Weight loss with gastritis is normal

August 7, 2018
Gastroenterology
Anna Mallaalieva

Almost every third person on the planet has problems with the gastrointestinal tract. Most people are diagnosed with a disease such as gastritis. When it occurs, the mucous membranes of the stomach become inflamed. This leads to the fact that the organ cannot fully perform its functions.

Weight loss with gastritis is common. In addition, a person may experience other unpleasant sensations, such as heaviness and pain in the stomach, excessive gas formation, constipation or diarrhea, and so on. All this not only causes inconvenience, but also prevents you from living a full life. Why can this disease be accompanied by severe weight loss? Let's find out the reasons, and also figure out how to regain your rounded shape.

Gastritis - what is it?

With this disease, the mucous layer of the stomach becomes inflamed. This leads to dysfunction. Food entering the body is poorly digested. Naturally, the patient does not receive the necessary nutrients, so his condition worsens greatly. As a rule, with gastritis you feel severe weakness and loss of strength.

This disease has two forms: chronic and acute. Also, with inflammation of the stomach, acidity may increase or decrease. There are patients in whom it does not change and remains normal.

Everyone without exception is at risk. Both children and elderly people can get gastritis.

Causes of gastritis

Before you understand why weight loss occurs with gastritis, you need to understand what causes this disease. The most common ones are:

Bacterial or fungal infection. These microorganisms affect the walls of the stomach, causing a severe inflammatory process.
Poor nutrition. This is one of the most common causes of gastritis. Moreover, the disease can be caused by both malnutrition and overeating.
Bad habits. The biggest enemy for the stomach is alcohol. It contains ethanol, which in large quantities is harmful to the body. Once in the stomach, it leads to the formation of an acid-base imbalance. In addition to this organ, ethanol has a detrimental effect on others, in particular the liver and pancreas.
Medicine. Unfortunately, medicine uses drugs that can irritate the gastric mucosa. We are talking about analgin, prednisolone, aspirin and others. With long-term treatment with drugs based on them, gastritis most often occurs.

In addition to the above reasons, this disease can be triggered by severe nervous disorders, chronic stress, parasites, and aggressive chemicals.

What are the ways to normalize weight with gastritis?

The main emphasis is on the patient’s diet; he must adhere to certain rules and monitor the optimal ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The diet should be balanced so that the fat layer appears only in the right places, you should also review your daily routine, lead an active life and take a course of the necessary medications.

Diet adjustments

Weight restoration during gastritis should be carried out systematically, meals should be taken at the same time. It is better to eat small portions, but often, at least six times a day. Dry meals and quick snacks are cancelled.

With gastritis, not only food is important, but also how it is consumed. You should eat in small pieces and chew thoroughly, and also swallow in small doses. This precaution will contribute to the complete absorption of food, as well as the gradual restoration of the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

An important role in proper weight restoration is the optimal ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It is by adhering to the exact dosage that you can prevent weight loss. Carbohydrates should make up half of the patient's daily diet. The rest is divided into approximately 15% protein and 35% fat. It is better to choose proteins of animal origin; chicken meat is perfect for this quality.

If anyone thinks that to increase weight it is enough to add fats and carbohydrates to the usual diet, then he is mistaken - this is not the best solution, since they can be deposited in inappropriate places, even a thin person will have unattractive folds of fat

Sample daily menu

One of the options for creating a menu is the following diet:

Breakfast. Oatmeal cookies with cocoa and milk.
Lunch. Baked apple with chopped almonds and honey, this dessert can be washed down with weak tea.
Dinner. Soup cooked in fish or meat broth, porridge and light salad.
Afternoon snack. Oatmeal cooked with milk and fruit.
Dinner. Baked potato, piece of fish and vegetable salad.
Before bedtime. You can drink a glass of fermented baked milk or kefir two hours before going to bed.

For those who find it difficult to decide on a menu, advice from gastroenterologists will help; they will tell you what is allowed to be taken as the main food:

For the first breakfast, the following are suitable: semolina and cottage cheese casserole, semolina porridge cooked in milk with a small piece of butter, a regular portion of cottage cheese, topped with sour cream or liquid honey.
Light dishes are prepared for the second breakfast. Baked apples stuffed with cottage cheese, milk soufflé, oatmeal porridge cooked with milk, rice pudding.
Lunch must be one of the first courses. During the period of exacerbation of the disease, the soup can be cooked in chicken broth with cereals or noodles. The second dish can be mashed potatoes, boiled rice or pasta. Replenishment of proteins can occur through the introduction of fish and meat from turkey, chicken, and veal into the diet.
For an afternoon snack, it is permissible to eat cottage cheese with added fruit or yogurt. Porridges cooked with milk, such as semolina or oatmeal, are also suitable.
For dinner, the best option would be meatballs, meatballs, meatballs and zrazy made from fish and poultry. They are served with pasta, potatoes or porridge as a side dish. You will also need a salad of boiled or fresh vegetables, seasoned with vegetable oil.

Two or three hours before going to bed, you need to drink a glass of dairy product, in the form of fermented baked milk, yogurt and kefir, you can add crackers or biscuits to it.

Medication assistance

On pharmacy shelves you can find various dietary supplements, herbal ingredients and other products that normalize weight. Such preparations contain special enzymes that not only speed up the digestion of incoming food, but also stimulate the feeling of hunger. You just can’t choose them yourself; the right medication is selected by the doctor, taking into account indications and contraindications, in order to eliminate the occurrence of side effects and complications.

Together with prescribed vitamins, preparations containing digestive enzymes allow you to:

Absorb as much as possible all the food you eat,
Positively influence appetite,
Carefully and actively restore weight.

Schedule

Not only food affects weight gain, proper planning of the day will also help normalize body weight and adjust incoming calories, distributing them to the right places.

Physical activity will help stop weight loss; it is better to start the day with exercise, which will speed up your metabolism and improve blood circulation. Try to avoid sitting for long periods of time during the day; the fact is that with this position of the body, the gastrointestinal tract organs are compressed and this negatively affects their work.

Among the useful introductions to your daily routine, take note:

Walks in the open air.
Visiting the pool, this sport does not require serious physical activity, but has a positive effect on all internal organs, and also makes the figure beautiful,
Do several exercises that will help build muscle mass. You can do gymnastics at home or go to the gym, where a trainer will help you choose a full range of exercises. If you take them incorrectly, you will have the opposite effect.
Yoga classes. Special poses of this exercise can solve the problem of decreased intestinal and stomach motility.

Taking into account the fact that with training and the selected exercises there should not be even greater weight loss, you should adjust your diet and introduce even more food with proteins into it.

A healthy lifestyle cannot be accompanied by bad habits, so giving them up is mandatory. A drinking person will further aggravate the situation with gastritis, and a smoker will find it difficult to gain weight, since tobacco significantly reduces appetite

Traditional methods

The main focus of treatment for gastritis is eliminating inflammation, and the disease itself can be cured with recipes from home healers.

To avoid exhaustion of a person and stimulate his appetite, the following recipes should be used:

The recipe that improves appetite consists entirely of herbs: wormwood, calamus, wachta and caraway. They should be taken in equal quantities and pour boiling water over them. Half an hour before meals, eat 1 tbsp. spoon of decoction. This composition is universal; it can be used both for low and high acidity of the stomach.
A flock of calamus root together with honey will help get rid of inflammation in the stomach. It is useful to drink it daily 30 minutes before meals. Calamus not only has an antispasmodic effect, but also improves appetite. The course of treatment with this remedy is 2 weeks
A mixture of finely chopped lard and grated green apples will help you gain weight quickly. They should be mixed, put in a bowl and placed in the oven, where it simmers over low heat for 4 hours.
You can increase your body weight with original sweet sandwiches made from white bread or a loaf, on which a chocolate mixture is spread. To prepare it, you need to take 400 grams of chocolate and lard, 12 proteins, 6 green apples and a glass of sugar. First, cut the lard and put it in a pan so that it melts a little. The apples are passed through a meat grinder and added to the melted lard, in this form the composition is placed in the oven and cooked in it for 4 hours. The whites are combined with sugar and beaten, the chocolate is grated and all the prepared ingredients are added to the apple mixture. The product needs to be cooled and then put in the refrigerator to harden. It is applied to a piece of bread and eaten at least 3 times a day, washed down with milk.

What are the dangers of severe weight loss?

Having extra pounds is very harmful, but when uncontrolled weight loss occurs (with gastritis, for example), this may not have the best consequences. In addition to pain and other unpleasant symptoms, problems such as decreased immunity, displacement of internal organs, muscle atrophy, and frequent injuries to joints and bones also develop. Also, in women whose body weight is significantly less than normal, the menstrual cycle is disrupted. This leads to problems with conceiving a child. Often in men, weight loss affects potency. If doctors diagnose anorexia, then in 15% of cases it can lead to death.

Preparing for weight gain

Starting to gain weight without getting rid of the reasons for its decline is a futile exercise. First, you need to cure gastrointestinal diseases in which complete absorption of nutrients is impossible. Or, at least, put chronic diseases into remission. Only after this can you think about how to gain weight with gastritis and esophagitis.

Treatment of gastrointestinal diseases is carried out under the supervision of a gastroenterologist. Depending on the severity of the problem, the course of treatment can be carried out either at home or on an outpatient or inpatient basis. First, anamnesis is collected: the patient talks about what worries him and talks about the course of the disease. Next, a collection of tests is carried out, including a general and biochemical blood test, urine and stool analysis. Examinations such as ultrasound and gastroscopy are required.

Why do people lose weight with gastritis?

This disease is very insidious, so it is necessary to understand why a person begins to suddenly lose weight.

As mentioned above, with gastritis the gastric mucosa becomes inflamed, so the digestion process is disrupted. Food is not digested, and the body experiences a lack of carbohydrates and proteins.
The acute form of gastritis is accompanied by a constant feeling of nausea. Patients often vomit, sometimes up to 20 times a day. This condition is complicated by diarrhea. Weight loss occurs because nutrients do not have time to be absorbed in the body. And this, in turn, leads to exhaustion.
Atrophic gastritis leads to a sharp decrease in appetite. Losing 20 kg of weight is critical. Often with this form of the disease, patients completely refuse to eat. In this case, immediate hospitalization is necessary.
It is worth noting that during exacerbation of gastritis, doctors recommend adhering to a special diet. Because of this, patients refuse their usual high-calorie foods. For this reason, natural weight loss may occur at the beginning of treatment.
Severe, incessant pain in the stomach leads to the fact that a person simply cannot eat. Because of this, sudden weight loss occurs. This behavior of the patient is quite reasonable. After gastritis goes from acute to chronic, body weight will gradually be restored.
Psychological reasons that cause sudden weight loss cannot be ruled out. Most often, patients understand that they experience pain after eating food, so they consciously refuse it so as not to experience such discomfort again.

Useful video

Weight loss with gastritis can only be observed with proper and balanced nutrition, as well as using a number of factors. The use of appropriate diets, which include various vegetables and fruits, as well as a certain time of their consumption, should be combined with the form of gastritis. To comply with these rules, you must be guided by the conclusion of a gastroenterologist, after which you can apply the appropriate diet. It is necessary to understand that consuming prohibited foods for gastritis can cause pain in the gastrointestinal tract. Not recommended:

quickly prepared food (since its consumption only allows you to gain weight);
consumption of smoked meats, pickles, canned food;
fried and fatty foods, meat broths (will help you gain weight);
do not drink alcoholic and carbonated drinks during exacerbation of gastritis;
refuse butter dough (this promotes weight loss);
do not consume fermented milk products, rye bread and sweet fruits, as they cause fermentation in the body.

Often, people lose weight with gastritis when they refuse to eat certain foods that negatively affect their health, as well as those that are not recommended for consumption with this disease. When following diets that promote weight loss, it is necessary to follow strict rules, including proper processing of foods and their preparation. Only those people who strictly adhere to established nutritional rules lose weight with gastritis, otherwise the effect will not be achieved! Eliminating meat broths will help those suffering from gastrointestinal disorders to lose weight without much difficulty. Eating boiled or steamed vegetables also promotes weight loss and also has a beneficial effect on the gastric mucosa, since during an exacerbation of gastritis it becomes very inflamed and brings pain to the person in the gastrointestinal tract. The use of dietary meat for this disease can improve the functioning of the stomach, and rabbit meat promotes weight loss and is recommended for use in chronic cases of stomach disease.

Properly selected nutrition for gastritis will allow you to normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and lose weight if you include a sufficient amount of river fish in your diet, as it is rich in omega-3 and omega-6 vitamins and unsaturated fats. It is allowed to consume a small amount of cream, butter, and cottage cheese, but an excessive combination of these products can contribute to weight gain.

Losing weight or gaining weight with gastritis largely depends on the human body. In order to correctly select a specific list of necessary products, it is recommended to be examined and find out about the amount of hydrochloric acid produced by the stomach. After which a gentle diet is prescribed, which should contain more carbohydrates, then proteins and fats. A menu with a certain number of calories is also drawn up, where frequent meals are approved. The main component of the regime for gastritis is knowing the moderation in eating food, since overeating has a negative impact on the digestive system and stimulates the body to gain weight. It is necessary to understand that the feeling of fullness occurs only within 15 minutes after eating foods. If you have gastritis, you should not be satisfied with snacks, as they cause great harm to the functioning of the stomach, do not allow food to be absorbed and the person can gain weight. In addition, complex dishes should be avoided.

Based on the above, the conclusion suggests itself that if there are disturbances in the gastrointestinal tract, it is possible not only to lose weight, but also to gain weight. It all depends on proper and balanced nutrition and regimen. If it is not followed, a person cannot avoid additional weight gain or, conversely, weight loss. Gastritis is accompanied by vomiting, inflammation of the gastric mucosa, and a feeling of fullness after eating. To get rid of these symptoms, many people suffering from this disease begin to resort to diets on their own, and they, in turn, lead to weight loss or, on the contrary, help to gain additional pounds.

Gastritis can be cured, but only if you use a healing table that includes healthy and nutritious food. It will allow you to normalize a healthy lifestyle, give up bad habits and, if necessary, gain weight. Gaining weight without treating this disease is almost impossible, so it is recommended to relieve the inflammatory process of the gastric mucosa and increase appetite.

With proper treatment of gastritis, you can both lose weight and gain weight, bringing your weight to a normal state because the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, metabolic processes in the body improve and the immune system is strengthened due to adequate and timely nutrition.

Weight loss with gastritis is not such an insignificant problem as it might seem at first glance. It’s good when your weight slowly and gradually returns to normal, and then stops and remains unchanged.

But sometimes the process may not stop when normal indicators are achieved, which can result in serious exhaustion of the body and even the development of a disease such as anorexia, etc. Therefore, it is very important to understand the reasons for weight loss and be able to stop this process in time.

Finding out the reasons for weight loss

From all of the above, you can understand how interconnected gastritis and weight loss are. Treatment that will relieve the inflammatory process of the mucous membranes of the stomach is prescribed only after the necessary examination. Since other factors can influence weight loss, doctors rule them out first. To do this, the patient is prescribed tests for hormones and the presence of parasites, as well as a general blood test. An ultrasound examination of the thyroid gland is required. In some cases, fluorography may be prescribed.

Such an examination allows you to determine with maximum accuracy the reason why weight loss occurs. A course of therapeutic treatment is prescribed only after the source of the problem has been identified. Only a doctor should prescribe medications and plan a diet. Self-medication can lead to exacerbation of gastritis, as well as cause serious side symptoms.

How to gain weight?

Weight loss with gastritis can be considered normal if no more than 3-4 kg of the initial weight is lost. After the inflammatory process is relieved by drug treatment, the patient recovers within 2 months. Since after gastritis you cannot immediately return to fatty foods, weight normalization occurs gradually.

It is important to understand: in order to regain lost pounds and feel healthy, you need to eat right, dividing meals into 5-6 times. Drink up to 2 liters of clean water daily. It is recommended to distribute physical activity. Don't forget to eat fresh vegetables and fruits. Vitamins are simply necessary if the patient is diagnosed with erosive gastritis. Weight loss will stop if you give up bad habits forever.

It is important to understand that the human body consists of several types of tissues. When losing weight due to illness, muscle mass most often decreases. And if you start eating abundantly, then weight restoration will be carried out due to fatty tissue. It is for this reason that it is important to balance all foods and correctly distribute physical activity. Under no circumstances should you give up protein-rich foods. It strengthens muscle tissue, due to which a person’s well-being significantly improves.

Physical exercise

When losing weight, vigorous daily physical activity is recommended. For many people, it is enough to do exercises for this purpose, which will increase appetite and restore muscle tone. When working sedentarily, you need to take short breaks; it is useful to walk or stretch a little. This will help restore the functioning of the digestive organs, impaired due to constant compression.

Walking in the fresh air is beneficial; visiting the pool is recommended.

You can choose several exercises for yourself to increase muscle mass. For this purpose, it is recommended to enroll in a gym, where you can learn the movements under the guidance of a trainer. For many, yoga classes are a real salvation, as they can increase intestinal tone and improve intestinal motility, which is impaired due to illness.

During sports, fats are burned intensively, so to gain weight, you should reconsider the amount of food you eat. It is best to consult a specialist on this issue.

Proper nutrition

If a person has already experienced weight loss due to gastritis, then he needs to learn how to eat properly. First of all, you will need to get rid of the root cause that caused the loss of body weight. After relieving inflammation of the mucous membrane, you need to create a nutrition schedule. As mentioned above, it is better to divide meals into five to six times. Each serving should not exceed 200 g. The diet must include the following products:

fermented milk: sour cream, kefir, cottage cheese, yogurt;
meat: it is better to give preference to white lean meat, such as chicken.

It is not advisable to give up fish. It is easily absorbed in the body, filling it with useful substances. You should also include hard cheeses in your diet.

Healthy eating

A healthy lifestyle has a positive effect on metabolic processes in the body, while constant stressful situations lead to neurosis, which also affects weight loss.

Thanks to physical activity and gymnastics, you can stop weight loss. There are special exercises aimed at building muscle mass. In this case, it is better to go to the gym and use the services of a trainer. Only an instructor will be able to create a training plan based on your needs, since ignorance of all the nuances can lead to the opposite result. Thus, with increased energy consumption, fat is burned. The trainer’s tasks also include adjusting nutrition taking into account the loads received.

If you want to gain weight, you should stop smoking, which is very important for gastritis, during which this bad habit leads to inflammation of the mucous membrane. Smoking also reduces appetite, as a result of which the patient will constantly observe a decrease in the numbers on the scales.

Such a situation requires the creation of conditions that improve appetite, but cannot harm health. Everyone knows that eating high-calorie and fatty foods is strictly prohibited for gastritis sufferers. Accordingly, the question arises of how to gain weight with gastritis by eating diet foods.

Fighting the disease can be difficult and requires a lot of time, but if you follow the doctor’s recommendations, it is quite doable. It is enough to adhere to the developed rules:

Create a personalized routine.
Meals should be taken at clearly established times, with intervals not exceeding 3 hours. It is necessary to completely eliminate the habit of eating dry food or at unspecified times. Food entering the stomach must be chewed thoroughly, avoiding hasty swallowing of large pieces and overeating. It must be remembered that excessively hot food is an irritant to the epithelium of the stomach, which can adversely affect the digestive process. Excessively cold foods have a similar reaction. During exacerbations, you should drink warm milk, as it perfectly neutralizes the acidity of gastric enzymes. By following the rules of food consumption, you will greatly facilitate the work of the damaged organ.

Maintaining the correct balance of beneficial elements. Eating chicken meat enriched with protein is very beneficial. An excellent option for replenishing animal fats is to eat baked or boiled fish. The main condition for a balanced diet is the appearance of fat in the required areas.
Leading an active and healthy life.
This is reflected in improved metabolism. No matter how paradoxical it may sound, to increase mass you need to do gymnastics and physical activity. For this, there are special exercises that allow you to build muscle mass. In order for classes to give the required result, you should visit the gym and play sports with gastritis, preferably with a qualified instructor. Since training consumes a lot of energy, you need to take energy consumption into account when creating a diet. Do not forget that smoking negatively affects appetite, accelerating weight loss, so you should give up the addiction.
Use biological additives. There are many herbal or medicinal dietary supplements that improve appetite and eliminate weight loss. They contain enzymes that stimulate appetite and stimulate digestion of food. Considering that all dietary supplements have contraindications and certain side effects, their use should be discussed with your doctor.