The most harmful for the digestive system are foods rich in sugar and poor in dietary fiber. These include sweets and packaged juices, as well as red meat and meat products. Svetlana Pavlichenko, candidate of medical sciences, nutritionist, cardiologist and managing director of the ANO Research Center for Healthy Nutrition, told socialbites.ca.
According to the expert, the first place in the list of the most dangerous for the gastrointestinal tract is occupied by highly processed products containing various chemicals. Dietary fiber is necessary for the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. They play a role in the absorption of nutrients, including slowing the absorption of sugar into the blood, making stool heavier and retaining water, softening it, which ensures regularity and relieves constipation and discomfort.
Soluble dietary fiber in the intestines is converted into a protective mucus that protects the intestinal walls from mechanical damage. Deep processing products contain refined carbohydrates without dietary fiber. With regular abuse, they disrupt the normal functioning of the intestines, ”the nutritionist warned.
He noted that sweets and sugar, whose excessive consumption upsets the balance of the intestinal microbiome, are also harmful to the gastrointestinal tract: it inhibits the growth and reproduction of beneficial microflora, and also feeds opportunistic microorganisms that can cause diseases under adverse conditions.
“Also, sugar causes fatty degeneration of the liver. Doctor Svetlana Pavlichenko, the World Health Organization recommends limiting the intake of added sugar to 25 grams per day.
Sweet sodas and packaged fruit juices that contain high amounts of sugar are also dangerous for the stomach and intestines.
“The carbon dioxide in the composition of the drinks, on the one hand, masks nausea, on the other hand, can irritate the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines, causing gas,” said the candidate of science.
Harmful for the gastrointestinal tract and red meat and its products: They increase the risk of malignant tumors in the intestine. For this reason, it is recommended to consume red meat more than 2 times a week and always with vegetables rich in dietary fiber and as rarely as possible with meat products.
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