I have acid reflux that’s so bad a glass of coke is enough to make my stomach upset for a good chunk of the day. I’ve heard of Japanese gastronomical tastes being easy on the gut and translates with their food selection. Is that true?
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/vhm0sn/is_japan_the_best_place_for_those_with_weak/
26 comments
Relatively bland and non acidic. Lots of minimally process veggies. Sushi is just fish and vinegar rice. But some people in Japan drink a lot so be cafeul with alcohol.
I don’t know, I fart and burp fairly often without help of soda. One thing for certain is that gas relief pills are not common in Japan, but I’m not sure if that comes from the difference in culture of food or medicine.. I have never heard of such thing but it’s interesting if that was so. Traditional Japanese food often does not use meat like beef and pork, so perhaps that’s it? Or maybe it’s about pickles and fermented foods?
Not necessarily, as with any countries cuisine there’s a huge range from mild to very spicy and hot. The key thing is choice, and there’s lots of that in Japan, and some dining experiences allow you to exercise choice to the finite detail. A lot of Japanese dishes are customised by the individual, with elements you can add or choose not to.
Idk man, I don’t feel like I have a weak stomach, but every trip I take to Japan, I end up needing immodium by like day three because my bathroom trips end up being more eruptive than active volcanoes.
I don’t know if anyone can really answer this for you, tbh. Do you know what triggers your reflux? I’d start there.
Might wanna speak with a doctor
Eat “neba-neba” or slimy food, okra, natto, yam, nameko mushroom. They contain something called mucilaginous, apparently good for digestion.
It depends what you eat but in general things are less spicy, like curry. Japanese dishes are easy in taste, lean in fat. Try eating a miso soup, I never found it to be upsetting.
Also be aware that Japan has lots of trains, and if you eat something and your stomach is already sensitive, or are prone to motion sickness, it doesn’t feel too good to ride them.
FYI acid reflux can be dangerous. Untreated it can lead to cancer. Don’t dismiss it. Get it treated.
Japan was easy on my stomach. Lots of veggies and fish and rice. Fewer processed foods and fatty foods. But it depends on what you choose to eat over there.
How well do you speak Japanese? Because I wouldn’t call anywhere the best place to be for a medical condition if you can’t even tell the doctor what’s wrong with you.
The best place is wherever you are now, buying things from the supermarket that don’t trigger your reflux and making them yourself at home. Chicken, fish, rice, potatoes, sparkling water, etc. are going to be just as easy to find near you as in Japan. And effective medicine can be harder to find there.
I’ve only developed this issue after being in Japan for many years. It doesn’t mean that being here caused it, but take that as you will.
Food wise, it’ll come down to what you choose to eat but I do think you’ll find more options on the go that will be easy on your stomach. Where you might run into issues is drinks. Japan offers bitter tea, water, and absolutely random something else. Grab a drink that looks like flavored water? It’s a soda. Find a soda? It’s coffee, piping hot from the vending machine in 90+ weather. The juice? Why it’s just juice. Yogurt based juice. Good luck.
As someone who has been through it for years, don’t wait to see a doctor any longer. You don’t want to find out too late and be at risk for esophagitis / cancer etc.
You need to talk to your dr asap. I had bad acid reflux to the point I couldn’t drink beer, coffee, pop, eat pasta (tomato sauce), etc. I stopped eating spicy foods and acidic stuff and took preclscriptuon antacids for 2 years. I can now enjoy these foods again but in moderation. You likely over did it in your past with spicy or acidic foods and burned part of the “cardiac sphincter” away that separates the stomach from esophagus. It’s takes time to heal
Milk for immediate relieve. Doesn’t work for permanent cure but this has helped me through finals week with acute ulcersss..
Know many people who stopped eating meat and got rid of it very fast
No answer fits all, and you’re best to speak to a doctor. You’re sure to have problems at the beginning if you’re sampling different food whilst you find out what works and doesn’t work for you. I had really bad acid reflux a few years ago where I was throwing up for ~7 hours straight one time after eating something slightly too quickly and felt like I was dieing. When I got checked out in the UK they ran some blood tests and gave me a 3 month course of omeprazole which literally changed my life. I keep it on hand for the occasional time I feel my throat/stomach acting up, but I’ve had to use it once since and ironically it was when I was out of Japan.
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There’s so much food here you’re bound to find something that works for you, but still you should speak to a doctor to see if there’s anything you can do to prevent the prolem in the first place.
Rice, the staple food of the Japanese, is slower to digest than bread. Also, Japanese people like seaweed, which is difficult to digest. You may have false expectations for Japanese food.
Go to your doctor… Japanese food isn’t going to cure you.
I don’t know about diet but Japan is a toilet utopia so you don’t have to worry so much being out and about! Free and clean public toilets everywhere.
Maybe you should explore the origin of your problem? My MIL, who is super Japanese, has suffered from acid reflux because of a bacterial infection. It had nothing to do with her diet. She had it treated and is fine now.
OP, take care of that, it might become very bad. You could even been affected by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a very nasty bacteria. You said that coke will upset your stomach, it could be the bacteria throwing a party with all the sugar you sent their way.
Talk to your doc, and do your research first, but I can tell you from experience, stay away from antiacids, you can try drinking water with lemon juice in it, apple cider vinegar and salt. Reducing your sugar intake will also help you.
Doing your research you will find out, but in short, reflux is caused by low acidity in your stomach, which will wreck your digestion. The lemon and vinegar will help make your stomach more acidic, and the salt is actually used by your body to make mode acid.
Anyway, take good care of yourself and have this problem checked OP
There are some foods that are and some that aren’t.
I don’t know where you live, but if it’s a high GDP country, I’m quite certain you can get whatever food you want in the country you live (including Japanese foods).
You could get wasted on beer in Osaka ,slurp up some curry, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, fried katsu, fatty ramen, etc. etc., and I’m pretty sure you’d be dead.
You could also eat rice porridge, umeboshi, natto, tofu, and miso soup and be uber-alkaline. You can also find these foods in the U.S. or whatever, and if this was your “diet” I doubt you’ll be enjoying many parties or whatever since this is not normal food when you go out.
Can’t say with high confidence, but I recently did a quick search on why the stomach x-ray (with the barium drink) is a normal part of Japanese annual health checks/physicals.
It seems stomach cancer is significantly higher in Japan compared to many other nations. One page suggested some of the diet may play a part, but I didn’t read in depth so there may be some genetic factors as well.
I’d suggest speaking with a doctor while doing some of your own research. I imagine every nation has some pros and cons to their diet and individual needs for certain conditions will probably vary – so you will need to find some mix that fits your situation best.
In Japan, when you’re experiencing an upset stomach, you’ll be told to avoid fatty or spicy foods and to get easily digestible ones like okayu (rice porridge), udon, white-meat fish, chicken tenderloin, tofu, yogurt. As for udon, I’d like to recommend thinner types called hiyamugi or umen, but not somen since oil used in its making process makes it less digestible. A hot dish with lots of veggies called “[okuzu-kake](https://cookpad.com/recipe/3145827)” helps me so much when having weak digestion. However, it would be difficult to find these dishes, especially served in portions optimal to your stomach, in restaurants. Why don’t you try cooking them? If you have a rice-cooker, what you need to do is just select “okayu” out of menus.