Deases & How to Control the Deases

Gas and diet

Step 1: Understanding the relationship between gas and diet
Gas refers to belching and flatulence – something which affects all of us. It has been estimated the average healthy young male passes excess gas thirteen times a day.

Fibre is the main cause of gas and since fibre is necessary in a healthy diet, flatulence and belching can be seen as a sign of good health!

If this condition persists and is excessive, it may be advisable to have a medical examination to try and determine what the underlying causes are, e.g. gastritis, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome and enzyme deficiency.

Some of the common causes (dietary causes indicated in bold) are:

• Eating non-digestible foods such as fibre.
• Eating foods that your body cannot tolerate (as in lactose intolerance which occurs when you lack the enzyme which digests lactose or milk sugar).
• Eating beans. There are carbohydrates in beans that cannot be digested by our enzymes so the bacteria in the colon have to break it down. The result is colonic gas.
• Acute pancreatitis.
• Irritable bowel syndrome.
• Malabsorption (which occurs when your intestine is not able to absorb nutrients) often accompanied by diarrhoea.
• Use of antibiotics.

Step 2: Adopting new healthy habits

• Cut down on fibre intake.
• If you suffer from pancreatitis or irritable bowel syndrome, seek treatment.
• Avoid excess intake of antibiotics.
• Seek medical attention if you suffer any other symptoms or if gas causes pain.

Step 3: Understanding the basic principles of a diet to reduce gas
Intestinal gas may increase temporarily after starting a high-fibre diet. The condition usually disappears on its own once your body has adjusted to the new diet. Also try the following:

• Do not eat milk products for a week as you might be lactose-intolerant.
• Avoid rich, spicy foods or fizzy drinks, coffee and all forms of alcohol.
• To decrease the presence of foul-smelling amines in the intestine, you could decrease the amount of protein, primarily meat, in your diet. However, it is advisable to see a nutritionist before doing this.
• Avoid foods like navy beans, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips, legumes, cucumbers, radishes, onions, and melons.
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.
• Increase your intake of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is found in leafy green vegetables, such as spinach.

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Anaemia and diet

Step 1: Understanding the relationship between anaemia and food
Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anaemia.

The most common cause of iron deficiency is chronic blood loss, usually due to excessive menstruation, or due to bleeding into or from the gut as a result of a peptic ulcer, gastritis, haemorrhoids or in children, worm infestation.

Increased demand for iron such as foetal growth in pregnancy, and children undergoing rapid growth spurts in infancy and adolescence, can also cause iron deficiency anaemia.

The symptoms of chronic iron deficiency anaemia include:

• Tiredness
• Weakness
• Shortness of breath and sometimes a fast heartbeat

Step 2: Adopting new healthy habits

• Identify the underlying cause of iron deficiency anaemia, and treat the cause if possible
• Treat the iron deficiency by eating iron rich foods and iron supplementation
• Eat a well balanced diet

Step 3: Basic dietary guidelines for an iron rich diet and iron supplementation

The do’s
1. Eat more iron rich foods. The very best sources of iron that is easily absorbed by the human body are:

• Meat (especially organ meats like liver and kidneys)
• Fish
• Eggs (especially the yolk)
• Cheese
• Commercial breakfast cereals are fortified with easily absorbable iron so they can also make a good contribution.

2. Vitamin C improves iron absorption. Have a glass of fresh orange juice with your breakfast which could contain egg, the breakfast cereals, or a bit of fried liver.

3. You also need folic acid to assist in preventing anaemia. Folic acid is mainly found in green leafy vegetables, and you can also obtain a supplement if necessary.

4. Iron supplementation may help a lot. Iron sulphate tablets such as ferrous sulphate, taken in a dose of 300mg three times a day, are recommended. A dose of 300mg once or twice a day may be effective for prophylaxis of mild iron deficiency. The tablets should be taken between meals as iron is absorbed better on an empty stomach. However, this form of iron has side effects such as bloating, fullness and sometimes stomach pain and taking the tablets with meals may help to alleviate these side effects. Ferrous gluconate or ferrous lactate may have fewer side effects.

The don’ts:
1. Don’t go on a vegetarian diet without consulting your doctor and dietician.

2. Avoid iron-containing cocktails of vitamins since these generally do not contain enough iron and are expensive.

3. Drugs that reduce acid production by the stomach such as Cimetidine (Tagamet) may inhibit iron absorption and these tablets should not be taken simultaneously.

4. There are no quick fixes. It is necessary to continue iron therapy for four to six months to correct the anaemia and replenish stores.