Severe discomfort, often described as a burning or stinging sensation, is the hallmark of acid reflux. Everyone who has ever had it will agree on this description. You can get and eliminate acid reflux in many different ways. For advice on treating acid reflux, keep reading.
The last meal of the day should be eaten around three hours before you get in bed. When you remain upright, your food and stomach acids stay put in the stomach. When you lay down, the acid can rise back up. That is why you should wait a few hours prior to sleeping.
Acid reflux commonly occurs during pregnancy. As the fetus grows in size, it crowds your stomach, causing acid to be pushed up from the stomach into the esophagus. Eating low-acid, low-fat foods is the best way to keep symptoms at bay. If this is not helping, look for teas that are available which help calm the esophagus while keeping the stomach acids at bay. This will not hurt the baby.
Some foods may trigger acid reflux. For example, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, and fried foods are notorious culprits. Sometimes foods that are acidic, such as citrus fruits or tomatoes, can also make things worse. Different people have different triggers, and it will take time to learn which ones affect you. In order to be safe, you should stay away from these foods.
Keep an eye on the types of foods you eat which causes the symptoms of acid relux to flare up. Anyone who deals with acid reflux has certain foods that causes the onset of this problem. You can still eat small quantities of the foods that trigger acid reflux but you need to be very careful.
Consider giving up smoking if you suffer from acid reflux. Nicotine facilitates the production of stomach acid, increasing occurrences of acid reflux. However, stopping smoking cold turkey can actually worsen your acid reflux as well. Talk to your doctor if you need to a patch or a prescription medication.
Try to keep your weight down if you want to beat acid reflux. Obesity is a main cause of acid reflux. You can decrease the likelihood of acid reflux symptoms by reducing your body weight by a mere 10%. Try to eat healthier rather than following a fad diet.
Avoid reclining after eating. Your digestive system has issues and the acid moves when you decide to lie down after eating. By staying upright, you can avoid acid from going into your esophagus.
Engage in moderate, upright exercise, like taking a long walk. There are a number of reasons why these types of exercise will be helpful to you. Your stomach can digest foods better when you remain in an upright position. Moderate exercise can also help you to lose weight and reduce symptoms. While exercise can help to contain your acid reflux, ensure that it is low impact, as high impact will simply make matters worse.
If you are overweight, lose weight. If you carry a great deal of excess weight in your middle, you are more prone to suffering from reflux. It pushes acid up your esophagus. Not only is this extremely painful, it can cause long term damage to your esophageal lining. Eating healthy and exercising will not only help you lose weight, but reduce your acid reflux symptoms as well.
Stay calm. By eating meals when overly stressed out, you are more likely to experience acid reflux. You should do some meditation or relaxation exercises after eating a meal. Never lay down or recline immediately after a meal.
When people have acid reflux, chewing cinnamon gum can offer them some relief. This gets your saliva glands producing fluid that counteracts stomach acids. Additionally, chewing gum encourages swallowing. Repeated swallowing helps keep the stomach acid and other contents inside the stomach.
While eating, minimize the amount of beverages you consume. Drinking provides added stress to the stomach. This can cause acid reflux to worsen. Instead only take tiny sips of water during the meal, and save drinking full glasses until between meals.
Don’t eat in the three hours prior to going to sleep. This is crucial since the stomach doesn’t process food that great when you’re sleeping as opposed to when you’re awake. Eating just before calling it a day improves your chances of getting up in the middle of the night with heartburn.
Don’t recline post-meal. That’s because lying down impedes the digestion process, which causes acid reflux. Remaining upright aids in digestion. How long you have to wait post-meal will vary from meal to meal and person to person.
As unpleasant as acid reflux is, it is not a permanent experience. When you are truly committed to deal with reflux, relief is attainable. There are many precautions and preventative measures that you can take to avoid acid reflux. Hopefully this article has shown you some good ones that you can use in the near future.