Acid Reflux disease and heartburn can cause severe physical and emotional pains to the sufferer. Physically you are faced with the challenge of how to cope with frequent burning sensations in your chest and stomach pains. Emotionally, you are dealing with the fear of the unknown. You battle with the thoughts, whether you will find a cure or not.
But the good news is you can prevent these pains if you follow these 5 steps.
Follow these 5 steps and you can overcome your acid reflux problems and heartburn pains. And you can enjoy a healthy lifestyle again.
1. Identify foods that trigger your acid reflux or heartburn.
You need to identify foods that trigger your heartburn. It is a fact that anyone who suffers from heartburn will probably relate to an episode that was triggered by food. This is how you identity the types of foods that are good for you. Keep a diary and keep records of foods that trigger your acid reflux attack. By doing this you will be able to identify foods that are not suitable for your condition and you should try to avoid them.
2. Abstain from drinking alcohol.
Apart from its acidic nature, alcohol can also react adversely to the delicate lining in your esophagus. It can be a painful experience if an irritant like alcohol enters the sores, already created by the acidic stomach contents, in your esophagus. Advice to acid reflux and heartburn sufferers is to reduce or abstain totally from drinking alcoholic beverages.
3. Avoid acidic foods
Yes, there are foods that are acidic in nature and you should try to avoid them. The reason is majority of people who suffers from either heartburn or acid reflux, tends to secretes high levels of acid in their stomach. Excess acid level can lead to build-up of pressure in your stomach. If the pressure in your stomach builds-up, the acidic stomach contents refluxes upwards into the esophagus, causing heartburn.
If your heartburn is triggered by excess acid, then it is advisable to avoid acidic foods such as dairy products, tomatoes and meat. Foods that consist of alkaline could help you to maintain the appropriate acid and alkaline balance in your stomach.
There are also people who also suffer from heartburn because their bodies actually produce less acid than they need. In this case, their acid reflux or heartburn could be attributed to indigestion problems caused by insufficient acid. Excess or limited acid may be bad for your health but our body actually needs a certain amount of acid to properly digest the foods we eat.
If your heartburn is caused by insufficient acid in your stomach, then eating acidic foods could help you. For example, taking a few drops of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water could help to boost the level of acid you need in your stomach.
4. Stop smoking
As the saying goes, smoking is not good for your health. And it is true. It is the biggest truth when it comes to controlling your heartburn and acid reflux pains. Like alcohol, nicotine in cigarette reduces the pressure of your lower esophageal sphincter valve. It is this valve that stops acidic contents in the stomach from refluxing into your esophagus. If the pressure of the valve is reduced, it cannot stop acid from your stomach refluxing up into the oesophagus. Once acid enters the esophagus, it irritates the lining causing this sensation known as heartburn.
5. Lose Weight
Weight gain can have implications for your health. Being overweight can make your heartburn worse. When you are overweight, your stomach could push up the diaphragm, which then puts pressure on the esophageal sphincter valve. In this case, the valve may not close properly and leads to the acidic contents of your stomach refluxing up into the esophagus and causing irritation to the lining there.
So there you are. Now you know some of the steps you could take to gain relief from your acid reflux and heartburn pains. You will feel a lot better if you apply these little steps.