You eat Acid Reflux Foods but still suffer from heartburn?

Acid Reflux foods- Change your diet and it can change your life

If you have had Acid reflux symptoms for a long time then you should have seen a doctor. They may give you recommendations to follow. Changing your diet may be one and it can help. However you may already have changed to a diet that will lower the chances of you having acid reflux symptoms. If you have found that it did not improve after you have started eating acid reflux foods then it may be something else. It may not be the food but your actual eating habits or it could even be related to stress.

Although the food you eat is one of many culprits that can give you heartburn it may not be the only one. There are many factors that can see your acid reflux symptoms fluctuating from day to day. Changing to acid reflux foods may help but it also may not be the whole answer.

Your eating habits play a big part.

These are some of the things you should do:-

• Do not slouch- Sit up straight when eating?
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly
• Eat smaller portions- Six small meals a day are better than three large ones
• Try not to drink during your meal- especially alcohol

If you have tried the small changes above and still have problems then there is a great system called “Heartburn No More” that can help. The system describes all the acid reflux foods you need to take and also all the lifestyle changes that will make a difference.

If it is not what you eat then the way you eat could be contributing to your problem. Changing the way you eat could help enormously. Eating large meals overloads the digestion system making food stay in the stomach longer. This in turn creates more acid which exasperates the problem and the excess acid ends up in your esophagus. Eating smaller meals more frequently will help and is much easier to digest.

Sitting up straight when eating allows your food to have better entry into the stomach. It also takes the strain off the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). As the digestion of food actually starts in the mouth eating slowly and chewing your food is a big help. The saliva in your mouth starts to break down the food which aids digestion.

Now that you have eaten what do you do afterwards- If you do any of the following then you should stop as they can produce acute heartburn.

• Exercising after a meal
• Lying down flat after a meal
• Starting activities that need vigorous actions

Vigorous activity after eating can actually slow down the digestive process and the chances of getting acid back into the esophagus will increase. Gastric emptying is one of the problems that can occur when the digestion is slow. Normally the food is digested and enters the small intestine where the body starts absorbing nutrients. If digestion is slow then emptying of gastric juices is delayed. This means that undigested food is sitting in the stomach which in turn needs more stomach acid to aid digestion. This increase in stomach acid means that there is more chance that the stomach contents will be pushed back up into the esophagus and cause heartburn problems. This is especially so when doing activities that involve bending.

Exercising after a meal is not recommended. Ask a professional sportsman if they eat just before exercising? Any type of vigorous exercise places a strain on the LES and also slows down the absorption of nutrients into the body. It takes energy to digest your food. If all the energy is divided between digestion and exercising then your body becomes sluggish. If you have ever tried exercising after a meal then you will know what I mean.

Digestion is a slow process and food can take up to four hours to digest. The food in the stomach is semi liquid and the digestive enzymes needed to break down the food work best in an acidic environment, as opposed to a more alkaline environment. The initial digestion is crucial especially for those who suffer from acid reflux. Because they have a greater susceptibility to get acid reflux they should not lie down after a meal. At night folk should eat between two and three hours before goings to bed, the longer the better. And we should never lie down directly after any meal.

Stress

Stress is a good thing in our lives up to a certain point. A little stress keeps you ticking over and can be motivating. It helps at work in getting the job done but there is a limit. Our physical and mental wellbeing can suffer greatly with too much stress. Indeed it is supposed to be one of the biggest problems in our modern way of living. Stress is one of the factors that can lead to acid reflux.

When you are under stressful conditions your body will respond. One of the things it does to combat stress is to send blood to the different parts of the body under stress. This all eats up our energy and takes this vital energy away from our digestion process thus slowing it down. You may have an office job but on a particularly stressful day you can get home from work thinking you have just run a marathon (totally exhausted). If this happens regularly then your digestion suffers and acid reflux can be encountered.

Another thing that stress can do is make you eat the wrong type of food. People under stress drink more alcohol, smoke more. They also generally eat foods that are sweet, or high in salt and fat. The risk of acid reflux is increased with all of these and it gets hard to stick to the acid reflux foods you should be eating.

If you find yourself under stress there are ways to ease it. Try some activities or sports which can relieve the tension. Try meditation like yoga to calm the mind. Get it off your chest, by venting your feelings to someone you can trust. Acid reflux can be countered if you can find a way of reducing your stress levels.

Clothing

What you wear can have a great bearing on your body if you suffer from acid reflux. Wearing tight clothing especially when eating, directs a lot of pressure onto the LES and is a major contributor to acid reflux. We know that everyone wants to be fashionable, wearing tight jeans and belts but it does promote acid reflux especially if you suffer badly from it anyway. Other Garments such a corsets which make you look thin can also add pressure to the LES.

Combining acid reflux foods with stress relieving tactics can help. So can lifestyle changes like stopping smoking, drinking less alcohol and loosing weight. If you cannot do this on your own then there are proven systems like the “Heartburn No More” system which can help.Heartburn No More review