Intestinal motility: dietary rules to improve

Our body is not a set of separate organs, and disorders in one part of the GIT necessarily lead to a chain reaction of disorders in other organs and systems – circulatory, nervous, endocrine. This is why a well-functioning gastrointestinal tract is so important for human health.

Today we will consider common gastrointestinal disorders and how to improve its work with the help of diet and lifestyle.

Causes and symptoms of intestinal dysfunction

The digestive system feeds all of our organs through the blood. For the body to be healthy, you need a healthy digestive system. Then there will be no undesirable effects.

The small intestine is about six meters long. It is divided into three sections.

The first two are involved in the breakdown of food, the last section is where nutrients are absorbed. The content of the small intestine is food mush (chyme) consisting of partially digested food, gastric juice, bile and pancreatic juice.

Next, the chyme travels the last 1.5 meters of its journey, the colon, where excess water is absorbed into the bloodstream.

About half of all bowel-related complaints are related to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is an umbrella term that can be applied to a variety of conditions, such as spastic colon, spastic colon, mucosal colitis, colitis, and functional bowel disease.

Abdominal pain is a common complaint in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. When a diagnosis is made, the localization of the pain is determined.

For example, epigastric pain may be due to diseases of the pancreas, stomach or small intestine.

Pain in the right subcostal area may reflect liver, gallbladder and biliary tract disorders such as cholecystitis or hepatitis. Pain in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen may indicate inflammation of the appendix, terminal ileum, or cecum, indicating appendicitis, ileitis, or Crohn’s disease.

Pain in the left lower quadrant of the abdomen may indicate diverticulitis or constipation.

Pain in the left or right lower quadrant may indicate colitis, ileitis, or ovarian etiology.

Dietary rules to improve bowel motility

Proper dietary organization and a well-built diet for constipation is important, because stool retention is not only an unpleasant symptom, but also a risk of complications from the gastrointestinal tract and other systems.

If such situations occur rarely, for example, with sudden changes in diet or stress, they do not cause serious problems. Regularly occurring constipation should be a reason to find the cause of this condition and correct it.

Many foods can stimulate or weaken intestinal motility. Foods with a hardening effect in constipation should be avoided.

Chocolate, persimmons, eggplants, blueberries, pomegranate, rice, fruit kissel have a stabilizing effect, Strongly brewed black tea, coffee.

In the menu for constipation should use laxative foods – vegetables, fruits, herbs.

The diet for functional intestinal disorders has basic principles:

• Regular intake of food, long breaks are inadmissible.
• The method of cooking – boiled and steamed, the food must be low-fat. Six meals a day and a fractional meal.
• Mashed dishes, pureed vegetables, meat and cereals during exacerbation and not pureed during remission.
• Excluded are dishes and foods that increase fermentation (legumes, grapes, black bread, sweet apples, sweets, pastries, white cabbage, bananas, cucumbers, all drinks with gas, whole milk).
• Stimulants of bile and gastric secretion (radish, celery, sorrel, radish, mushrooms, turnips) are not allowed in the diet.
• Alcohol intake is excluded.
• Consumption of up to 8 glasses of liquid (caffeine-containing drinks are restricted, and herbal teas and table water are preferred).
• Restriction or exclusion of products containing caffeine (coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate).

It is obligatory to take into account the type of intestinal dysfunction in the diet. If the disease occurs with constipation, foods and dishes that stimulate intestinal motility are introduced into the basic diet.

How to improve bowel function

In order to have regular bowel movements without bloating, you need to take a good look at your body, analyze your eating and living habits, and find out what the physical or emotional cause of your irregular bowel movements is.

If your diet consists mainly of food that tastes astringent and not liquid enough, then all the efforts to relax and meditate will not help to solve the problem.

If the cause of constipation is stress, then it is necessary to engage in emotional work as well, and not just sit on a diet of foods that improve bowel function.

For digestive disorders, incorporate low-fat foods into your menu and eat small portions throughout the day, which will reduce the mechanical impact on the stomach.