Heart burn, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, hiccoughs, sore throat and pain, cough, breathlessness, hoarseness in the voice, dizziness, headache, postnasal drip of sputum, rhinorrhea (watery nose), sneezing, tonsillitis, mouth and tongue ulcers, more salivation in the mouth and tongue becoming burnt easily, gums bleeding, dental caries, and teeth falling off. The biggest cause of all these signs and symptoms is stomach acidic secretions regurging back into the throat. Acidic secretions burn everything coming in their way because of which throat, nose and mouth all their mucosa and inner lining begin to secrete more secretions which is called phlegm. From the upper part of stomach, continuously secretions enter the mouth from the esophagus which we keep swallowing gradually over time intermittently. This is a normal phenomenon because the upper stomach does not have the cells which secrete acid so that’s why this normal regurge doesn’t harm us. Normally, food is chewed by the teeth which enter the esophagus and then the stomach. Here the stomach mixes the food with the acidic secretions and grinds the food. After this, the semi-digested food enters the small intestine gradually. In case of more solid food, the stomach produces more acid so that the solid food can be softened and digested. Because of more solid food sometimes the stomach gets exhausted too and results in pain and sometimes stop working properly because of which food moving on to the small intestine is hindered and then the stomach weakens. The acidic secretions then start to move up the stomach where they are normally not found, and wherever acid goes, it will burn that area. Whenever the acidic secretions regurge then they cause chest pain, heart burn and irritation to the esophagus. When they reach the throat, they burn the lining of the throat, resulting in sore throat, cough, hoarseness of voice, and more salivation starts. When this acidity reaches the throat it becomes gaseous in form and when through the ear tube it reaches the inner ear then it causes irritation in the ear and sometimes dizziness. When it reaches the nose via the throat it results in sneezing, rhinorrhea, etc. The head is caught when these gaseous acidic secretions reach the top of the nasal cavity. When they enter the mouth they cause burning of the mouth, tongue, oral ulcers, and changes in taste, dental caries, and gum bleed too. This is also the reason for bad mouth odour. When these gaseous acids reach the mouth they also enter the lungs on inspiring. This causes the airways to narrow and thus breathing difficulty. We have seen that interruption with the normal function of the stomach gives birth to how many problems. Now we will see which things make the stomach slow and weak or increase its acidic secretions. If there is more acidity and the stomach is functioning fine, even then the acidic secretions will not travel up the stomach to cause all these issues.
Acidity would enter in small intestine but as soon as stomach turns inefficient, gastric reflux occurs and causes symptoms that have been mentioned above. Warm or lukewarm water stimulates gastric movement. And as soon as stomach starts working acidity instead of moving upwards moves towards the small intestine relieving stress. Whereas on the other hand cold things reduces gastric stimulation causing stress. While working all the day acidity finds less chance to reflux and keeps on moving towards small intestine. But when we sleep gastric activity reduces and acidity reflux takes place. This is the reason most people spit phlegm in morning. No desire to eat or drink early in the morning is related to this malfunctioning of stomach. Taking milk diluted two to three parts with lukewarm water at night and morning cures all such symptoms and disorders and one feels a sound urge for breakfast.
Breakfast is a very important part of our life for not taking breakfast increases acidity. Secondly, for daylong activities our body needs vitamins and minerals that we have to obtain from oil, eggs, vegetable, fruit, dry fruit, husked cereals and porridge because we cannot rely on potential calories for the daylong energy needs. All these things strengthen our digestive system. Warm or lukewarm diluted milk positively affects stomach and reduces acidity. Whereas pure milk, on the other hand, doesn’t get easily digested and causes phlegm. Chapatti that we eat usually does not contain wheat husk. That is why our stomach doesn’t digest it properly and if by chance we happen to vomit after taking meal, food comes out as it was in-taken even after two hours. Another major reason could also be that chapatti was not chewed properly in the first place. This is the reason that children and old people who have no teeth fall victim to this problem. Children may also develop mild fever which gets cured only when they are denied chapatti. Wheat porridge cooked in excess water, two to three table spoons of cooking oil, brown sugar or mashed bananas is very beneficial for large intestine, helps in digestion and prevents from constipation. This is a good source of energy in breakfast. Smoking, aspirin, intake of liquor, pain killer, tea, coffee, milk, soda, and carbonated drinks reduce gastric activity, excretion of enzymes and digestion. That is why when people suffering with gastric disorders refrain from such food get well soon. Whenever we eat improperly cooked chapatti, pulse or oily food our stomach undergoes extra burden and requires more blood causing us feel weakness. People suffering with cardiac disorders and fever are advised not to eat less cooked food. We must tell people that dilute food like soup, porridge, diluted milk is beneficial for our stomach which gets easily digested and does not affect our gastric activity. Green vegetable or steamed vegetable get easily digested as compared to vegetable cooked through ordinary methods which negatively affects our digestive system. Traditional way of cooking spoils nutrition of vegetable. Spices added after the vegetable has been cooked boost our digestion.
Vegetable must be used in two ways.
Make salad of vegetable; add one or two table spoons of cooking oil, lemon juice and spices. You may add boiled rice in it to have a quality meal for eating salad alone proves as an appetizer.
Or you may add two to three table spoons of cooking oil, lemon, and spices after steaming vegetable making it ready to eat with boiled rice.
Steamed vegetable get easily digested because with steaming juice of vegetable remains intact and hence the taste and nutrition of the vegetable. You may steam vegetable using a steamer or in case you don’t have a steamer, take a larger pan, fill it with water and put a smaller pan containing vegetable in this larger pan. Put the stove on, vegetable will be cooked with the help of steam. Put some cooking oil in the vegetable and add some sauce made of coriander, mint, ginger, garlic, onion, green chili and tomato (without skin and seeds) in it. Eating this one can gain a handsome amount of vitamins and boast a good digestive system.
Constipation directly affects functioning of our stomach. While suffering with constipation one must not exert too much during bowel movement because this may cause injury in anus which may lead to hemorrhoids. Traditional Indian lavatory is also a cause of constipation because sitting with folded knees puts pressure on our knees and causes pain. Old people or people suffering with arthritis or cardiac disorders feel giddy when they stand up after relieving themselves in lavatory. That is why such people avoid visiting lavatory frequently and fall victim to constipation. By changing our lifestyle we can keep ourselves from disorders that are caused by improper functioning of stomach. By fully understanding the functions of stomach we can keep ourselves away from gastric disorders, otherwise one will have to rely on medicine for headache, cough, acidity and constipation lifelong.
Note: Taking warm diluted milk in morning and at night keeps teeth in good health.
