For many of us, our first choice for any physical discomfort is usually medication.
You just want something to take the pain away. The problem is the affects usually wear off and you certainly don’t want to become dependent on this type of quick-fix.
A healthy lifestyle can really improve your symptoms by making simple nutritional changes to your diet. Avoiding foods that trigger your condition and increasing the intake of specific food items can help reduce or eliminate the incidences of heartburn and reflux disease.
However, simply changing to a healthy diet is not the answer; It is a very specific group of foods that can cause these reactions. By targeting these food groups and avoiding them as much as possible, you should experience relief.
What Are These Food Groups?
What you eat contributes to the delicate inner balance in your body. There are known food groups that directly aggravate various GERD conditions. These food groups should be consumed in smaller amounts or avoided if possible. Understanding your food-choice options is the first step in reducing the pain and suffering that comes from Heartburn and Acid Reflux..
Here are the 7 groups:
1) Caffeine Products & Coffee: Beverage products that contain caffeine increase the acidity levels in your body and should be avoided. Coffee is the big culprit and by simply limiting yourself to 1 cup or possibly 2 cups per day will help. If you can eliminate coffee from your diet and switch to tea or even herbal teas you will reap many health benefits and likely reduce your Heartburn symptoms. If you do prefer to drink coffee be sure to not consume it before bedtime.
2) Alcohol: Another beverage of choice should also be avoided Alcohol which can irritate the stomach and relax the LES muscle increases acidity and contributes to acid reflux. This is a difficult one for many people; however, once you begin to experience less and less pain from your Heartburn condition, it will be well worth the sacrifice.
3) Fatty Foods: Foods which ake a long time to digest such as high fat foods are a big problem for acid reflux sufferers. Because they do not move through the body easily and take longer to be eliminated they increase the changes of GERD symptoms. The only exception is the omega-3 fatty acids food group, which comes primarily from fish and fish oil, and are in fact powerful anti-inflammatory agents. High fat foods are generally not healthy choices so think of this as a health decision as you enjoy better tasting, fresh foods as an alternative.
4) Chocolate: This one really hurts because it is most people’s favourite food – Chocolate. Unfortunately chocolate contains a lot of fat and caffeine and can increase acidity and worsen digestion. If you absolutely have to have some. Try sticking with dark chocolate and organic varieties if you can get them. Even with that I would limit yourself to a small amount each week.
5) Dairy and Milk Products: From the Milk family - Milk and milk-based products should be avoided before bedtime due to the large proportion of calcium. These products can be very hard for some people to digest so if you think you have a dairy sensitivity check with your doctor.
6) Mint Products: Strong mint products such as peppermint and spearmint can also worsen acid reflux symptoms. You should avoid foods that contain strong mints, including mint-based herbal teas.
7) Acidic Foods: Foods with high acidity such as oranges and tomatoes can also promote acid reflux symptoms. Also cruciferous vegetables which include: onions, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and spinach, as they act to promote the opening of the oesophageal sphincter, thus increasing acid reflux. Unfortunately these are also healthy foods so try doing without them by rotating one at a time. If you find there is a difference in your Acid
Reflux then you may have identified the specific triggering food group.
Making these dietary changes coupled with a healthy motivation to alter your lifestyle, can help you overcome Oesophageal Reflux Disease symptoms and improve the quality of your life. You can choose to prevent the recurrence of Constant Heartburn and Acid Reflux Disease by making simple dietary and lifestyle changes.
Yes, there are a variety of Natural Solutions to help reduce or eliminate your Heartburn and Acid Reflux Symptoms. Dietary changes are just the beginning.