What You Need To Know If You Have Acid Reflux

Suffering through acid reflux episodes can hinder your work, personal life and enjoyment of life as a whole. You have to battle your condition no matter where you are, and it can be painful. This isn’t how you want to live. Keep reading to find out how acid reflux can be a thing of the past in your life.

The way you eat can determine your symptoms. Most people eat too much, too quickly. Eating this way is just going to worsen your symptoms. Eat until your satisfied, not full. Additionally, you should eat more slowly. Enjoy your food by chewing carefully, setting your fork down in between each bite.

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The most significant factor attributed with acid reflux is being overweight. Those who are obese are two times more likely to have GERD than someone who is at a healthy weight. The pressure on your stomach of all the extra pounds can cause the esophageal sphincter to relax, allowing acid to give you trouble.

When you are at a healthy weight, it is less likely that you will suffer from GERD. Your sphincter muscle at the lower end of the esophagus loses its effectiveness with extra fat pressing on your stomach. Your body can restrict the acid flow much better if you are at a healthy weight.

When you are done eating a meal, prevent acid reflux by chewing on some gum. More saliva is produced when you chew some gum. The more saliva that is produced during digestion, the less acid is produced, in turn, preventing acid reflux from occurring. Ideally, you should chew on sugar-free gum.

Acid reflux can also be caused by stress. During stressful times, stomach acid production increases significantly, which leads to reflux. Engage in pleasant pursuits following meals. You might meditate, read or simply watch some television.

If you are pregnant and experiencing acid reflux, try to relax. This problem is often no longer an issue after you have the baby. It is a symptom of the baby pushing on all of your innards causing the acid in your belly to rise. Watch what you eat and avoid laying down until an hour has passed after you eat.

Try raising your bed’s frame. You can elevate the head of your bed using bricks, concrete or wooden blocks. The head of the bed should be six inches more elevated than the bottom of the bed. You can prevent stomach acid from staying in your esophagus by elevating your chest and head.

When you are eating all of your meals, take your time and savor each bite. It is a good idea to put your fork down between each and every bite. This is a good way to stop yourself from overeating, which means a dramatic reduction in all of your acid reflux symptoms.

Try to keep yourself elevated when going to bed. Sometimes it could be enough to just add a pillow or two to help you. However, sometimes you may need to have pillows or cushions set up to help you sleep in a sitting position. You might also want to consider sleeping in a recliner on some of your bad days.

If you often have acid reflux, avoid drinking during your meals. A glass of water will add to the volume of food in your stomach and make digestion harder. You should wait until you are done digesting to drink and avoid drinking just before having a meal or a snack.

Limit the amount of drinks you have when you eat. Beverages can add volume to the food that you digest and increase how distended your stomach is. Having a full stomach puts some pressure on your LES or lower esophageal sphincter, which is responsible for keeping food from getting back into the esophagus. This increases your chances for having reflux. To lower chances, take small sips when eating and try drinking your beverages between meals instead of during meals.

Get in shape. Being overweight, especially when most of the additional pounds are located on your stomach, can worsen your acid reflux symptoms. The fat around your mid-section puts extra pressure on your stomach and increases the likelihood of reflux. Even losing a few pounds may create major relief.

Drink less liquids with your meals. Drink while eating results in added pressure to the stomach. This increased pressure in your stomach can cause acid reflux to occur. Take small sips of water when you eat, and drink full glasses between meals.

Eat smaller portions throughout the day instead of larger meals. A big meal takes longer for your body to digest it and usually puts added pressure on your stomach, causing not only irritation, but damage, too. Instead of eating three large meals, break them up into five or six smaller ones.

One of the most important ways to help reduce acid reflux is to make sure that you are not overweight. Excess pounds can increase pressure on the stomach, causing the LES (lower esophageal sphincter) muscle to relax and allow reflux into the esophagus. You can control the risk of heartburn just by losing some weight.

No longer should you be dealing with acid reflux. With the tips and advice that you’ve read, you should now be taking control and saying goodbye to this dreadful condition. Make sure that you are doing everything you can because it will completely make the difference between your suffering and you living a happy life.