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Diet With a Bleeding Gastric Ulcer

Jul 12, 2011 | By Dominique Brooks

Ulcers are open sores in the lining of your stomach or other parts of the digestive tract. Typically, these ulcers lead to abdominal pain, heartburn, and poor appetite; however, a more significant symptom can be bleeding from the ulcer itself. Your physician will want to make sure that you do not become anemic from the bleeding; you may need additional work-ups to diagnose and treat the bleeding. Your doctor may also prescribe medications and modifications to your diet. Since diet alone does not cure ulcers, you should focus on foods that do not worsen the symptoms if you have a bleeding ulcer.

Avoid Spicy Foods

Spicy foods do not cause bleeding ulcers, but can increase gastric pain if you have an ulcer by irritating the stomach lining. Foods that contain black pepper, chili powder, and hot or red pepper may make symptoms worse, according to Jackson Siegelbaum Gastroenterology. Foods containing milder spices like dill, marjoram, or basil may work better for your stomach. Your physician may recommend that you eliminate all spicy foods from your diet.

Avoid Alcohol and Caffeine

Alcohol and caffeine can also irritate the stomach lining and make the symptoms of a bleeding ulcer worse. Alcohol can eat away at the lining, leading to more inflammation. Caffeine, which is found in coffee, tea, and chocolate, may increase the acid levels in the stomach. After your ulcer heals, you can slowly reintroduce these beverages back into your diet with the approval of your physician.

Limit Amounts of Fatty Foods

Lowering the amount of fatty and fried foods from your diet may also reduce symptoms of your ulcer. You should avoid foods like deli meats, French fries, onion rings, potato chips, doughnuts and mozzarella sticks while you have an ulcer. You should also eat low-fat or nonfat milk and other dairy products with lower fat levels. Lean meats, fish, tofu, and other sources of protein may also be less irritating to your stomach than protein foods with higher amounts of fat.

Eat Plenty of Vitamin C and Other Antioxidants

Including more foods in your diet that contain antioxidants may help your condition. Vitamin C may help heal bleeding ulcers that result from aspirin usage, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. However, oranges, tomatoes and other citrus products, which are rich sources of vitamin C, may cause abdominal pain, so you may have to consider vitamin C supplements. You should discuss any vitamin C supplementation with your doctor. Fruits, like blueberries and cherries, and vegetables, like squash, are not very irritating and can provide plenty of antioxidants to promote stomach healing. Raw vegetables may cause excess gas and discomfort, so you may have to avoid raw vegetables including cucumbers, green pepper and broccoli.

Eats Foods with Flavonoids

Since the Helicobacter pylori bacteria cause most ulcers, some health care providers suggest eating foods that contain flavonoids, which are antioxidants that may prevent the growth of these bacteria, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Foods that contain flavonoids include onions, garlic, cranberry, apples, and celery. You should monitor your reaction to these foods; if you find that one of these foods causes abdominal discomfort, you should skip it.

References

Article reviewed by Mia Paul Last updated on: Jul 12, 2011

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