How to digest food after total gastrectomy

The stomach is the digestive organ in the human body. The food people consume every day is mainly absorbed and digested through the stomach and small intestine. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the spleen and stomach are the foundation of acquired constitution, and they play a vital role in the acquired growth and development of the human body. Nowadays, more and more people are suffering from stomach problems, and some even need to have their stomach removed. But after gastrectomy, the stomach’s digestive function is gone. What should the human body use to digest?

How do you digest food after a total gastrectomy? In a traditional concept, people mainly rely on the stomach to digest food. In fact, the human digestive system not only includes the stomach, but also the mouth, esophagus, and the small intestine and large intestine below. These are all part of the human digestive system. So after gastrectomy, the intestines will replace part of the stomach's function, and digestion and absorption are mainly achieved through the small intestine and large intestine. Generally speaking, after total gastrectomy, further adjuvant chemotherapy is needed to control the progression of the disease. In terms of diet, you generally need to pay attention to eating small meals frequently, eating light and easily digestible foods, and avoid eating too greasy foods as they may be difficult to digest.

The process of food digestion is very complicated, and the stomach plays a very important role. Doctors take this into consideration when performing gastrectomy, and if it is not a serious gastric cancer, they will preserve as much of the remaining stomach as possible. Generally, about 2/3 is cut off, and then the stomach and intestines are connected. In this way, after partial stomach removal, the remaining stomach will "regenerate" and grow in a few years, almost reaching the same size as before, with little effect on the digestion of food. If the stomach is completely removed, it will definitely affect digestion.

Principles of recovery and dietary conditioning after gastrectomy

First, get out of bed and move around as soon as possible after surgery . Due to the trauma and anesthetic effects of abdominal surgery on the intestines, patients generally experience intestinal paralysis symptoms such as abdominal distension and inability to pass gas after surgery. In order to promote the recovery of intestinal motility and avoid adhesion between the intestines and the surgical incision site after surgery, doctors generally require patients to get out of bed and move around as soon as possible. At the same time, long-term bed rest will lead to slow blood flow, which is prone to blood clots for middle-aged and elderly people who also suffer from arteriosclerosis and diabetes. Getting out of bed early can prevent the formation of lower limb blood clots and pulmonary embolism. Getting out of bed as early as possible means 1 to 3 days after surgery, and the earlier the better, depending on the patient's physical condition. Elderly or weak patients can be helped by nurses or family members to move around the bedside or indoors first. Getting out of bed early is easier said than done. Some patients, just because of an appendectomy operation, are afraid of pain and dare not move or even turn over in bed. As a result, they develop intestinal adhesions and subsequent intestinal obstruction before they are discharged from the hospital. Some had to undergo a second surgery.

Second, wait until the gas is discharged before eating . If the patient can follow the advice of medical staff after the operation and get out of bed and move around early, the intestinal motility will recover faster and the patient will generally pass gas (fart) quickly. The appearance of flatulence indicates that the patient's intestinal motility has basically recovered and he can eat a small amount of liquid food, including noodle soup, rice porridge, meat floss, etc. The intake of liquid food is a good stimulation for the intestines, which can promote the recovery of intestinal function and facilitate recovery. Third, dietary adjustments should be made gradually. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Generally, the following dietary principles should be followed

1. Insist on eating small meals frequently, eat less at each meal, 4 to 5 meals a day to adapt to the small stomach capacity, and never overeat.

2. Prevent anemia. After gastrectomy, due to the reduction of gastric acid, the peristalsis of the upper small intestine is accelerated, which disrupts the digestive physiological function, thereby affecting the absorption of protein and iron, making iron deficiency anemia prone to occur. To this end, patients can eat some lean meat, fish and shrimp, animal blood, animal liver and kidney, egg yolk, soy products, as well as jujube, green leafy vegetables, sesame paste and other foods rich in protein and iron.

3. Due to the weakened physiological function of the stomach, do not eat raw, cold, rough and hard food, avoid eating spicy and irritating condiments such as pepper, mustard, etc., and it is strictly forbidden to drink strong liquor.

The following are recommended therapeutic porridges that nourish the stomach, replenish the blood and promote digestion for your selection. ⑴ Stomach-nourishing porridge: 50 grams of rice, 20 grams of lotus seeds, 10 grams of jujube, add appropriate amount of water, cook it into porridge over low heat, eat it in the morning and evening, it has the effect of nourishing the stomach and strengthening the spleen. ⑵Blood-replenishing porridge: 25 grams of whole coix seed, No. 25 glutinous rice, 10 grams of dried black fungus (soaked well), 50 grams of pork liver (chopped), add a certain amount of water, cook porridge and eat, which is beneficial for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia. ⑶Digestive porridge: 50 grams of polished rice, 25 grams of minced lean meat, 100 grams of diced white radish, 5 to 8 hawthorn slices, add appropriate amount of water and cook the porridge, which has the effect of promoting gastric acid secretion and helping digestion.