As mentioned, if your doctor has diagnosed you with gastritis and you’re experiencing symptoms, it’s important to be gentle on your digestive tract while your stomach lining is healing from inflammation, says Supriya Rao, MD, a gastroenterology, internal medicine, obesity medicine, and lifestyle medicine physician and professor of gastroenterology at Tufts University in Massachusetts, who focuses on digestive disorders and women’s health.
“Oftentimes, I tell people to eat bland foods just during this healing phase, and things should improve over time,” Dr. Rao says. “If you’re eating a lot of acidic, fatty, sugary, and spicy foods, there will be more irritation and symptoms.”
While your stomach is healing, focusing on simple, homemade meals can be helpful.
It can help to include foods like:
- Cooked, pureed, or blended fruits and veggies: Aim for steamed vegetables, vegetables pureed into soups, and fruits blended into smoothies, says Kendra Weekley, RD, a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic Center for Human Nutrition in Ohio. She points to a study showing that a diet focusing on easily digestible foods prepared similarly to baby food (meaning they have balanced nutrients, minimal additives, and are gently cooked in ways like steaming or boiling) can help people with gastritis manage their heartburn symptoms. The study included several low-fiber fruits and vegetables, such as cooked eggplant, pumpkin, carrots, zucchini and other summer squashes, cooked bell peppers, apples, bananas, kiwi, and melons.
- Easy-to-digest starches: Build your meals around gentle carbohydrate sources. Weekley suggests options like oatmeal, cooked sweet potatoes and white potatoes, white rice, couscous, and polenta. These go easy on an unsettled stomach yet provide fiber for good digestive health, Weekley says.
- Lean, low-fat proteins: Weekley recommends lean protein sources like white fish, white, skinless chicken breast, tofu, eggs, egg whites, and turkey. She suggests preparing them using gentle methods such as baking, boiling, poaching, or steaming instead of frying, which can be harder on a sensitive stomach.
- Nuts and seeds: The study mentioned above included nuts, but the researchers noted they can sometimes be challenging to digest. Weekley suggests that if you include them, stick to small amounts. Alternatively, she recommends trying them in a blended form, like smooth peanut butter, which might be better tolerated when you’re dealing with active gastritis symptoms.
- Water and herbal teas: When it comes to beverages, stick mainly to water. Non-acidic herbal teas are also good choices, and some people might tolerate small amounts of low-acid juices like apple juice, Rao says. For potentially gut-soothing options, Rao suggests ginger tea. She also suggests peppermint tea because peppermint can help relax stomach muscles, but warns it can worsen heartburn or reflux symptoms for some people.