Fruit and Vegetables May Cause Indigestion Problems in Summer

Vitamin-rich food can be harmful too

In summertime, people want to eat as much vitamin-rich food as possible. Yet, they often forget that raw vegetables and fruit can also bring harm. Gastroenterologist Irina Novikova talks about the proper nourishment for the people that often suffer from indigestion.

If there are no problems with health, vegetables and fruit will definitely be very good to eat. A lot of them produce a laxative effect - for example, cucumbers, beets and plums. As a rule, these vegetables do not lead to diarrhea, and the stool normalizes in 24 hours. If eating raw vegetables or fruit results in diarrhea, one should have an appointment with a doctor. Indigestion may definitely be caused with an intestinal infection. On the other hand, raw vegetables and fruit may often exacerbate various chronic diseases. In this case, one should not hope for the "vegetable" or "fruit" diarrhea to end by itself.

Most frequently, indigestion caused with raw vegetables or fruit  occurs if an individual suffers from colitis - the chronic large intestine inflammation. A lot of young women suffer from this unpleasant disease. Raw vegetables and fruit consist of the rough cellular tissue, and the inflamed intestinal mucous membrane is not ready for such heavy food. Even one small fresh cucumber may lead to very unpleasant consequences the next morning.

On the other hand, there is a way out. If the intestines refuse to process the rough cellular tissue, one should help it cope with it. Vegetables and fruit are supposed to be minced. Not all berries and fruit have the laxative effect. Blackberries, bird cherries,  pears reduce the intestinal contraction. If precautions do not help, one will have to start eating boiled vegetables. The boiling process takes vitamins out to water, so the vegetable broth is good for cooking soups, porridges, or stew. Boiled berries and fruit make delicious fruit drinks. One should be very cautious with raw vegetables and fruit after diarrhea. Diet food will be a great help to normalize the digestion. Spicy dishes are out of the question, only millet and barley porridges will do. Soups are supposed to be boiled on the base of low-fat broth, milk should be substituted with sour milk products. Cakes, buns and rye bread should be excluded from the menu as well. Eggs should be hard-boiled, salt and sugar is supposed to be minimized too.

If it is impossible to normalize the stool with the help of a diet, one will have to take antibiotics to destroy intestines germs. St.-John's wort, camomile, eucalyptus decoctions produce a relaxing effect on the intestinal mucous membrane. Colitis always entails disbacteriosis, that is why women, who suffer from colitis, badly endure sweet berries and fruit - grapes, apricots, melons, bananas. The fruit sugar nourishes microbes and they start breeding very quickly, suppressing the normal intestinal flora.

Stomach ulcer and duodenal ulcer create the acidity. Abundant acid makes stomach push the food faster, that is why ulcer patients suffer from frequent and liquid stool. Current, gooseberries, cranberries, cherries and apples increase the acidity even more, which results in uncontrollable diarrhea. Furthermore, aggressive acid corrodes the interior surface of the  stomach, exacerbating the illness even more. Sweet fruit and vegetables - strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, sweet apples, bananas and carrots reduce the acidity and improve the stool.

On the other hand, some people suffer from low stomach acidity. It happens at low acidity gastritis, when the stomach cannot digest raw vegetables and fruit. As a result, the intestines accept the undigested food. Minced food will ease the stomach's work a lot. People who suffer from ulcer colitis must not eat raw vegetables and fruit at all, although it is possible to take them boiled or minced.

In the intestines, the food is digested with digestive juice enzymes. Some people do not have certain enzymes produced in the intestines. Most often, there is a lack of sugar-decomposing substances. In this case, sweet fruit and vegetables inevitably exacerbate chronic colitis. It is hard to solve this problem, one has to undergo a profound medical examination to find the missing enzyme. Allergy to vegetables or fruit often entails indigestion. However, other symptoms of allergy appear too – short breath and nettle-rash. According to statistics, patients most often suffer from eating strawberries and citrus fruit.

Tatiana Losoto