EATING FOR RELIEF
Gone are the days when doctors treated ulcers by putting people on a bland diet consisting of milk, cream, and eggs. The idea was that this bland fare would somehow neutralize excess stomach acid, which was caused, it was thought, by stress or frequent meals of three-alarm chili, and allow the ulcers to heal.
As it turns out, most ulcers are caused by a nasty bacterium called Helicobacter pylori—a tummy-damaging foe that can’t be vanquished with a bland diet. Still, if you have an ulcer, what you eat and drink does affect how you feel, says Isadore Rosenfeld, MD, clinical professor of medicine at New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center in New York City, and author of Doctor, What Should I Eat? Some foods, like coffee (including decaf ), stimulate the secretion of stomach acid, which can delay healing and make the pain of ulcers worse. On the other hand, a number of foods may help protect the stomach’s protective lining from attack. And choosing the right foods during ulcer treatment can make you more comfortable and even help ulcers heal faster.
Cabbage is one of the oldest folk remedies for ulcers, dating back to Roman times. In 1949, a group of researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine decided to put this virtuous vegetable to the test. In the study, 13 people with ulcers drank 1 liter (about a quart) of raw cabbage juice every day. They healed six times faster than people whose only treatment was the standard bland diet.
Cabbage contains glutamine, an amino acid that increases bloodflow to the stomach and helps strengthen its protective lining.
It’s an extremely effective ulcer treatment, says Michael T. Murray, ND, a naturopathic doctor, professor at Bastyr University in Seattle, and author of Natural Alternatives to Over-the-Counter and Prescription Drugs. The healing usually takes place in less than 1 week, he adds.
During an ulcer flare-up, Dr. Murray says, you should drink the juice from half a head (about 2 cups) of cabbage each day. If you prefer to chew your medicine, eating the same amount of raw cabbage is equally effective. Don’t cook the cabbage, however, since heat destroys its anti-ulcer abilities.
Your body produces extremely powerful acids to digest the food you eat. While the lining of your stomach and duodenum—the top of your small intestine—can usually protect itself from these acids, H. pylori can weaken it so that acids reach and erode the stomach or intestinal wall. Two-thirds of all ulcers that develop in the stomach and upper intestinal tract are caused by H. pylori. Most of the others are the results of overuse of over-the-counter or prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs—NSAIDs—such as ibuprofen or aspirin.
Many people have H. pylori infections. But not everyone who has an infection will develop an ulcer. Fiber may tip the ulcer odds in your favor. When Harvard School of Public Health researchers tracked 47,806 men ages 40 to 75 for 6 years, they discovered that eating fruits and vegetables helped protect against the development of duodenal ulcers—ulcers in the delicate lining of the upper part of the small intestine.
How much? Men who ate seven servings of produce a day had a 33 percent lower risk for ulcers than guys who had less than three daily helpings of fruit and vegetables. Men who ate the most had a 45 percent lower risk compared to those whose diets were more focused on meat, fat, and refined carbohydrates. And those who ate the most soluble fiber—the kind that becomes gel-like in your gastrointestinal system—cut risk by 60 percent. And getting plenty of vitamin A—from fruits and vegetables, as well as supplements—slashed risk by 57 percent. Why would fiber protect the stomach lining? Even experts at the Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C.—a medical group that advises the federal government—aren’t quite sure, but they suspect it has something to do with fiber’s ability to slow down the process of digestion. This may prevent stomach acids from rushing into your small intestine and damaging it.
When ulcer pain hits, most people are more likely to reach for a bottle of antacid than a spoonful of honey. But a dose of honey goes down a lot easier than that chalky white stuff, and it may do more than a bit of good.
Honey has been used in folk medicine for all kinds of stomach troubles. Researchers at King Saudi University College of Medicine in Saudi Arabia found that raw, unprocessed honey strengthens the lining of the stomach. And a laboratory study at the University of Waikato in New Zealand found that a mild solution of honey made from the nectar of the manuka flower, native to New Zealand, was able to completely stop the growth of ulcer-causing bacteria. Some experts recommend using only raw, unpasteurized honey for easing an ulcer, since heat-processed honey doesn’t contain any of the beneficial substances. Try taking 1 tablespoon of raw, unprocessed honey at bedtime on an empty stomach. You can do this every day to help the ulcer heal. Continue this sweet treatment indefinitely to help prevent ulcers from coming back, he adds.
You can cut duodenal ulcer risk by eating more beans, carrots, and oranges.
These foods are high in soluble fiber, which in some way protects the upper part of your small intestine from damage, notes nutrition researcher Walid Aldoori, ScD, medical director at Wyeth Consumer Healthcare in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Yogurt is one of the great healing foods. It has been used successfully for treating yeast infections, easing lactose intolerance, and boosting immunity. There’s reason to believe that it may play a role in preventing ulcers as well.
Yogurt’s healing ability stems from the living stowaways it contains—live, healthful bacteria in every creamy cupful. These are friendly bacteria that will compete with the bacteria that cause ulcers. The helpful bacteria in yogurt, such as Lactobacillus bulgaricus and L. acidophilus, hustle for elbow room inside the stomach. Get enough of these beneficial bacteria in your system, and the ulcer-causing bacteria will find themselves outnumbered and unwelcome.
In addition, a natural sugar in yogurt called lactose breaks down into lactic acid during digestion. This helps restore a healthful acidic environment in the intestines.
When you have an ulcer, try eating 1 cup of yogurt three or four times a day for a couple of weeks, recommends Dr. Rosenfeld. When you combine yogurt therapy with any medical treatment you may be using, you can expect to shorten the course of your ulcer by about a third.
Incidentally, when buying yogurt, look for brands labeled “live and active cultures,” which contain the beneficial live bacteria.
Even though you can help heal an ulcer by eating specific, healing foods, there’s really no substitute for an overall healthful diet—even when you’re clearing up your ulcer with antibiotics that fight H. pylori or by switching your pain reliever to something that won’t damage your gastrointestinal system.
For starters, help yourself to a plantain. This cousin to the banana contains an enzyme that stimulates mucus production in the stomach lining, strengthening its natural defenses. When buying plantains, look for those that are green and slightly unripe, because these are thought to contain more of the healing enzymes.
It’s also a good idea to take advantage of fiber. Getting lots of fruits, whole grains, legumes, and vegetables in your diet can help prevent or even heal ulcers. This is because these foods contain generous amounts of dietary fiber, which encourages the growth of the stomach’s protective mucous layer. Dr. Rosenfeld recommends getting at least 35 grams of fiber every day, although the Daily Value (DV) for fiber is 25 grams.
Even though doctors once recommended milk as the cornerstone of anti-ulcer diets, it was bad advice. Milk not only increases stomach acid production, but some people are allergic to it, and food allergies may cause ulcers, according to Dr. Murray.
While you’re making basic changes in your diet, don’t forget to look at some of the obvious problem areas. Even though the caffeine in coffee doesn’t cause ulcers, it can make you more susceptible to getting them. Along with cigarettes and alcohol, it can also make existing ulcers worse, says Dr. Rosenfeld.