Acid Reflux Diet and Other Means of Avoiding GERD

In any given day, about fifteen million Americans suffer gastroesophageal reflux and if you are one of them, acid reflux diet is just one of the sources of relief that you can resort to.  Avoiding GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is more than staying away from certain types of foods, spices, or beverages; it also calls for you to regulate the size of meals you take and the timing of eating them.  Planning is key in an acid reflux diet.

WHAT CAUSES HEARTBURN

Before we get to the part of avoiding heartburn or acid reflux symptoms, we must review our knowledge of this disease.  While pharmacists and those in the business of selling relief heartburn refer to these symptoms as acid reflux, medical doctors refer to this as gastroesophageal reflux disease.  This is so, as this discomfort happens when stomach acid that regurgitates or flows back from the stomach comes in contact with the lining of the esophagus.  This episode causes the patient to experience burning pain and this could injure the esophagus.  Those who frequently experience acid reflux symptoms may have weak lower esophageal sphincter muscle. In some instances the lower esophageal sphincter muscle or LES just relaxes more too frequently that the stomach acids get to freely flow back upwards into the food pipe or esophagus.

HEARTBURN OR ACID REFLUX SYMPTOMS CAN BE REMEDIED

Acid reflux diet may be able to halt this kind of discomfort.  The following tips could help someone who frequently experience GERD.  Again, it is not all about the food in one’s diet, it also involves the timing and the amount of food one eats.

What to avoid:

• Large meals – the fuller your stomach gets, the easier for these contents to freely splash upwards to your esophagus or lower esophageal sphincter.  A good acid reflux diet would be four or five meals in small amounts per day would be better than two or three large meals.
• Fatty foods – these foods digest slower and tend to stay longer in your stomach.  The main reason for avoiding these foods and excluding these from your acid reflux diet, is that these, especially fried foods, weaken your lower esophageal sphincter muscle.
• Spicy foods with black pepper, chili peppers, etc.
• Coffee, alcohol and cigarettes – for some smoking comes automatically after eating, and ordinarily smoke several sticks of cigarettes anytime during the day.  Alcoholic beverages (at least a glass or a bottle) would also come almost right before the day ends.  Unfortunately, for these people, LES muscles are weakened by these. 
• Sodas or carbonated drinks – these cause the bloating of the abdomen and pressure on the stomach is increased.  Citrus juice and tomato juice are also some of the drinks to avoid as these also irritate the damaged esophagus.  Coffee and the caffeinated tea, on the other hand, increases acidity in your stomach and causes your LES to relax.
• Lying down immediately after a meal – use gravity to your advantage:  remaining standing for two to three hours after a meal helps your stomach contents to stay down.
   

Remember, acid reflux symptoms are the regurgitating or the flowing back upwards of stomach acid to your esophagus and following an acid reflux diet would prevent this discomfort from recurring.