Learn About Gastroparesis

This month is Gastroparesis Awareness Month, so I thought I would shine some light on what this disorder looks like and how to properly nourish your body if you are living with it!

For those of you who may not know, gastroparesis is when the movement of food from your stomach to your small intestine slows or completely stops. It is centered around the malfunctioning of your stomach muscles (it is not caused by a blockage). The cause can be a myriad of different things from diabetes to stomach procedures and has most recently been linked a side effect to the ever popular GLP-1 medications (ie. Ozempic, Wegovy, Monjuaro, etc.)

Symptoms include: vomiting, nausea, bloating, abdominal pain, feeling of fullness after just eating a few bites, vomiting undigested food eaten a few hours earlier, acid reflux, changes in blood sugar levels, lack of appetite, weight loss, and malnutrition. Interestingly, many people with this disorder may not have obvious symptoms and often think their symptoms have been caused by something else.

So, how do you nourish yourself when struggling with this? It is important to have small, frequent meals that aren’t high in fiber or high in fat content. Some high fiber foods such as beans, nuts, fruits/vegetables are often tolerated better in pureed form. Dairy products to try would be cottage cheese, kefir, pudding, ricotta cheese, yogurt, and milk. Fruit is best eaten as applesauce, bananas, canned fruits, melon, mango, nectarines, etc. (make sure to remove skin from fresh fruit). Vegetables such as butternut squash, mashed and peeled potatoes, cooked spinach or greens, boiled carrots/zucchini, and tomato sauce are typically tolerable. Grains such as white bread, low-fiber cereal, plain crackers, couscous, grits, noodles, polenta, white rice, rice cakes and tortillas are also good options. Protein options include chicken, eggs, fish, hummus, meatballs/meat loaf, nut butter, refried beans (fat free), tofu, cooked beans, or lentils in soups. And finally, for healthy fats you can try vegetable/nut/olive/avocado oil or butter or 1/8 avocado.

If you are struggling with many of the symptoms above and are feeling overwhelmed at where to start, we can help you figure out what works best for you no matter what you are going through!

Written by Trinny Duncan, Student Intern and Peggy Pratt, PhD, RDN, LDN, CEDS-C

Sources:

Allen, A. (2022, June 11). Gastroparesis. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gastroparesis/symptoms-causes/syc-20355787

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (2022, December 21). Food as medicine: Food therapy for gastroparesis. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. https://www.chop.edu/health-resources/food-medicine-food-therapy-gastroparesis