Acid reflux is a serious ailment that can negatively influence your life. From not knowing what to eat to not being able to sleep, it takes over your body and life. Look over the following tips that can help you treat or even prevent acid reflux and get back to leading a normal life.
Enjoy your food. If you savor each bite, investigating the flavors and truly allowing yourself to taste it, you will chew more and even eat less. Your stomach will realize it’s full when you eat slowly, which allows you to keep your weight in check by eating less and also keep your stomach from overfilling.
You may need to balance out hydrochloric acid amounts in your body if you want to reduce acid reflux and its symptoms. You can do this, for instance, by using sea salt rather than table salt. Sea salt has chloride and minerals that are good for the stomach and prevent acid.
If you suffer from acid reflux symptoms at night time, you may need to change the way you sleep. You should be laying on your back, with the upper half of your body propped up by a few pillows. When you lay flat, whether on your back, stomach or side, you are allowing acid to come up through the esophagus.
When you find you have acid reflux overnight, raise the head of your bed up at least six inches. This will keep your esophagus angled downwards, ensuring that acid stays in your stomach and doesn’t try to creep back up towards your throat. If six inches doesn’t help, try eight instead.
If you plan to exercise rigorously, drink lots of water while you work out. This not only hydrates you; it helps to aid in digestion. It also washes acid down and out of your esophagus, keeping it in your stomach where it belongs. If this still doesn’t help, talk to your doctor about medications.
It is not only the types of food you eat, but how much you eat that can cause acid reflux. It takes a longer time to digest larger meals, which can place added pressure on your stomach. This can be avoided by eating smaller meals, which are spread throughout the day.
Wear clothes that are loose-fitting and comfortable. If you wear clothes that are too constricting and tight, they will put added pressure around your abdomen and your lower esophageal sphincter. When your abdomen area is free from any added stress, it can do its job much better and tight fitting clothes do not allow this.
Reduce the fat in your diet. Excess fat causes your LES muscle to relax, which delays stomach emptying. As a result, acid reflux is more likely to occur. Therefore, if you consume lots of fried foods, substitute them for leaner, grilled options. This is not only good for your acid reflux, but also for your overall health.
It is known that smoking is bad for your health, but did you also know that smoking can have an affect on acid reflux? When you smoke, more stomach acid is produced, digestion is slowed down, and less saliva is produced. Smoking also causes the sphincter of the esophagus to weaken, making acid reflux occur.
Try some natural ways to reduce the effects of acid reflux in your body. There are lots of medications that you can take to help with your acid reflux, but why take them if you can control it naturally? Try to eat foods that are alkaline. Foods such as milk, bananas, almonds, tofu and avocados are all alkaline foods.
You may wish to give up spicy foods, as they may be a large factor in your acid reflux attacks. Start first by completely avoiding spicy foods altogether and see if this helps. If it does, then slowly start working spicy foods back into your diet in order to find what your tolerance level is.
Consume supplements that contain Pyridoxine if you want to get rid of acid reflux immediately. This vitamin helps to metabolize the different fats and carbohydrates that you put in your stomach. Also, this vitamin will give your body the ability to repair damaged cells faster that you lose from acid reflux.
Reduce the amount of caffeine that you consume during the day to help with your acid reflux. Caffeine can cause gas to build up in your stomach, which can lead to inflammation. Try not to drink a lot of coffee or soda during the day to limit the extremity of your condition.
Whether you aren’t eating the right way or the right foods, you’ve got to get to the root of your acid reflux problems. Hopefully this article has been helpful in your quest for answers and you now know what to change in your life. With a few simple modifications, your life can be free from acid reflux permanently.