Diet for hiatal hernia: simple instructions for changing your diet

Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract are becoming more common. This is primarily due to stress, poor diet, and frequent consumption of processed foods. Problems with bowel movements, bloating, epigastric pain and heartburn can be signs of a hiatal hernia.

Basic diet rules

If you follow certain nutritional rules, you should follow the advice of a nutritionist. Such recommendations are considered general. They will help avoid the following unpleasant sensations:

1. Heartburn, burning sensation in the stomach.
2. Belching with sour taste.
3. The appearance of pain in the stomach.

The diet will also help reduce the intensity and frequency of manifestations of the disease; its main recommendations, according to many nutritionists, are as follows.

Table 1.

Alcohol, various sweets, and foods that promote fluid retention in the body, as well as increased gas formation, are also prohibited. Therefore, you should not include legumes, sugary carbonated drinks, fruits and vegetables rich in fiber in your diet.

The diet and recommendations for creating a menu are the prerogative of nutritionists or doctors monitoring the patient. The menu is individual for each person and consists of observing certain, specific rules that help normalize the digestion process.

Medical nutrition in the postoperative period

Authorized Products

The list of such should include:

Table 2.

You can diversify your diet with fruits, which are easily digested and are regarded as an accessible source of vitamins and beneficial elements. The diet should be balanced, complete, exclude large amounts of glucose; light carbohydrates, which provoke the production of insulin in the body, are also prohibited.

Prohibited Products

Subject to any restrictions, you should avoid certain foods that can harm a person.

Table 3. What you can’t eat, list of prohibited foods:

All the products listed above can negatively affect the digestive process, aggravate unpleasant symptoms or cause their manifestations.

If a person suffers from a hiatal hernia, then following a diet will help him avoid serious digestive problems.

Information about the disease

Anatomically, the diaphragm, together with adipose tissue and ligaments, prevents the movement and protrusion of the abdominal organs:

• esophagus;
• intestinal loops;
• some parts of the stomach.

But there is a disease in which parts of the above organs are displaced through the esophageal opening into the upper abdominal cavity - this is a hiatal hernia.

The most common type is a sliding or axial hernia, in which the cardia, the sphincter between the stomach and the esophagus, is located above the esophageal opening of the diaphragm. This pathology is characterized by periodic displacement of the esophagus and upper part of the stomach into the chest cavity when overeating or adopting a horizontal body position. Therefore, the disease is accompanied by heartburn, sour belching, pain and bloating.

Sometimes there may be interruptions in the functioning of the heart and difficulty breathing. This is due to the displacement of organs from the abdominal cavity to the chest cavity. Such symptoms usually complicate the diagnosis.

The most reliable method of diagnosis is FGDS and X-ray examination with contrast.

There is also a paraesophageal hernia - it can have more serious consequences. Its treatment is carried out surgically in case of pinching. Congenital pathology, as well as displacement of the esophagus due to injury, is also one of the types of hernia that only a surgeon can correct. There is a classification of the disease according to its neglect:

1. In the first stage, the fundus of the stomach touches the diaphragm.
2. Second degree - the cardiac part (upper part) of the stomach is located in the esophageal opening.
3. The most neglected. The esophagus and most of the stomach are located in the sternum.

Conservative treatment of a hiatal hernia without surgery is carried out only in the first two stages of the disease; it includes changing eating habits. In the third degree, medical care is carried out only surgically.

Measures to prevent constipation and gas formation with hiatal hernia

The accumulation of gases in the organs of the gastrointestinal tract during a hernia occurs due to compression, which is why it is so important not to eat foods that stimulate fermentation in the stomach and intestines. These include:

• legumes, including beans, peas, corn;
• drinks with a high content of sugar and gas, even if we are talking about highly carbonated mineral water, it is better to avoid it;
• vegetables and fruits rich in fiber;
• bakery products, pastries containing yeast, various desserts: affected or cakes;
• including bread-based drinks, such as kvass;
• You should not eat raw onions and garlic, radishes and radishes.

Proper nutrition and eating fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products is an excellent prevention of constipation. Their occurrence will help prevent compliance with the diet, eating food in small portions.

Also, those who are afraid of constipation should not drink large amounts of liquid with food and lead a sedentary lifestyle.

Proper nutrition, combined with physical activity, is a good method for preventing constipation and disorders of the digestive system.

Living with a hiatal hernia

The occurrence of a hiatal hernia is often associated with excess weight. Therefore, it is important for patients to first normalize their weight and prevent it from increasing.

The pathology can lead to significant discomfort if left untreated. In order to alleviate the condition, you need to follow simple recommendations:

1. eat a varied and balanced diet;
2. give preference to thermally processed vegetables and fruits without coarse fiber;
3. give up junk food: fast food, fatty, spicy and smoked foods will only make you feel worse;
4. follow a healthy lifestyle: smoking and alcohol have a bad effect on the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
5. do not lie down after eating - this leads to a deterioration in the general condition and progression of the hernia;
6. take time to exercise - moderate physical exercise strengthens the ligamentous apparatus.

A sliding hiatal hernia is not a death sentence; you can live with it your whole life and not even notice it if you follow a diet and exercise. But the lack of treatment is dangerous - the hernia can progress and become pinched, then only surgery will help.

Menu by day for the week

You can compose it yourself, following the recommendations given by the doctor. This way you will be able to diversify your diet with your favorite foods and avoid strict food restrictions.

Table 4. Menu for the week

Fully or partially limited products

• Fatty and stringy meat, fatty duck and goose, meat and fish broths, canned food, smoked meats, pickled vegetables.
• Fried dishes, mushroom decoctions, tomato and mushroom sauces, fish and meat stewed in their own juices.
• Fresh bread and pastry.
• Tomatoes, radishes, white cabbage, sorrel, cucumbers, onions, mushrooms, sour fruits and berries.
• Spices and seasonings.
• Millet, barley and pearl barley cereals, pasta, legumes.
• Fermented milk products with high acidity.
• Carbonated drinks, sour juices.

The list of products may expand due to individual poor tolerance. Foods that cause heartburn , epigastric discomfort, and vomiting should be avoided.

Table of prohibited products

Diet after hiatal hernia surgery

People who have undergone surgery are advised to adhere to strict dietary restrictions; it is better to avoid all foods that can cause serious harm to the body.

More often, doctors recommend the following diet for those who have recently undergone surgery:

1. You can eat broths, as well as porridges with water in the first three days; jelly and water, kefir with a low percentage of fat content are allowed.
2. After the specified time, it is allowed to eat pureed food, and gradually the patient is accustomed to solid foods.

The doctor decides how long the recovery will last, it all depends on the normalization of the functioning of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract.

Much depends on the method of surgical intervention; if the hernia was removed by laparoscopic surgery, then recovery will take from 3 to 5 days. The patient will be given nutritional advice and sent home.

Surgical intervention requires a long recovery and is fraught with complications, so it is difficult to predict exactly when the patient will be allowed to return to their usual diet. On average, this takes from 10 to 14 days.

Reviews and results

The diet is expanded compared to Diets 1A and 1B and can be performed for a long time, as it contains the physiological norm of nutrients. Reviews from patients indicate that this diet, and especially split meals, has a beneficial effect on the condition of the esophagus and stomach: discomfort, belching and heartburn, and heaviness in the chest are eliminated.

• “... I don’t want to operate on a hernia, but frequent reflux of acidic contents caused inflammation of the esophagus without erosion. I decided that it was better to be careful (not to lift weights, etc.) and to be on medical nutrition than to have surgery right away. I adhered to it very strictly for 3 months, then expanded it a little, as my health became normal. I excluded dishes and foods that cause heartburn (lemon and all sour fruits, pickles, sweets, honey, jam). I watch my diet and take pills. I lost 5 kg in 4 months”;
• “... The hernia has been there for many years, but it does not increase and is not strangulated. Recently, heartburn began to bother me often, I was examined, and during gastroscopy they discovered superficial erosions in the esophagus. I was treated in the hospital for 3 weeks, here Table 1 B was prescribed. During the control gastroscopy, the erosions healed. At home I switched to Table 1 and observed it with all strictness for 3 months. In addition, I monitored the condition and studied the tolerance of certain foods and excluded them additionally. I'm used to steamed cutlets and meatballs, but I can eat many porridges and mashed potatoes. Sometimes I want fatty and fried foods, but I can’t have them - I immediately get heartburn and discomfort in the chest. I realized that with my illness, nutrition is the main thing”;
• “... The hernia had to be operated on because there were complications. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks, I was on diet food 1A, but more pureed meat dishes; at home I began to follow this table. They warned not to overeat and to stick to the diet for as long as possible. The work does not involve hard work, so I have enough food, I can withstand the restrictions well, especially since I need to lose another 7 kg. True, it’s inconvenient to carry dietary dishes to work, but you have to put up with it.”