Archive for the ‘Acid Reflux’ Category
15 . 10 . 08
POST BY : Bob B Taylor |
Wanting to avoid harsh and unnatural chemicals and medications for your chronic and consistent heartburn or acid reflux is probably a good idea. Many people are very unaware of how dangerous long-term use of antacids can be, even those prescribed by your doctor. While natural remedies for acid reflux might include making some changes to your diet and your routine that you would rather not have to do, when you consider how dangerous this condition is the damage it does to you internally, you’ll realize that these changes are worth all the trouble and effort you’ll need to go through. Also, keep in mind that natural remedies for acid reflux don’t just include foods to eat but will also include some changes to your routine as well.
For one thing, regardless of your diet or eating habits you want to avoid eating at least two hours before bedtime. Many places that discuss natural remedies for acid reflux will point out how hard the stomach needs to work to digest foods, and when you’re laying in your bed these acids are going to naturally be more prone to spill over the top of your stomach and back up into your esophagus. You need to give your body time to go through the digestive process before you actually lie down. Drinking water before bedtime and throughout the day as well is also one of those natural remedies for acid reflux. Water helps to neutralize acids and also helps the digestive process along. The easier your body has it when it comes to digestion, the less stomach acid you’ll produce.
Losing weight by eating right and exercising regularly can also be considered natural remedies for acid reflux. When you are carrying extra pounds, this puts undue pressure on your stomach and forces its contents, including acids, to spill back up into the esophagus. Also, if you are eating a lot of fried and calorie dense foods so that you’re overweight this is unhealthy for you overall. Many times acid reflux is just a symptom or result of a very poor diet and unhealthy eating habits. Natural remedies for acid reflux are always going to include a much healthier diet of high fiber foods and whole grains, lean proteins such as turkey, chicken and fish, leafy green vegetables, and fruits that are not high in acid content. It will also include cutting out the fattening and unhealthy fried foods, packaged foods, junk foods, fast foods, and all those other things that cause a flare-up.
Some foods seem to calm the symptoms in some persons, and can be considered natural remedies for acid reflux. These foods include honey, bananas and apples. High fiber toast also seems to work for many, as the fiber may absorb the acid in the stomach. While these natural remedies for acid reflux may not work for everyone, they are definitely worth trying, especially when you couple them with adequate water intake and with keeping yourself at a healthy weight.
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14 . 10 . 08
POST BY : Bob B Taylor |
Many who suffer from acid reflux disease try many homemade remedies and over-the-counter antacids to try to get some relief, but unfortunately they often find these to be ineffective. Rather than load up your body with harsh chemicals and elements that sometimes do more harm than good, you may want to consider adjusting your diet as a natural cure for acid reflux. By avoiding foods that trigger acid reflux and filling up on other foods that help your digestive system, you can treat and even eliminate this disease altogether.
Adjusting your diet as a natural cure for acid reflux may seem like a terrible prospect for many, as they would sometimes rather do anything than give up the foods they love! But when you make adjustments to your diet as a natural cure for acid reflux, you are actually protecting your health overall. Many of the foods that cause acid reflux are actually unhealthy for you and are difficult to digest in the first place.
For instance, cutting down on red meat is part of your natural cure for acid reflux and many nutritionists agree that red meat is not very good for you. The acids that are in the meat and the difficulty that your body has in breaking it down are hard on your system overall. While some love their red meat and find that a diet high in protein may help them keep their weight down, cutting down on red meat is going to help with your natural cure for acid reflux. You may find that substituting lean protein such as turkey, chicken, and fish will not only help with your flare-ups of acid reflux but can also make you feel better overall.
There are many fruits especially that are very high in acid content and should be avoided as part of your natural cure for acid reflux. These include lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, cranberries, and tomatoes (yes, tomatoes are technically fruits!). While fruit is very good for you, there are many others that you can enjoy as part of your new dietary adjustments for a natural cure for acid reflux. For example, there are apples, melons of all sorts, grapes, and bananas just to name a few. Of course, there’s no point in making adjustments to your diet as a natural cure for acid reflux if you ignore your own body’s signals and reactions. If certain fruits and other food items cause your acid reflux to flare up, then you need to make note of that and avoid those foods. On the other hand, if there are certain foods that we’ve mentioned that don’t seem to bother you, then go ahead and have them but just in moderate amounts.
Water also needs to be part of your natural cure for acid reflux, as this helps the digestive process by breaking down your foods more thoroughly, and also helps to neutralize all the acids in your system.
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13 . 10 . 08
POST BY : Bob B Taylor |
Anyone experienced in child care knows that children spit up, and a lot. As a matter of fact, some parents wonder how their children will ever get any bigger, considering how much of their food comes back up as opposed to how much actually stays down! But is all this spitting up natural, and when can you assume that it’s a case of infant acid reflux? Most doctors will tell you that infant acid reflux is actually quite common especially in the first few months of their life as their digestive system is very delicate and still developing. When babies spit up they rarely have long-term problems because of it and of course they’re usually able to keep enough food in their system to grow up healthy and happy. Typically infant acid reflux goes away when the child is a few months old as they are better able to keep food in their stomachs because of having a stronger digestive system.
Parents who are concerned about their own child’s infant acid reflux would do well to make some adjustments to their child’s eating patterns. Very often parents feed their children too much and too fast, not realizing how delicate their systems are. And of course it doesn’t help when a child is crying for his or her bottle! But rather than simply letting the baby gulp down an entire bottle’s worth of food without a break you might consider letting them have a few sips and then taking the bottle of out the baby’s mouth for just a moment or two, and then letting the child have a few more sips, and so on. This cuts down on incidents of infant acid reflux as the child is not eating too fast and is not pulling a lot of air into his or her system when eating either.
The amount of food that a baby eats can also do a lot to cause or remedy infant acid reflux. When a stomach is overwhelmed with food, it can’t help but to regurgitate not only the food but the stomach acid with it as well. Putting a limit on your child’s portion sizes and having him or her eat many times throughout the day rather than just a few times is going to be easier on the stomach. The position in which you hold your baby when feeding can also cause infant acid reflux; try holding him or her a bit more upright even when breastfeeding. When the body is flat on its back the stomach acids are more likely to flow back into the esophagus. However, you may not want the youngest of babies to be too upright as you might be putting pressure on the stomach. The digestive system needs some room to function properly. And of course if you are concerned about your child’s case of infant acid reflux, you should speak to your doctor. He or she can address your concerns properly.
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12 . 10 . 08
POST BY : Bob B Taylor |
If you’re concerned about what foods to avoid with acid reflux, you’re to be commended. Too often people with this condition insist on eating what they want, when they want, and how much they want, and then simply rely on harsh medications to alleviate their symptoms. What is unfortunate about this is that once you start to feel the pain and discomfort of acid reflux, you’ve already done quite a bit of damage to your system, and those medications introduce some harsh and unnatural elements in your body. Thinking about the foods to avoid with acid reflux means that you’re more interested in tackling the root cause of the disease rather than stubbornly insisting that you do what you want and then ignoring the consequences.
When considering what foods to avoid with acid reflux, there are two very important points to consider. The first is that you want to make note of the foods that typically cause acid reflux flare-ups. These are foods that are high in acid content themselves; their acid coupled with the acid from your stomach is going to overload your system and cause reflux. Foods high in acid content include red meat of any variety, citrus fruits (limes, lemons, oranges, grapefruits, tomatoes), spicy foods such as garlic, onions, and peppers, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, wine, coffee, tea, cola, and dairy products high in lactose content such as yogurt, milk, and ice cream. Other foods to avoid with acid reflux are those cooked in heavy oils. This mean fried foods of any sort, potato chips and other such snack items, and fries. Also, most packaged foods use oil as a preservative, so you may also want to avoid toaster pastries and foods such as these. Fast foods are typically also fried in oils, so drive-through hamburgers may need to be avoided.
The other consideration when it comes to foods to avoid with acid reflux is being mindful of what foods seem to cause a flare-up with you personally. It’s a good idea to keep an eating diary for a few weeks, with notes about what you eat, how much, and when you’ve eaten it. Also note your acid reflux flare-ups and the time. This way you can compare the two – if you have a small bag of potato chips as a snack at 3:00 and note that you have a flare-up at 3:30, then you know you’re very sensitive to the oils used in those chips. Some people need to add to their list of foods to avoid with acid reflux items such as yogurt, cheese, chocolate, certain grains such as macaroni or spaghetti, and desserts that are baked with a lot of oil such as cake, cookies, and brownies.
Everyone’s system is different and sensitive to different things; your list of foods to avoid with acid reflux might be very different than someone else’s. Along those lines, if you note that strawberries and tomatoes don’t bother you, then of course you can indulge in these foods.
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11 . 10 . 08
POST BY : Bob B Taylor |
Searching for common foods that cause acid reflux is an important part of the process in getting your condition under control. Too many people ignore their dietary habits and lifestyle choices and simply rely on harsh medications and antacids to control their symptoms while eating what they want, when they want, in the quantity they want. If you can realize the foods that cause acid reflux in yourself personally then you can make some needed adjustments to your diet and treat or cure your disease.
The common foods that cause acid reflux are those that are very difficult to digest and that have a high concentration of acid in them already. Red meat of any variety is one such food. Because of the high amount of enzymes in red meat, it often causes acid reflux in those who eat large portions of it. While a diet high in protein may be good for weight control, you may be better off opting for leaner varieties of pork, turkey, chicken, and fish instead. If you must have red meat, have a very small portion and limit the number of times per week that you do. This can be one of the more difficult foods that cause acid reflux to give up, but for those who do it can be very beneficial.
Other foods that cause acid reflux include citrus fruits such as limes, lemons, grapefruits, tomatoes, tangerines, and oranges. Most berries are also very high in acid content, and this includes cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Wine and hard liquor also has a high acid content, but beer is usually acceptable for most. Beverages that contain caffeine are also included on the list of foods that cause acid reflux, so that means coffee, tea, cola, and other sodas. Unfortunately, chocolate is also very high in acid content and typically causes acid reflux in many. Many dairy products are also very acidic, so this means milk, cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt and ice cream. Heavy oils are not necessarily high in acid content but are very difficult for the body to digest, meaning that they cause the stomach to produce more acid than normal. Anything fried should be added to the list of foods that cause acid reflux; this means not just fried chicken and chicken-fried steak, but French fries, potato chips, corn chips, popcorn made in oil, buffalo wings, and so on. Most packaged foods use oil as a preservative, so be careful of toaster pastries and anything else that comes in a box. Many desserts are also cooked with heavy oils, so you may want to add cakes, cookies, and brownies to your list of foods that cause acid reflux.
Of course, some of these foods mentioned might not have an effect on you and your system, while there may be other foods that do trigger flare-ups. Keep track of what you eat and when you have an attack so that you can make your own personal list of foods that cause acid reflux.
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10 . 10 . 08
POST BY : Bob B Taylor |
acid reflux is becoming more and more common today, as many people have neglected healthy eating in favor of fast foods, junk foods, fried foods, and so many other things that are just not healthy for them and their digestive system. There are methods of acid reflux treatment that you can get from the local pharmacy or prescribed from your doctor, and some of these are more effective than others. But remember that any medication or antacid you take as an acid reflux treatment means chemicals and other unnatural elements in your body. These treatments may give some temporary relief to the symptoms of acid reflux but typically do very little to address what is causing the condition in the first place. While some cases of acid reflux are present because of a defect in the area of the stomach the controls acid and keeps it where it belongs, many cases are caused by poor diet and other controllable elements. So, it may be better to opt for some natural methods of acid reflux treatment that address the causes of the disease, not just the symptoms.
Smoking is one very common cause of acid reflux, and if you smoke, there are going to be very few effective means of acid reflux treatment. It’s obvious that quitting smoking is a very difficult prospect for many, but there is nothing healthy about the habit and many, many reasons why one should quit; acid reflux is just one of those reasons. Nicotine and the other poisons in cigarettes are absorbed in the bloodstream and from there transferred to every area of the body, including the digestive system and stomach. Any thorough and effective method of acid reflux treatment will include a smoking cessation program.
A poor diet and eating habits are also common causes of acid reflux, and making some changes in both areas is another important part of natural acid reflux treatment. This means avoiding very spicy foods such as garlic and peppers, and foods that have a high acid content themselves. These foods include red meat, citrus fruits (lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits, tomatoes), berries, and even some dairy products. Oils are also very hard on the digestive system, so fried foods, fast foods, and junk foods (which are typically fried) also need to be avoided. Eating too much at any one time is also a common cause of acid reflux. When you overwhelm your stomach with food, even healthy foods, you’re going to naturally produce a lot of acid and because your stomach is full, that acid has nowhere to go except back up the esophagus. Having modest portions at all your meals is part of a natural method of acid reflux treatment. If this is difficult for you and you find yourself constantly hungry, simply have a light snack every few hours. This might be a piece of fruit that doesn’t cause acid reflux flare-ups, some whole grain toast, or something else light that won’t bother your system.
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