Our eating habits and growing stress levels make us suffer from Acid Reflux (Acidity) and HeartBurns almost every other day.
The moment we go through it, we start consuming medicines to get instant relief. Medicines like Analgesics, Mint Based Drinks, Sodas are commonly consumed self medications.
Simply changing your eating habits or the way you sleep may significantly reduce the issues of of heartburn and acid reflux and hence improving your quality of life.
What is an Acid Reflux? What causes Acidity?
Our body produced acid which aids breaking up the food you eat into smaller and simpler form. This basically is the process of Digestion, but when the acid from stomach gets pushed up to Esophagus - the pipe which carries the food from Mouth to Stomach, we start feeling a burning sensation inside accompanies with acidic taste in your mouth and excessive burping. This is called Acid Reflux which on prolong basis carried out Heart Burn.
In addition to heartburn, common symptoms of reflux include an acidic taste at the back of the mouth and difficulty swallowing. Other symptoms include a cough, asthma, tooth erosion and inflammation in the sinuses.
So, What can you do to avoid it?
Don't Overeat
Avoid eating large meals. Acid reflux usually increases after meals, and larger meals seem to make the problem worse.
Lose The Belly Fat
Excessive pressure inside the abdomen is one of the reasons for acid reflux. Losing belly fat would help you relieve some of your acidity symptoms.
Follow a Low Carb Diet
If you often suffer from Acid reflux or Heartburn then you should switch to a Low Carb Diet. The undigested carbohydrates cause the bacterial overgrowth and elevate pressure inside your stomach. This is one of the most common causes of acid reflux.
Limit Your Alcohol Intake
Drinking Alcohol may increase the intensity of Acid Reflux inside your stomach, also increasing and aggravating the symptoms of the cause at a very rapid speed. Take Plain Water instead of Wine along with heavy meals. If you suffer from heartburn, try to limit your alcohol intake, which might help ease some of your pain.
Limit Your Caffeine Intake
No doubt there is a very strong relationship between your coffee and your weight loss,
but if you have witnessed acid reflux after your coffee consumption then you either need to limit your Caffeine intake or alter the timing of consumption.
Chewing Gum
A few studies show that chewing gum reduces acidity in the esophagus. Chewing gum increases the formation of saliva and helps clear the esophagus of stomach acid. Mind you, over chewing of the same gum with mouth open can fill in a lot of gas.
Avoid Raw Onions
Eating a meal containing raw onion significantly increased heartburn & acid reflux compared with an identical meal that didn’t contain onion. Raw onions also irritate the lining of the esophagus, causing worsened heartburn.
Limit Your Carbonated Soda Consumptions
Carbonated beverages temporarily increase the frequency of gas formation, which may promote acid reflux. If they worsen your symptoms, try drinking less or avoiding them altogether.
The main reason is the carbon dioxide gas present in carbonated beverages, which causes more gas formation in your food pipe — an effect that can increase the amount of acid escaping into the esophagus
Avoid Mint, If Needed
A few studies indicate that mint may aggravate heartburn and other reflux symptoms. High doses of spearmint may worsen acid reflux symptoms, presumably by irritating the inside of the esophagus
Elevate Your Head While Sleeping
For people who witness the reflux mostly during the night should actually elevate the head by either putting another pillow or by upgrading to elevation level adjusting beds. elevating the head of the bed is an effective strategy to reduce acid reflux symptoms and heartburn at night.
Don't Eat Anything for 3 Hours Before Going to Bed
Eating closed to your sleep time can actually aggravate the Acid levels inside your body leading you to higher chances of Acid Reflux or Heartburn. The body requires at least 3 hours to completely digest the food you eat, and hence you should consider that much of a gap.
Don't Sleep on Your Right Side
If you suffer from acid reflux during the night time then you should avoid sleeping on the right side of your body. When you lay on your right side, stomach acid covers the lower esophageal opening muscles which increases the risk of acid leaking through it and causing acid reflux.
This article focussed on small changes you can bring to your diet intake or sleeping pattern to help you avoid Acidity in your routine life. But it's dependent on the kind of food choices you make. For effective weight loss and easy & personalized diet planning, you should consult a dietitian.
Consult Dietician Ankita Gupta Sehgal, the best nutritionist in Delhi NCR. With her easy and straight from kitchen diet plans, it's very easy to achieve your health goals. Book your appointment online today or give her a call at +91 9873974659.
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Feel free to share your feedback or concerns in the comments section below. Share this your friends who have the acidity or heartburn problems.