Ulcer Diet

An ulcer diet is designed to promote healing if you've been diagnosed with ulcers or gastroespohageal reflux disease. Choosing the right foods can help eliminate heartburn and other painful symptoms of these conditions.

What Are Ulcers?

If you've recently been diagnosed with ulcers, you might not be clear on exactly what they are, what causes them and why an ulcer diet would help.

Ulcers are basically sores or lesions in the stomach or part of the small intestine known as the duodenum. They are formed when the lining of these body parts wears away. Small ulcers might not cause problems, but big ulcers or a large number of ulcers may cause bleeding or perforation of the intestine, which requires surgery to fix.

It's been discovered that contrary to conventional wisdom, most ulcers are not caused by stress or eating spicy foods (though sometimes a bland diet is still recommended because it causes less irritation). Instead, there is a bacteria that causes most ulcers, so the most common test for ulcers is actually testing for that bacteria.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD is often what people have instead of ulcers if they don't have the bacteria present. This is a disorder caused when a body part called the lower esophageal sphincter doesn't close properly, allowing acid (and sometime bile) to creep up the esophagus after eating.

GERD causes regular heartburn and acid indigestion. There are many potential causes of the disorder, including a hiatal hernia, pregnancy, being overweight or being a smoker. Certain foods seem to trigger GERD as well, including fried, fatty, spicy and tomato-based foods, as well as alcohol. This is why an ulcer diet can be helpful even for people who don't have ulcers.

Basics of an Ulcer Diet

Some people who have ulcers don't seem to have problems with any food, but many people have symptom flare-ups depending on what they have eaten. It may help you to keep a food diary so you can determine which foods are triggers for you.

If you don't want to do that, you can simply avoid the foods that are the most common triggers, including:

• Coffee, tea, soda and other caffeinated or carbonated beverages
• Alcohol
• Fatty foods
• Fried foods
• Spicy foods
• Citrus
• Tomato-based foods

Foods that most people don't have trouble with include:

• Wheat, grains and grain products, such as rice and pasta
• Vegetables, whether fresh, frozen or canned
• Fruit other than citrus, whether fresh, frozen or canned
• Lean meats
• Fish
• Eggs
• Smooth nut butters
• Tofu
• Low-fat dairy products
• Mild cheeses

Other Foods to Avoid

Cooked vegetables are a good choice for eating with ulcers.

There are some foods within these categories, however, that can be difficult for some people, such as:

• High-fat breads and pastries such as croissants
• Bread made with dried fruit or seeds
• Wild rice
• Raw vegetables, especially those in the cabbage family
• Vegetables cooked in butter
• Fruit juice
• Sausages and hot dogs
• Strong flavored cheeses
• Full-fat dairy products
• Whole nuts or chunky nut butters
• Creamy soup
• Gravy
• Anything that's very spicy or strongly flavored, such as garlic, chili pepper, black pepper, horseradish or spicy salsas or barbecue sauces

Finally there are the fried and high-fat foods that should be avoided, including:

• Potato chips and other fried chips
• Pies, cakes, cookies and doughnuts
• Chocolate
• Coconut
• Any sweets containing nuts, coconut or fruit

More Diet Tips for Ulcers

It's really important to eat slowly when you have GERD or irritation from an ulcer. Chewing your food well and eating only what you need is vital to preventing irritation. You may find that you have fewer symptoms when you eat five or six small meals a day rather than three larger meals.

Getting lots of fiber seems to help people with ulcers and GERD, so make sure you're eating lots of whole-grain food items as well as plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Try not to eat within three hours of bedtime. This is especially important for people with heartburn, because you're more likely to have reflux problems if your body is still working hard to digest food when you lie down.

Paying attention to what and how you eat, as well as taking any medication recommended by your doctor, can help ease the pain and heal the problems of ulcers and GERD..