We
are discussing here how to live with acid reflux
and what treatment is best for
it.
If a
serious wrong-doer is asked to choose between a
death sentence and a life sentence, the answer
probably may lie in the earlier one since the
latter is far more perilous and defeating. When a
person knows that his or her disease is not fatal
but is still incurable, the agonies are immense.
In the case of acid reflux or gastroesophageal
acid reflux or GER, certain restrictions may help
in reducing the symptoms or diminish their
frequency to a considerable
extent.
Tomatoes
are taboo to all those who are suffering from GER
since their acidic properties will consistently
add to the acidic constitution of the stomach of a
GERD patient, giving rise to heartburn and
accompanying discomfort. It also goes true with
tomato ketchup, sauce, soup and other tomato
oriented recipes. Similar is the case with citrus
fruits like oranges that also are principally
acidic in nature. Orange juice, so favorite among
young and old alike are alas, beyond the reach of
GERD victims as it sure increases the acidity of
the intestines. Anybody can live happily with acid
reflux if he or she can keep away from these
acidic food and beverages.
It
also depends a lot on the person's ability to
eliminate food items and beverages that trigger
his or her acid reflux. Of course, one needs
enormous endurance by going through a process of
trial and error to eliminate the items. For
example, if one is fond of beer and at the same
time suffers from acid reflux, he or she has to
keep away from that frothy tankard for a few days
and watch the frequency of attack. If it goes
away, he or she has to say good bye to beer. If,
on the other hand, it persists, then the
refreshing drink is not the culprit and may stage
a come back.
How
to live with acid reflux has a lot to do with the
person's lifestyle. If one is in the habit of
taking a cat nap immediately after a meal, it has
to be stopped or at least the method altered. As
acid reflux is mostly caused due to the faulty
lower esophageal sphincter or LES leaking acidic
stomach contents into the esophagus, lying down
with a full stomach will cause the stomach
contents to press harder against the LES,
prompting it to do so more rapidly. Lounging in an
upright chair instead may be far more
helpful.
Eating
several smaller meals a day instead of having
three heavy meals may provide respite as this will
reduce gastric pressure which in turn will
minimize secretion of the gastric acids. Eating
slowly will further ease the situation as by doing
so, more saliva gets mixed up with the food
reaching down the stomach.
How
to live with acid reflux is
an easy chapter if a holistic approach to the
problem is made with a view to keeping a simple
yet efficient lifestyle, maintaining regular meal
hours, adequate sleeping hours and some amount of
physical exercise to keep the body ship shape.
Holistic remedies treat the body as a whole and
aim to find out all the causes of the symptoms.
Having identified them, the approach is then to
solve the problem. Acid reflux is complicated and
the causes are also many - and so, this approach
is often more successful.
Leading
the correct lifestyle is always essential. But
just the correct lifestyle will never completely
treat the symptoms of the disease. For this,
holistic treatment is
essential.
