Hemorrhoids are bumps caused by inflamed blood vessels in the anus or rectum. While some hemorrhoids disappear on their own, others can be extremely painful. The pain and discomfort can affect your mental health and limit your physical mobility.
Some hemorrhoids get filled with too much blood and clots, resulting in them bursting. The blood loss they cause could leave you dizzy and nauseous. Untreated and ruptured hemorrhoids could catch life-threatening infections.
Most hemorrhoids can be treated with simple over the counter (OTC) medication or home remedies. In cases of persistent and badly infected painful hemorrhoids, surgery becomes necessary.
What Causes Hemorrhoids?
Chronic constipation is the leading cause of hemorrhoids. When an individual has unhealthy eating habits, such as frequently consuming processed foods, their bodies get sufficient dietary fiber. The excessive sodium and oil in these foods cause more hemorrhoids to form.
Moreover, if a person’s diet lacks sufficient water, the body also suffers from chronic constipation.
This lack of water hardens stool. When a person tries to move hard and stiff stools through a dry rectal canal, it increases the chances of them developing new hemorrhoids or worsening existing ones.
If a person consumes a nutritious diet and practices proper eating habits, their digestive system works efficiently. Chances of hemorrhoids forming decrease, and the existing ones get the time to heal.
Continue reading this article to learn about the best diet, nutrition, and eating practices that could help treat and prevent future hemorrhoids.
Proper Eating, Diet, & Nutrition for Hemorrhoids
Green Cruciferous Vegetables
To treat chronic hemorrhoids, the body needs a high daily dosage of fiber.
Green vegetables like kale, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber and Brussel sprouts are a great source of insoluble fiber. One standard measuring cup of green vegetables offers the body almost three to five grams of insoluble fiber.
Insoluble fiber helps lubricate the inner gut tract by lining it with a moist gel substance. This lubrication allows the person to pass stools witout any trouble and allows hemorrhoids to heal. Moreover, these green vegetables also contain a lot of vitamin C, which helps protect the body against diseases and boosts immunity.
Moreover, the insoluble fiber helps soften and fatten your stool, allowing a healthy, well-regulated digestive system.
For a high fiber diet, one should incorporate these green vegetables in their meals regularly. These vegetables can be eaten raw or cooked paired with proteins and healthy carbohydrates.
Root Vegetables
Root vegetables are abundantly grown in around the world. This food category includes vegetables people consume more regularly. These veggies include carrots, beetroots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and turnips.
These root vegetables are excellent sources of soluble and insoluble fiber and help sustain ahealthy gut.
One standard cup of diced or ground root vegetables have almost three to seven grams of nutritious dietary fiber. Eating these vegetables without removing their peels is great as the peels are loaded with beneficial fiber and nutrients.
Root vegetables like potatoes are popular around the world. Along with other root vegetables, potatoes are relatively easy to add to one’s daily diet.
To help the healing process for your hemorrhoids, one should consume beetroot juices, roasted and steamed potatoes, mashes potatoes, cooked and raw carrots, and turnips.
Moreover, the high amount of healthy starch in most of these root vegetables allows for improved intestinal health and healing. Furthermore, the starch helps bind watery stools and keeps the digestive system healthy.
Whole Grains
Refined grains are an unhealthy staple food that causes and worsens hemorrhoids. For hemorrhoids treatment and prevention, one should increase their intake of whole grains.
Whole grains are nutritious sources of fiber and help boost immunity and energy levels. They contain high amounts of insoluble as well as soluble fiber, which is critical for curing hemorrhoids.
The insoluble fibrous content of the whole grains helps line the gut with a lubricating gel-like substance. This gel lining ensures smooth expulsion of the stools and protects the gut’s walls.
Whole grains include wheat flour, corn, barley, brown rice, and oats. All these food items are the staple food sources in many regions of the world and can easily be incorporated into a meal.
One should try to begin their days with wheat pancakes or a bowl of healthy oats. Doing so helps kick in your digestive system and helps you lose extra weight.
Other meals should also have delicious, whole grain sides such as bran bread, brown rice, corn and quinoa.
Practicing such eating habits would not only uplift your mood and energy levels, but would also help cure and prevent future hemorrhoids.
Fresh Fruits
Fruits are nature’s gift to the world and its inhabitants. Not only are they tasty, but they are also packed with essential dietary fibers, vitamins, and antioxidants. All these nutrients help regulate and encourage healthy bodily functions while helping one cure and prevent future hemorrhoids.
Fruits like tropical berries, blackberries, raspberries, pears, many nuts, and apples are excellent soluble and insoluble fiber sources.
This fiber is great for preventing and curing constipation, softening the stools, lubricating the gut lining and promoting hemorrhoid healing.
The vitamin C in these foods helps boost immunity and protect the body from deadly hemorrhoidal infections.
One standard cup of berries, most nuts, pears or apples, can offer the body almost five to six grams of dietary fiber.
This food group is delicious to be eaten directly and can also be incorporated into cooking to make salads, desserts, pies, and jams.
Start Eating Well Now!
Hemorrhoids can be painful enough to limit mobility and affect our mood. The good part is that these bumps can be cured by simple dietary changes.
Shifting to healthier and nutritious diets that include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains could help treat existing hemorrhoids while preventing new ones from forming.
For more information regarding the benefits of healthy eating and hemorrhoid relief, click here
