Gut Problems, And How To Deal With Them

1. The stomach: If you’re on antacids, you may be making things worse.

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Your digestive tract is about 9 meters (30 feet) long, from start to end. That’s a lot of scope for malfunction. Problems can originate in the mouth, pick up speed in the stomach, intestines or colon, and culminate in an explosive finale at the bitter end.

The gut is a tragicomedy of funny noises, smells, pain and shame. That is the penalty we pay for one of our greatest pleasures, eating.

Any nutritionist will tell you that countless health problems begin and end in the gut. You’ve got mental health issues? Check out your gut bacteria. Your skin’s a mess? Ditto. You have the energy of a sleeping sloth? It may be your metabolism.

Your digestive system is your body’s engine room, a furnace of metabolic activity on which every single cell depends for its sustenance. The intense processing of every molecule of food you consume means that what goes in one end looks nothing like what comes out the other. Where do you begin to put it all right?

I’m going to take you on a journey through your digestive tract, stopping off along the way to examine the many ways it communicates distress. I’ll discuss how you can take control and restore health and harmony, depending on the location of your trauma.

The logical starting point is your stomach. (I’ll double back to your mouth another time, but for now, I sense that most of your issues are lower down.)

This pouch-like structure lies at the bottom end of a short shaft, the oesophagus, and is reached via the lower oesophageal sphincter. This sphincter acts like a valve, operating what should be (but isn’t always) a one-way system.

Thus, symptoms may arise shortly after swallowing. Namely:

• burning

• pain

• belching

• bad breath

• bloating

• nausea

If that’s you, your first port of call is your doctor, because you may have an infection with a microbe called Helicobacter pylori. H. pylori bacteria can cause peptic (stomach) ulcer, and infection is surprisingly common. Perhaps as many as half the global population is affected, though remain symptom free. Children are especially susceptible. H. pylori spreads easily from one person to another, even through saliva.

If left untreated, the worst-case scenario is stomach cancer. Treatment for H. pylori is simple and straightforward – a course of antibiotics.

There are various ways an H. pylori infection can be diagnosed: blood, stool, or breath tests, or an endoscopy, where a tube with a camera is inserted into your stomach, and a biopsy taken. An endoscopy is the most accurate method, but also the most invasive. A stool test is considered the next best option.

Once H. pylori has been eliminated from your enquiries, you can turn your thoughts and suspicions to what you’re eating.

Let’s look at two common diet-related problems that can arise in the stomach: acid reflux and hypochlorhydria, or low stomach acid. Never heard of hypochlorhydria? Like so many conditions for which there is no pharmaceutical treatment, information is available but found mainly under the radar. Without the right help, you do your own research and draw your own conclusions.

Acid reflux

This occurs when acid from your stomach travels backwards, causing indigestion and heartburn. It’s not your heart that’s burning; it’s your oesophagus, and in some people, this can cause trouble swallowing (dysphagia).

If this is a regular occurrence, your doctor may diagnose gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). You are more likely to have this if you are overweight, or have a hiatus hernia, or smoke, or drink too much alcohol.

GERD is surprisingly common (or perhaps not, considering), affecting approximately 20% of the UK and US populations. Symptoms are often worse at night, or when lying down. It’s unpleasant, and inconvenient, but if left untreated could develop into oesophagal cancer, so don’t ignore it.

The usual treatment for heartburn is antacid medication. Acid is the enemy, so must be neutralised. That treatment, and mindset, are not likely to change any time soon: antacids constitute a highly successful market, albeit not always a highly successful treatment. Globally, the antacid market, valued at US$ 6.35 billion in 2021, is expected to reach US$ 8.27 billion by 2027.

From a diet perspective, there are several approaches you can try to reduce or eliminate your symptoms. Consider:

1.    Meal timings. Eat your last meal as early as possible, and avoid snacking once you’ve finished. Don’t lie down for several hours after eating.

2.    Weight. Lose weight, if you need to.

3.    Cereal grains. These for some people can be the main offenders, especially the gluten-contain grains wheat, barley, and rye.

4.    Vegetable oils. Avoid foods cooked in vegetable oils: soya, corn, canola, sunflower. They are pro-inflammatory, and are found in most processed foods.

5.    Sugar. Avoid sugar and anything with added sugar. 

6.    Chewing. Chew your food thoroughly before swallowing.

7.    Food intolerances. The most likely culprits are gluten grains (see 3 above) and dairy.

8.    Stress. If chronic stress is a major factor in your life, consider stress management, as it is a major GERD aggravator in some people.

9.    Citrus fruits. For some people, citrus fruits make heartburn worse. The same goes for spices.

The above steps are your starting point. If you’ve tried them all, along with antacids, but with limited success, it’s time to consider the possibility that you produce too little, rather than too much, stomach acid.