Healing with Food Article
Hiatal Hernia
Accompanying recipe: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
If you complain of an upset stomach, heartburn, belching, distension, discomfort in the chest and/or acid reflux, especially when bending over or lying down after eating, you might have a hernia.
When your tummy is saying, "Ouch!" It's prudent to listen and to make appropriate dietary adjustments. My ebook Detox and Cleanse ($9.95) enables this.
A hiatal hernia is when the upper stomach pushes (herniates) up through the diaphragm's muscular opening (hiatus) and balloons into the chest cavity. Imagine a stomach so enlarged that it is forced out of its normal, muscle-bound position. An estimated 50 percent of people over 40 years of age unknowingly suffer from hiatal hernias.
Overeating is a primary cause; and indeed, hiatal hernias are most prevalent among obese people. Additionally any foods that stress digestion contribute to this condition. They include hard to digest, fatty, stale and refined foods, alcohol, drugs, chemicals, caffeine (even decaf) and tobacco. It's also imperative to avoid all food allergens.
Intestinal parasites are often a contributing factor in all digestive disturbances. To determine if you have parasites see Bugs Eating You?
A holistic diet for hiatal hernia may vary from person to person. While some people with delicate digestion do better with frequent but small meals, others do better with two or three regular meals per day. Acidic foods, like tomatoes and citrus, aggravate some hernias whereas salads, cucumbers or bell peppers trigger others.
Pay attention to what heightens your discomfort and what decreases it. It's helpful to record a food log of everything you eat for several weeks and note your corresponding symptoms. Quickly patterns emerge that are informative. Additionally, seeing the direct cause and effect of certain foods and stomach pain enables people to avoid problematic foods.
The Chinese say, "0ne-hundred steps after meals assures ninety-nine years of life." It's amazing how a short walk provides enough deep breathing and movement to aid digestion. It's also critical to eat warm or room temperature foods and beverages and to avoid shocking your system by ingesting extremely hot or cold beverages and food.
Lastly, do not eat prior to bedtime, ideally wait three hours after dinner. If your digestion is especially delicate, eat nothing after 5 p.m.
Grains that ease hiatal hernias are barley and millet. Vegetables include artichoke, burdock, cabbage, dandelion, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes and winter squash. Culinary herbs are aloe vera, anise, arrowroot, asafetida, cumin, fennel, mint and parsley. The seaweed, agar is specifically healthful, as is green tea.
Cabbage is especially medicinal for tender tummies. It counters overheated conditions such as inflammation and it helps regulate the stomach and relieve abdominal spasms, pain and ulcers. This underrated vegetable, when not overcooked, is sweet tasting. True, it has bad press because when overcooked it emits hydrogen sulfide (the rotten egg aroma), ammonia, and other foul smells. Take a cue and don't boil it to death or your intestinal gas will be similarly sulfurous.
For an elegant, yummy—and easy to prepare—cabbage roll recipe, see accompanying recipe.
May you be well nourished,
Rebecca Wood