Eating a balanced diet is key to reducing inflammation in the stomach. You always want to opt for foods that help combat inflammation and provide other health benefits. While there are foods you should eat to reduce inflammation, there are also foods, specifically carbs, that you should avoid because they can cause stomach inflammation.
We checked in with Lisa Richards, registered nutritionist and creator of The Candida Diet, about carbs that can cause an inflamed stomach. She said, “There is one form of carbohydrate that causes stomach inflammation, refined carbohydrates, and they are in a concerning amount of food types. Three food types with refined carbs that are among the worst include pasta, bread, and baked items.” Find out more below!
Pasta
While you can make this versatile dish healthy by including a plethora of vegetables, the pasta itself is high in carbs. This can slow down your metabolism and cause inflammation and bloating which can make it harder for you to lose weight in the long run. We all know that pasta is bad for us, especially if you have it for dinner frequently, but just how bad is it?
Richards says, "This food contains refined carbohydrates as well and is responsible for gut inflammation and a host of other concerns. This form of carbohydrates lacks fiber, which the good gut bacteria [need] as a food source," she continues. "This ultimately leads to an imbalance as the good bacteria die off and the bad gut bacteria are encouraged to grow. When the gut is out of balance in this way inflammation is often a result."
Thankfully, there are many anti-inflammatory alternatives to refined carbohydrate-based pastas. "Choosing whole-grain options like brown rice, quinoa, and whole wheat pastas are a great way to avoid refined carbs and work in extra fiber from whole grain sources," Richards notes. "This fiber can actually begin to heal the inflammation in the gut by feeding the good bacteria and correcting gut dysbiosis. Whole foods can also replace refined pasta such as spaghetti squash or spiralized zucchini." Yum!
Bread
Bread, it's delicious and filling–and it's likely an essential item in your kitchen. Richards, however, says that if you're trying to lose weight, it's best to limit your consumption of this carby food. She says, "Many [types of bread] are made with refined carbohydrates, which lack fiber and other beneficial nutrients. Refined carbs are highly inflammatory and turn to sugar quickly causing a quick rise in glucose," Richards continues. "This rapid rise of glucose can cause an inflammatory response in the body and the more frequently these carbs are consumed the more likely the body is to be chronically in a state of low-level inflammation." Certain types of bread are worse than others. Specifically, white bread is the worse because of its high refined carbs content. You should remove white bread from your diet altogether (or at least as much as possible) if you want to reduce stomach inflammation and lose weight.
Similar to pasta, white bread can easily be replaced by whole-grain bread. And, when it comes to what you should look for in bread, Richards says, "it is important to look at the ingredients label and ensure the word 'enriched' isn't present. This would indicate that the flour used has gone through a process where nutrients have been removed and artificial ones have been added, making it 'enriched' and therefore refined/processed." Noted!
Baked goods
Finally, baked goods, like donuts, cakes, and pastries, are also made with refined carbohydrates that are very harmful to the gut because they are highly inflammatory. Richards says this is because of the "refined nature of the carbs as well as the presence of refined sugar and oils that cause inflammation and offset the good and bad ratio of bacteria." Yikes! For people who can't quite cut baked goods out of their diet completely, Richards again recommends searching for items made with whole grains. She continues, "If the ingredient label's first word is 'enriched' then this item has been made with refined carbohydrates. You can also choose to make your own at home with whole grain flour or satisfy your sweet tooth with carb-free sweets."
