Do you get gastroenteritis as soon as summer comes? Beware of these 5 daily habits you ignore!

You or someone around you must have had this experience: every summer, you always have frequent diarrhea, and it happens every year, over and over again. But if you think about it carefully, you haven't eaten anything particularly spicy recently, so why do you still have to go to the toilet?

01 What went wrong?

Although on the surface, the food you eat is not much different from before, the change of seasons and the decrease of body resistance lead to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, and the pain of gastroenteritis accompanies you day and night. Enteritis is more common in summer and autumn, mainly for the following two reasons:

1. Improper diet: Eating raw, cold, or rotten food.

2. Getting cold. In summer and autumn, if the body, especially the abdomen, gets cold, it can cause gastrointestinal spasm and lead to enteritis.

Copyrighted images in the gallery, reprinting and use may cause copyright disputes. In people's daily lives, although they pay attention to diet and keeping warm, gastrointestinal problems sometimes occur. At this time, it is likely due to our daily bad habits. The loopholes in daily life will tell you the answer in the gastroenteritis of the changing seasons. The following 5 life loopholes need your vigilance!

Vulnerability 1: Skipping breakfast or eating less

The human stomach and intestines have already consumed the nutrients of the previous day after a night of activity and the body's basal metabolism, and they urgently need breakfast to replenish energy. If you don't eat a good breakfast, the "make-up class" at noon will cause the stomach and intestines to "overload" in a short period of time, which will lead to enteritis.

Vulnerability 2: Unfinished food is not refrigerated in time

Sometimes, many people feel that the weather is not that hot, so they simply leave unfinished food in the kitchen to ventilate. However, the occurrence of acute gastroenteritis is closely related to climate and improper food storage. Pathogenic microorganisms and toxins enter the body along with leftovers in places we cannot see, causing acute inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa. Therefore, food storage is very important. In addition, it is also important to make sure that raw meat is fully cooked before consumption, that fruits and vegetables are thoroughly washed, and that raw, cold, and irritating foods are avoided. [1]

Vulnerability 3: Staying up late

Insufficient sleep affects the secretion of protein mucus by the stomach. Protein mucus mainly repairs the gastric mucosa. If the gastric mucosa cannot be repaired in time, it may cause damage to the gastric mucosa and also lead to acute or chronic gastritis.

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Vulnerability 4: Dieting to lose weight

Although dieting can achieve the goal of losing weight quickly, eating only one meal a day or no meals a day will disrupt the balance of intestinal bacteria, eventually leading to enteritis and various intestinal diseases. [2]

Vulnerability 5: Eating meat without garlic will reduce the flavor by half

Although garlic smells good when eaten with meat, many people eat one garlic with each bite of meat, which leads to excessive intake of garlic. This will irritate the gastrointestinal mucosa and cause gastrointestinal discomfort, manifested as abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating and other symptoms. Therefore, although barbecues and barbecue restaurants become places frequented by people in summer, you should still think twice before eating garlic.

02 How to deal with gastroenteritis?

After the accumulation of the above little things that you think are not a big deal, gastroenteritis quietly arrives and becomes a sudden storm in the ordinary days. How should we deal with the sudden pain?

1. Apply heat to the abdomen

Applying a hot towel or hot water bottle to the abdomen will speed up blood circulation in the intestines, enhance intestinal metabolism, promote the excretion of local toxins, and relieve pain symptoms, especially for intestinal spasms caused by cold. The effect is more obvious.

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2. Drink more hot water

When gastritis, especially gastroenteritis, occurs, adding a little salt to warm boiled water and drinking it can not only warm the stomach and intestines and relieve pain, but also replenish the water lost due to gastroenteritis and diarrhea and maintain electrolyte balance.

3. Oral medication

Since the areas that are usually neglected are irreversible, just take a pill to relieve the pain, such as atropine sulfate tablets, ondansetron hydrochloride tablets, and omeprazole enteric-coated capsules. The specific situation needs to be followed by the doctor's advice and the right medicine should be taken.

03 Conclusion

Although the above three methods can relieve gastroenteritis in a short period of time, they cannot cure it. If you want to completely get rid of the "torture" of gastroenteritis, it is a hard truth to strengthen the maintenance of the stomach and intestines on weekdays . Gastroenteritis is not only related to diet and weather changes, but also to emotions. Emotions such as anger, anxiety, and irritability can also affect intestinal health. Gastrointestinal diseases are prone to recurrence. Don't let stomach upset become an annual routine "business". Annual gastroenteritis is the stomach and intestines sending you a warning signal. Only by paying attention to daily maintenance and preventing the intestines from getting worse can you eat well in the future.

References:

[1] Li Jian: Effect of Chinese medicine package in treating acute gastroenteritis[D] Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 2015

[2] Xu Boqi, Zhang Yimin: Progress in research on the effect of intermittent fasting on fat loss [J] Beijing Sport University Graduate School

[3] Health Preservation: Diet - Summer, Zhou Bo, Wang Shengyong [J] Journal of Clinical Medical Literature, Vol. A, October 2014, Vol. 1

[4] Investigation and analysis of an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus He Yonghui, Chen Jianqian [J] Chinese Journal of Health Engineering, 2022, 21(02)

Author: Xu Lang Popular Science Creator

Reviewer: Wang Qiang, deputy chief physician, Department of Gastroenterology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Planning Editor: Cui Yinghao

Editor-in-charge: Cui Yinghao