The stomach is one of the main organs of the digestive system, responsible for the initial stage of food digestion. The length of an adult’s stomach reaches 20 cm, and its volume is 500-800 ml (a filled stomach can increase in volume to 1.5-2 liters). Not only digestive processes, but also the work of all internal organs depend on the functioning of the stomach, since a person receives most of the nutrients (more than 80%) necessary to maintain hemostasis and the functioning of the body from food. To make the stomach work, you should adhere to the rules of a healthy and balanced diet, as well as ensure sufficient physical activity, since one of the reasons for poor functioning of the organ is atony (weakness) of the gastric walls.
How to make your stomach work
Table of contents
- Causes of complete gastric stoppage
- Reasons for sluggish performance
- Symptoms
- How to make your stomach work: first aid at home After alcohol poisoning
- After vomiting
- After overeating
- After poisoning
- Walking and exercise
- Homemade bifidoyogurt with bran
Causes and symptoms of gastric arrest in children and adults
That is why a person must treat his health with due respect and, if possible, prevent his well-being from deteriorating. One of the most important human organs is the stomach, because it is this organ that, to one degree or another, supports the full functioning of a person.
Stomach arrest (in medicine, atony) is a rather serious and unpleasant disease, which in our time, unfortunately, has begun to appear more and more often. It should also be noted that atony occurs in both adults and children. There are many reasons for the manifestation of this disease, let’s consider the main ones:
- Poor nutrition
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Smoking
- Stress
- Fast weight loss
- Frequent overwork
- Severe exhaustion of a person
- Previous anesthesia
- Diseases of the abdominal organs
- Increased anxiety
- Various infections
The main reason for stomach failure is probably poor nutrition. The pace of life of a modern person is truly crazy.
The main reason is poor nutrition
Living in such a rhythm, people simply cannot take proper care of their nutrition:
- quick snacks
- eating fatty and spicy foods
- Frequent overeating is the first step to problems with the gastrointestinal tract
Well, what about without bad habits? Here, of course, we couldn’t do without them. Excessive consumption of alcohol, and drinking it in general, as well as smoking, have a very detrimental effect on the functioning of the stomach and the entire body as a whole. It's no secret that when smoking a cigarette, a person receives a certain dose of nicotine, and nicotine, in turn, reduces the tone of the stomach muscles, as a result of which it can stop.
If we talk about the causes of atony in children , then it is worth highlighting frequent stress and anxiety. As an example, we can cite the period of a child’s life when he is weaned from his mother’s breast and potty trained.
In children it can be caused by stress
Speaking about the causes of atony, few people remember another important point - a violation of the acidity of the stomach, and in general, few people know what hydrochloric acid is and how it relates to all this. And the relationship is, in principle, as direct as it gets.
Atony manifests itself quite clearly and painfully. All patients have the following symptoms:
- Abdominal pain (aching, sharp, dull)
- Lack of appetite
- Quick satiety with food
- Heaviness in the stomach
- Bloating
- Belching (or lack thereof)
- Bad breath
- Increased body temperature
- Pale skin
- Nausea
Causes of complete gastric stoppage
Pathology can be caused by several reasons. The most unpleasant thing is if the stomach refuses to work due to the development of a serious illness. Inflammation of the pancreas, peritonitis, advanced or acute pneumonia - any of these diseases can “stop” the process of normal digestion of food. But in these cases, the symptoms will be sharp and vivid, the feeling of heaviness in the stomach will fade into the background.
More often, the cessation of food digestion is due to non-dangerous reasons, which causes physiological dyspepsia.
The stomach is standing due to:
- overeating;
- improper (too fast) absorption of food;
- the presence of spicy, salty foods in the diet;
- recent infectious or viral disease (for example, influenza);
- alcohol poisoning;
- household poisoning;
- the so-called “intestinal flu”, in other words, rotavirus infection.
The organ may temporarily stop digesting food due to prolonged stress. Repeated vomiting sometimes weakens the stomach muscles, causing the stomach to refuse to eat.
Causes of sluggish stomach function
The above reasons for impaired peristalsis do not always cause a complete cessation of the digestive process. The gastrointestinal tract may work more slowly and become “sluggish.” This is accompanied by unpleasant symptoms, but to a lesser extent.
Alcohol taken in large doses causes peristalsis to stop. In this case, you can make your stomach work faster and digest food. It is necessary to induce vomiting after drinking alcohol so that the stomach cavity is cleared and the alcohol does not have time to be completely absorbed.
Stomach atony is not always caused by an unhealthy lifestyle or dietary errors. It can develop with age: a person begins to eat less food in order to reduce discomfort.
In all cases, the gastrointestinal tract must be helped, otherwise the consequences will affect the overall health.
Causes
The reasons for gastric stoppage can be different. The problem lies in both the muscular lining of the stomach and the nervous regulation. When the vagus nerve (parasympathetic nervous system) is suppressed, peristalsis is impaired.
Causes of nervous regulation disorders:
- stress;
- rush while eating;
- diseases of the nervous system;
- sedentary lifestyle.
Causes related to the muscular layer:
- eating dry food;
- stomach diseases (gastritis, peptic ulcer);
- binge eating;
- unbalanced diet;
- bad habits (alcohol, smoking);
- helminthic infestations.
Symptoms
You can understand that there is a problem with the stomach by the following signs:
- there is a feeling of fullness in the stomach, distension;
- nausea appears;
- burping is possible;
- no appetite;
- bloating and increased gas formation appear;
- there is an unpleasant odor coming from the mouth;
- the skin becomes pale.
Symptoms of organ failure can also include: weakness, headache, reluctance to do anything. A “lazy stomach” promotes the penetration of toxins into the blood, which makes a person feel sick, broken, and weakened. This is how intoxication manifests itself. The food lies in a lump and does not move further. Instead of vitamins and nutrients, breakdown products of what you eat enter the body.
Other symptoms of impaired peristalsis are problems with the intestines (diarrhea or constipation, or alternation of both). If the stomach is not functioning well, some of the contents end up in the intestines, but in a poorly digested state. This provokes inflammation of the duodenum, and the motor function of the biliary tract is disrupted.
The normal volume of the stomach is up to 3 liters. If it is overloaded, the tone of the muscles that “push” food through decreases, and the food bolus remains motionless. It puts pressure on the walls of the organ and releases toxins.
The condition is rarely life-threatening and most often goes away on its own within a few hours (less often, days).
You should consult a doctor if:
- Unpleasant sensations linger for 2-3 days;
- The condition recurs regardless of the amount eaten, the presence or absence of predisposing factors.
In other cases, you can deal with the problem yourself.
Peristalsis of a healthy stomach
The bolus of food moves from the oral cavity through the gastrointestinal tract gradually. In each section, chyme is subjected to mechanical processing and chemical breakdown. When the stomach works normally, food stays in it for up to 1-10 hours, depending on the volume and composition. The digestion process goes through three phases:
- complex reflex;
- neurohumoral;
- intestinal
At the first stage, the secretion of gastric juice occurs with the participation of the visual, olfactory and auditory analyzer.
Unconditioned and conditioned reflexes regulate its production until food enters the body. Saliva is secreted in the mouth and a small amount of gastric juice.
When moving into the stomach, food irritates the walls of the organ, which leads to active production of mucus, enzymes and hydrochloric acid. The food bolus softens and the components are partially broken down. The peristalsis of a healthy stomach promotes the passage of particles into the lower sections. They irritate the mucous membrane, which leads to the opening of the sphincter. In the last stage, acidic masses move into the lumen of the small intestine.
If the stomach becomes heavy, then digestion is disrupted. There is a delay in the evacuation of contents into the duodenum. Food stagnation occurs, which is accompanied by unpleasant symptoms.
How to make your stomach work: first aid at home
The first thing to do if you feel unwell is to stop trying to eat. It is not advisable to lie down. It is necessary to remove clothes that put pressure on the stomach: loosen the belt, unfasten the belt and buttons, take off tight jeans.
To quickly start the stomach at home, you need to induce vomiting in order to free it from stagnant food masses, give the overstretched walls of the organ a rest, and return to tone.
Next, you should replenish lost fluid by drinking 300-400 ml of plain water or rosehip decoction. You can take Mezim forte tablet.
Stagnation in the stomach is a phenomenon from which it is better to get rid of it as soon as possible. Let's consider what to do in different situations to make this organ work.
What to do after alcohol poisoning
Making your stomach work after heavy libations is not a difficult task, provided that the person is healthy and in normal times his digestive system works without deviations. In opposite cases, it is better to immediately seek qualified help.
The hangover experienced by a person who has had too much alcohol at a party is, in fact, alcohol poisoning. Food stagnation can be dealt with by relieving hangover symptoms. In this case, the digestive tract will soon recover on its own. It is necessary to take large amounts of fluid and cleanse the body with activated charcoal or the drug "Polyphepan".
You need to drink strong brewed black tea, take a leisurely walk down the street, and take a cool shower. After you feel better, you can drink 200 g of chicken broth or eat soup. The first dish stimulates the appetite and encourages the digestive system to work.
After alcohol poisoning, the first day should be a fasting day. You should eat low-fat soup and crackers on black bread. A small dose of brine will help to “wake up” and “irritate” the organ. But it should not contain vinegar, for example, brine from pickled tomatoes, cabbage, or cucumbers.
How to get your stomach working after vomiting
Vomiting is a self-cleaning mechanism. The body is trying to get rid of toxins that have entered it, so there is no need to try to stop it right away. After vomiting, you need to allow the organs of the digestive tract to rest.
If your stomach has stopped, how can you start it up at home?
You can do this yourself using the tools suggested below. However, if vomiting resumes after taking measures, you should call a doctor. There is a high probability that the gastric stoppage was caused by more serious reasons.
You can help yourself by brewing a decoction of herbs, such as yarrow. You will need a teaspoon of dry herb per glass of boiling water. Pour hot water over the yarrow and wait 5 minutes. After this, the infusion must be strained and drunk warm in several sips.
It is useful to drink clean, perhaps slightly acidified, water. An infusion of cranberry or rosehip is perfect for helping the stomach return to its normal rhythm as quickly as possible.
Solid food should not be taken so as not to damage the walls of the organ. Slimy porridges with water are suitable. Oatmeal is good in this case.
How to reset your stomach after overeating
It is unlikely that you will be able to immediately force your stomach to work after stopping as a result of overeating, and this is not necessary. Just like after alcohol poisoning, it is necessary to give the organ time to recover. You may feel hungry, but the organ will not be able to take food.
Help him yourself:
- At home, drink a cup of green tea with a cracker.
- Take a Mezim or Pancreatin tablet (a multienzyme drug that makes it possible to digest food).
- In the future, eat small portions every 2 hours so that gastric juice begins to be produced again.
You need to follow a diet for 3-5 days after the stomach stops.
Do not neglect this recommendation. Lack of a gentle diet leads to gastritis.
If a child is overeating, this will most likely cause short-term vomiting, after which the stomach will recover. An adult will have to endure for several days. Excellent folk remedies are herbal infusions and teas based on dill, chamomile, and St. John's wort.
After poisoning
First aid for poisoning is gastric lavage. Medical enzyme preparations (Pancreatin, Gastal) will help make the stomach work after poisoning.
It is necessary to drink water in small doses, up to 2 liters per day, to “wash” toxins from the body. In small portions, you can add homemade jelly and porridge, cooked without salt and sugar, to the menu. Homemade bio-yogurt and herbal teas will help to start gastric peristalsis after poisoning. The same principle works: often, but little by little. In this case, appetite is gradually restored and the general condition is normalized.
How to make a “lazy” stomach work
Food products often enter the body in a “refined” form, because of this the stomach begins to become lazy. Simple carbohydrates make up a significant portion of our diet. As a result, the walls of the gastrointestinal tract relax, making it more difficult for them to cope with foods rich in fiber (fruits, vegetables, cereals). Namely, these products tone the walls of the stomach and intestines.
Stagnation in the stomach is provoked by a sedentary lifestyle. The stomach is an organ whose work is supported by muscles, so a reduction in physical activity also contributes to less intense work of the stomach.
When wondering how to make your stomach work at full capacity, you must first analyze your weekend and weekday routine. Do you sit at the computer most of the time on weekdays, but on weekends do you like to lie on the couch or sit with a book?
In this case, the stomach will not work actively.
Contraction of the abdominal muscles, diaphragm, vibration when running and walking are additional stimuli for peristalsis.
Walking and exercise
After poisoning, of course, you won’t go out for a morning jog and start working out your abs. But as soon as your health improves a little, you need to go outside and at least just walk, breathing fresh air. All organs will be filled with oxygen, and your appetite will appear. The body will need to compensate for the energy spent; the stomach will definitely start working.
You may have noticed that after lying on the couch for a long time, you don’t particularly feel like eating, but after walking at an optimal pace for you, even a crust of black bread seems very tasty.
If you want to get your idle stomach working faster, move, get outside. If this is not possible, open a window or window and take a few deep breaths. Movement and fresh air stimulate appetite. It is not for nothing that in the century before last, among wealthy people it was customary to take a walk every day “for exercise.”
Eating habits
Frequent overeating will “help” you develop gastritis or even a stomach ulcer, since any organ suffers when overloaded. You cannot force your stomach to work beyond measure. This will lead to negative consequences, of which rapid weight gain is perhaps the most harmless. The stomach will begin to ache, after which all the organs that depend on it will work intermittently:
- gallbladder;
- liver;
- pancreas;
- intestines.
In order for the digestive system to work smoothly, you should adhere to the following diet:
- Be sure to have breakfast. Try to have more complex carbohydrates in your meals.
- Lunch. Lunch meals should contain protein.
- Have a light dinner.
Between main meals (the volume of which should be small) you need to eat fruit or drink kefir, fermented baked milk, jelly.
The main principle of proper nutrition is known not only to nutritionists. Here it is: you should get up from the table a little hungry. After a few minutes, the brain will signal that the body has received nutrients in the required volume. It is highly undesirable to overeat before going to bed, so that food does not end up in a lump in the stomach.
Drinking load and starting the stomach in the morning
To start your stomach, it is recommended to drink a glass of water at room temperature right in the morning.
Every morning a person washes his face, and drinking a glass of water in the morning on an empty stomach is a “washed” stomach.
Most adults do the wrong thing:
- in the morning he drinks coffee, the irritating effect of which does not have the best effect on the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and the entire body;
- refuses breakfast.
20 minutes after drinking a glass of water, you must have breakfast, otherwise by lunchtime you will feel very hungry, and there is a risk of eating too much.
You need to drink water throughout the day. In order to remember to do this, buy a one and a half liter bottle of still water and place it next to your workplace. You can install a mobile application that will sound a signal (reminder) every 30 minutes or hour (depending on the settings).
Water helps food that enters the stomach to be more easily digested. It gives you a feeling of fullness, as a result of which you will not be able to eat more than normal during the day.
Plant fibers, pectins and cellulose
Fruits and vegetables are what should be on the table every day. Apples can help your stomach work - they contain a lot of fiber and pectin. Fiber stimulates a “lazy” stomach and intestines, and pectin, once in the body, forms a gel. This gel, moving through the digestive tract, adsorbs toxins and prevents their absorption into the blood. Pectin reduces the chances of gastrointestinal diseases and removes metabolic products.
Therefore, you should make it a rule to eat at least 2-3 fruits of any kind every day.
Self-massage of the abdomen and active points
To get your stomach moving, you can use self-massage techniques (even if you don’t know this art). The simplest thing is to use a biologically active point located 4 cun above the navel. Tsun is a unit of measurement equal to the second phalanx of the middle finger.
Click on the point. There should be slight pain, or simply the sensations in this place should be different from those that arise when pressing on other places. You can press for 1-2 minutes using the “vibration” technique.
Acupressure:
- helps reduce stomach pain;
- enhances peristalsis;
- allows you to expand the pyloric opening of the stomach - thus food leaves it faster and enters the duodenum.
If you are afraid to use acupuncture, you can use classical massage techniques. First, you should lightly stroke the area of the stomach and abdomen in the direction from left to right, from top to bottom. You can then add a slight vibration by positioning your fingers in a rake-like manner. The massage should be completed with stroking.
This is interesting!
Stroking massage movements on the facial skin also stimulate gastrointestinal peristalsis.
Folk remedies available at home
Before resorting to medication, you can try to restore the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract on your own.
Important!
You can restart your stomach after stopping yourself if there is no severe pain, vomiting, fever and other clear signals about a sharp problem in the body. Such signals require immediate medical attention.
Prepare simple, tasty dishes that can help your stomach “wake up.”
Homemade bifidoyogurt with bran
You can prepare more of this “medicine” and treat your household to it. Homemade yogurt is healthy and tasty. With its help, you can not only get your stomach working at home, but also please your loved ones with an unusual dish.
To prepare you will need:
- liter of milk;
- a couple of tablespoons of wheat bran;
- two tablespoons of currants (cherries or other berries);
- children's cottage cheese (pack);
- 100 g dates.
You must first pour 900 ml of milk into the multicooker and simmer in the “Cooking” mode until it becomes warm.
Then prepare the starter - combine the curd and 100 ml of milk that remains. Place the starter in heated milk, stir, and cook in a multicooker in the “Yogurt” mode. After 10 hours, crushed dates, berries, and bran are added. Let it sit for 10 minutes and you can eat.
Homemade kefir with oatmeal and raisins
Another way to get your stomach started at home is to make kefir. This is not real kefir, without milk, but no less healthy.
Have to take:
- 500 g oatmeal;
- one and a half liters of water;
- 50 ml bread sourdough;
- 2 tablespoons sugar;
- 2 teaspoons raisins.
The flakes are poured with water, sourdough, sugar and raisins are added. The mixture should infuse for two days.
Kiwi is the key to proper functioning of the stomach and intestines
An overseas fruit – kiwi – will help to get your stomach and intestines going in the morning. If you eat one kiwi a day, your body will receive the daily requirement of vitamin C. Kiwi promotes mild weight loss (this is worth taking note for diet lovers). After overeating, it is enough to eat one fruit - and the stomach will begin to function normally again.
You can make yourself a drink by mixing a glass of kefir, finely chopped kiwi, and adding a pinch of cinnamon. Tasty, satisfying, healthy!
Flaxseed jelly with dried fruits
Flaxseed jelly can be prepared in a slow cooker. Its task is to help the stomach earn and digest food.
To prepare you will need:
- 250 g of dried fruits (for example, dried apricots);
- raisins (a whole spoon for the slow cooker);
- flaxseed (2 tablespoons).
The washed dried fruits and raisins are placed in a slow cooker, flaxseed is added, poured with 2 liters of water and set to “stew” mode. After an hour, the program will end, but the mixture must be left to sit for another 6 hours. It is convenient to brew jelly in the evening - in the morning the healthy drink will be ready for consumption.
Cinnamon infusion
Among the spices that enable the gastrointestinal tract to work smoothly, cinnamon is popular. It helps to restart the stomach after poisoning or overeating.
Recipe
For a glass of hot water you need a teaspoon of cinnamon. The mixture should be brought to a boil, after 5 minutes remove from heat and leave to cool. Take a tablespoon 30 minutes before meals three times a day. The course of treatment is 3-4 days.
Herbal infusion
Mix 1 tbsp. l dried chamomile flowers, St. John's wort, yarrow and fennel. The resulting mixture is poured with a liter of boiling water, brought to a boil and left to infuse for 30-60 minutes in a warm place. Take 100 ml infusion 30 minutes before meals 3-4 times a day.
Prevention
It is better to prevent the stomach from stopping, so as not to think about it later, than to start the stomach at home or in the hospital. It is easier to help the stomach work constantly, rather than force it to resume “activity” after a break.
It is necessary to adhere to the principles of healthy eating, that is, do not overeat, absorb food slowly, chewing thoroughly. It is important to eat 5-6 times a day, and not 1-2 (as adults, we often violate this physiologically programmed regime due to constant rush). It is imperative to exclude spicy, salty, fatty and fried foods. Remove carbonated sweet drinks from your daily menu.
Be extremely careful with alcohol: in addition to the toxic effects of alcohol and additives, alcohol is dangerous because it increases appetite. A person eats more than his norm.
Remember to be physically active and have a positive outlook on life. Psycho-emotional mood means a lot! Traditional medicine classifies stomach problems as psychosomatics, and scientific research confirms this. So walk more, eat the “right” foods, keep your spirits up – and you won’t have stomach problems. Or it will be much easier to deal with them if they have already overtaken you. Hello!
Why may the stomach not work?
Finding the source of the problem that has disrupted the physiological process of the stomach is actually easy. We are talking about the main reason that leads to stomach failure - poor nutrition. Abuse of “harmful” products, unbalanced, low-quality food is the basis for disruption of the functioning of not only the stomach, but also the organs of the gastrointestinal tract. People who are prone to overeating and who like to eat at night are more susceptible to this pathology.
The fast pace of life is the second reason that disrupts the functioning of the stomach. Eating on the go does not allow you to chew your food thoroughly. The stomach, which is full of air and large pieces of food, does not cope well and this leads to periodic troubles. There are also less common reasons:
- sudden weight loss;
- smoking;
- nervous exhaustion;
- fatigue;
- diseases of the oral cavity.
