5 eating mistakes on Tet holiday that harm the stomach

The digestive system is directly affected by diet. During Tet, living and eating habits change, increasing the risk of bloating, indigestion, heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux… Master, Doctor Vo Ngoc Diem, Department of Internal Medicine, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and Surgery Center, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, points out some mistakes when eating on Tet holiday that are not good for the stomach.

Eat lots of starch and fat

Banh chung, banh tet, sausage, ham, and sausage are familiar dishes in the Tet feast. However, they are all rich in starch and saturated fat. When you eat a lot, your stomach has to work continuously to contract and secrete digestive juices, causing food to stay longer, leading to bloating, gas, and indigestion.

Eating a lot of these foods also relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter, creating conditions for gastric juice and food to flow up into the esophagus. At the same time, the process of fat digestion requires the pancreas and gallbladder to work a lot, causing great pressure on the digestive system. On average, the stomach needs about 4-5 hours to digest a high-fat meal. If meals are too close together, old food has not been digested and new food is absorbed, which will overload the digestive system.

Irregular eating, skipping meals

Staying up late and waking up late during Tet days leads to eating irregularly, skipping main meals and having snacks scattered throughout the day. If you leave your stomach empty for too long and then eat a lot in one meal, it can easily stimulate acid secretion, causing damage to the stomach lining. Over time, this condition causes epigastric pain (above the navel), gastritis, and aggravation of symptoms.

Eat dinner late, lie down right after eating

Eating late at night prevents the stomach from fully digesting food, while lying down reduces the effect of gravity, creating conditions for gastric juice to reflux into the esophagus.

Drink a lot of alcohol and carbonated drinks

Alcohol in beer and wine increases acid secretion, breaks down the protective mucosal barrier, reduces gastric motility, causing food to be retained longer, easily causing bloating, nausea, and indigestion. According to Dr. Diem, a dangerous complication of alcohol is stomach bleeding, which often occurs when drinking a lot of alcohol or drinking on an empty stomach. Alcohol dilates blood vessels under the mucosa, which can rupture, causing vomiting and bloody stools.

Lack of green vegetables and fiber

Tet diets are often rich in refined foods but lack green vegetables and fiber, which reduces intestinal motility, causing constipation, flatulence, and bloating. Lack of fiber is one of the factors that causes the intestinal microflora to become unbalanced, reducing digestive efficiency, forcing the stomach to work harder to compensate. This condition increases abdominal pressure, worsening symptoms of reflux and indigestion.

To protect the digestive system during Tet, Dr. Diem advises each person to maintain a moderate diet, eat at the right times, and not overeat. Increase green vegetables and fruits, limit alcohol. You need to eat slowly, chew thoroughly, avoid eating dinner late and do not lie down immediately after eating. When symptoms of prolonged digestive disorders appear, patients should go to a gastroenterology specialist for timely examination and treatment.