by Jill Seimer
When most people think of treating a disease they normally think of some scientific, surgical or medicinal treatment first. It’s the mentality of “take two aspirin and call me in the morning”. We pop a pill, go asleep and everything should be ok. Is this the answer? It all depends on what you’re suffering from but there are certain conditions which can be treated with a change in lifestyle just as easily as they can be treated with medicine or surgery. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one such condition.
So why go for lifestyle change before medicine?
It’s simply because most medication provides a short term cure to the problem by either neutralizing or reducing the amount of stomach acid produced. A change in lifestyle offers a “cure” over the longer term – possibly even permanently. The lifestyle change required for acid reflux sufferers is a change in diet. Different people react to different foods and you are what you eat after all!
How You Sleep
This is the first area to examine when treating your acid reflux. When you sleep laying down flat your stomach acid can work its way back up into your esophagus. So instead of sleeping perfectly flat try placing an extra pillow or two underneath you as you sleep. This is so your body is in a more upright position which in turn keeps your stomach acid where it belongs – in your stomach.
Big Meals Are Bad
Eating food is one of life’s more simple and more enjoyable pleasures. The traditional big family meal is something we all look forward to at the end of each day. Once done we can retire to another room and relax for the evening. This is the worst possible move for any acid reflux sufferer. You need to eat smaller meals and more often – give your digestive system a chance to catch up and actually digest the food. If not then expect heartburn at any moment.
Foods To Avoid
Avoid chocolate, cola drinks, peppermints, citrus fruits, too much dairy and alcohol. These have all been proven to have an irritating effect on the lower esophagealsphincter and the stomach itself. Excessively fatty foods and smoking should be also be moderated or eliminated. Most smokers will be familiar with the sour taste and feeling in their stomach most days – if you can feel it imagine what it looks like on the inside. Oddly enough chewing gum can be one positive “junk” food in your acid reflux diet. The extra saliva that the body produced during chewing can prevent attacks of acid reflux as your saliva has an active antacid in it.
So if you do suffer from acid reflux don’t reach for the bottle of antacids every time you get heartburn. Why not consider reviewing your diet and making the big change that your body is telling you that you need?
Jill Seimer helps others by writing at RefluxLife.com covering on healthy natural lifestyle. Recently she discussed
