According to medical experts' surveys of tens of thousands of gastrointestinal disease patients, a concerning conclusion has emerged: many individuals lack proper understanding of gastrointestinal disorders, leading to recurrent stomach ailments that prove difficult to cure. Reports from the World Gastroenterology Organisation further indicate that gastric cancer resulting from chronic gastritis with atrophic gastritis accounts for 3% to 4% of cases, demanding high priority attention.
The onset of chronic gastritis is often closely linked to dietary habits, such as prolonged excessive consumption of alcohol, strong tea, coffee, or overindulgence in highly stimulating condiments like chili peppers and mustard. More critically, improper eating patterns—such as irregular meal times, skipping breakfast, reckless dieting that restricts food intake, or binge eating—can damage the gastric mucosa.Primary symptoms include upper abdominal fullness, belching, acid reflux, nausea, heartburn, dull pain, and decreased appetite. Therefore, proper dietary management is crucial for preventing and treating chronic gastritis. Naturally, acute gastritis should be promptly treated to prevent its progression to chronic gastritis.
Dietary Treatment Principles: Eat Regularly and in Moderate Quantities
Three meals should be consumed at consistent times daily, avoiding overeating.Small snacks between meals are permissible but should be limited to avoid interfering with main meals. Prioritize soft, tender, and easily digestible foods. Staples, vegetables, and meats (especially fish) should be thoroughly cooked until soft and tender for better digestion and absorption. Minimize coarse or high-fiber foods. Meals should be finely prepared and nutritionally rich.
Maintain freshness and lightness. All foods should be fresh and not stored for extended periods. Choose fresh, low-fiber vegetables and fruits such as winter melon, cucumber, tomato, potato, spinach leaves, bok choy, apple, pear, banana, and orange. Opt for light, low-oil meals. Light diets are easier to digest and absorb, aiding recovery from gastric conditions.
Choose appropriate cooking methods. Opt for steaming, boiling, braising, stewing, simmering, or blanching. Avoid frying, deep-frying, smoking, or grilling, as dishes prepared these ways are harder to digest and absorb.
Remember dietary restrictions. Individuals with chronic gastritis should avoid strong spirits (other alcoholic beverages should also be minimized or avoided), cigarettes, strong tea, coffee, chili peppers, mustard, and other highly stimulating seasonings. Soups and dishes that are excessively sweet, salty, rich, cold, hot, or acidic should be avoided to prevent damage to the gastric mucosa.Excessive consumption of carbonated beverages can also cause varying degrees of damage to the gastric mucosa.
Sample Recipes
Based on the above dietary principles, two recipes with distinct flavors are provided below. Those with this condition may wish to try them:
(1) Breakfast: 1 boiled egg, 50g cake or bread, 50g plain congee, 25g pickled cucumber.
Mid-morning snack: Sweet soy milk (220g soy milk, 10g white sugar).
Lunch: 75g soft rice, braised soft fish (150g grass carp), stir-fried tender yellow choy sum hearts (150g choy sum).
Afternoon snack: 25g biscuits.
Dinner: Minced meat and vegetable soup noodles(50g lean pork, 100g spinach, 50g noodles), 50g vegetable-meat bun.
Evening snack: Hot milk (220g fresh milk, 10g white sugar)
Total daily energy: 2100 kcal.
(II) Breakfast: 50g fresh meat bun, 50g plain congee, 25g braised dried tofu.
Mid-morning snack: Hot milk (220g fresh milk, 10g white sugar).
Lunch: 75g soft rice, sunny-side-up egg (1 ounce lean pork, 1 egg), stir-fried tender leafy greens (150g tender leafy greens).
Afternoon snack: 25g crispy pastry (sweet or savory).
Dinner: 100g wontons or thin-skinned dumplings (100g bok choy, 50g lean pork).
Evening snack: 25g lotus root starch or arrowroot starch dissolved in water to make 250g porridge with 10g white sugar; alternatively, consume 1 small packet of nutritional oatmeal mixed with water.
Total daily energy: 2100 kcal.
In summary, dietary management for chronic gastritis should include low-residue soft foods or low-residue semi-liquids. Daily cooking oil should be limited to approximately 30g (using vegetable oil). The two sample menus above generally meet the daily caloric and nutrient requirements for adults engaged in normal physical labor. Populations in different regions may adjust accordingly based on local dietary habits and available foods.