutes before a meal to reduce excess stomach acid.
Anyway to cut a long story short... I have been trying this for the last 2 days & have noticed an unbelievable difference.
Since coming off my ppi 10 days ago, I'd been in a bit of a state & having to have masses of ranitidine & gaviscon etc to control my acid during the day. This was even with taking my herbs etc. Whereas with taking the olive oil before meals I'm not having to take any antacids in the day, although I'm still taking my 300mg ranitidine at bedtime.
Perhaps this is a coincidence. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be back here writing about being in pain! But perhaps, just perhaps I'm onto something that really works for me!!!
The olive oil has other advantages too like it coats the lining to protect from acid & also it is an anti-inflammatory!
Luckily my stomach can handle olive oil at this time. I know it couldn't a few months ago.
Anyway I thought I'd share this!
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My 6mo twin DD's are EBF and just started rice cereal on the first. Everything has been going fine except this morning one of them had a diaper rash (lots of redness around her anus). I read this as one of the signs of an allergy. BUT I did just buy a different brand diaper yesterday (which they have used randomly before w/no issues). Do you think its the cereal or the diaper? Im ready to start...
. This is interesting as I mentioned to my wife recently that I can go to Olive Garden and eat and get little symptoms. I told her it was as if the pre meal salad had coated my stomach.
Are you taking it right before meals?
Thanks for sharing this.
But, how do you get down a spoonfull of oil?
That's a good idea though of having it drizzled on salad if you can handle salads.
I don't have the brand to hand, but it is a very good quality, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil.
Interesting! I like too, that it's so natural and readily available from grocery stores. The taste is not bad, either.
Thanks for sharing!
The other change I have made is I am strictly doing food combining & following a vegetarian diet (almost vegan) temporarily.
Protein (especially meat) stimulates stomach acid production to be digested, whereas starch & vegetables do not.
I have found I can now eat brown basmati rice & quinoa, so my meals are based around that with vegetables.
I'm getting my protein from avocadoes or natural yoghurt at separate meals/snacks.
The only downside is I am hungry more often because everything is digesting so easily & rapidly! But it is worth it because my pain & gas is reducing more & more everyday!
1 x dessert spoonful olive oil before dinner
I am also doing my own version of food combining which is evolving everyday.
Basically finding that a meal with starch & veg is great because hardly any acid is produced & is digested easily & quickly.
Protein is tricky because in traditional food combining this is eaten with veg (no starch) because protein stimulates more acid/proteases to digest properly.
What I'm figuring is with protein I will mix it with a starch & veg to minimise the acid production. The protein won't be perfectly digested, but at least it won't cause a whole lot of acid.
Eating fruit alone. Eating dairy alone.
Perhaps I'm over complicating the whole diet thing, but I'm feeling improvement everyday!
The taste is HORRIBLE!
I was on Omeprazole for approx 8 weeks, but have come off as I'm getting retested for H pylori next week. I take 300mg Ranitidine at bedtime.
Depending on the result of the H pylori test & how I'm feeling etc, will influence whether I go back on a ppi. I was hoping not to need to go back on it & if I do I'll probably try something other than Omeprazole as I was still getting flare ups on it.
The olive oil & diet are helping lots, but the last couple of days I'm finding that as the day progresses I'm getting acid building up again that I'm fighting against - particularly 30 mins or so after dinner.
I don't think there is any magic cure, but the olive oil has definitely given me some relief - particularly with being off the ppi.