Monday, January 7, 2008

Coping with acid reflux at Christmas

The Christmas and New Year season is well and truly over now especially for us acid reflux disease sufferers. I have been finishing off all the bad stuff you get at this time of year and I am definitely starting by acid reflux diet tomorrow.

If you are like me the amount of food and drink consumed over the holiday period can really make you Ill if you suffer constant heartburn.

There is nothing worse at the Christmas holiday period after all the build up than going out with your friends or work colleagues and having a severe bout of heartburn. The whole night can be ruined as the more you eat and drink the worse it gets. It can be even worse for someone who suffers from acid reflux disease but does not know they actually have it.

The best thing you can do if you suffered a lot of heartburn over Christmas is to get checked out by your doctor, who can advise you and send you for tests. If it is found you have acid reflux disease then you can be treated and there is really no need to suffer the constant pain of sever heartburn.

I have personally been trying to cut down on the amount of medication I take and have been seeking more natural cures. But over the holiday period I know that it is not viable in my own case so a couple of days before my first Christmas outing I started taking my acid reflux medication regularly again. I upped the dose from the 10 mg that I am supposed to be on to 20 mg and I have taken this everyday into the New Year. I must say that I never had any problems and saw in both the Cyprus and UK New Years in with coypus amounts of alcohol which did not affect my stomach. This is what I call good forward planning.

I am now back to taking my medication only when I need it and have had a couple of bouts of acid reflux since cutting back on the medication. When these have happened I have been taking Bicarbonate of soda which almost instantly stops the acid reflux for me.

The other night after stopping the medication I had to sit up in bed most of the night as I was still in holiday mode and ate too late. This is when I wish I had an electrical adjustable bed so that I can manoeuvre myself into the correct position with as little fuss as possible. Maybe I can get one in the future as they are great for stopping that night time acid reflux.

Of course I could practice what I preach and get myself an acid reflux pillow which is not as luxurious as the acid reflux adjustable bed but is a much cheaper option, although I have never seen any wedge pillows in Cyprus where I live.

Anyway I am looking forward to curing or finding better ways to handle my acid reflux this year.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Heal Your Heartburn with an Acid Reflux Diet

This is an article I received on acid reflux diets.

Acid Reflux, another term for heartburn, is a disease which is created by a simple imbalance of chemical make-up in the body--the attack of acid reflux in the esophagus when it is supposed to be in the stomach only.

The fact that Acid Reflux, the acid indigestion, affects not just adults but also infants and children, make it essential for everyone to be aware of its symptoms and how it can be prevented.

Since the Acid Reflux is triggered by various foods like chocolate, citrus fruits, spicy foods, including fried and fatty foods. Together with the time of day the foods are eaten and over eating which causes excessive weight. Therefore, the key to avoid the heartburning uneasiness brought by the Acid reflux also lies on the foods—a manage diet.

Truth in studies show that a specific food can head out acid reflux, so it is vital that everyone must take a careful observation of their eating habits.

Nevertheless, any person who is suffering from Acid Reflux needs a diet that would suit to treat the illness, the foods that should be taken and those which should not be.

Now, you might be wondering what could be the best diet to observe to avoid acid reflux, the heartburn-free recipes that are fitted to an Acid Reflux diet.

It was distinguished that drinking milk can be a speedy cure to alleviate acid reflux trouble. Although, milk produces an action and encourages discharge of more stomach acid, causing then acid reflux.

So, people affected by heartburn should follow a diet wherein they eat a small meal during dinner and follow it up with a small snack before they go to sleep, crackers for instance.

Likewise, they should make sure that they their meal are rich in complex carbohydrates. This includes breads, rice and pasta; this fixes the excessive acid in the stomach, hence, giving it an easy feeling.

Chew your foods well, do not rush on eating, 20 minutes for each meal will do. Extract all the nourishment that you can get in your food.

Along with the diet, it is also advisable to keep yourself in a straight position during and after eating, for least 45 minutes.

Remove from your diet high-fat foods, this will tend to stay in the stomach longer, with this, the stomach will be forced to produce more acids for digestion.

In addition, avoid eating large meals; this will also stimulate the stomach to produce more acids to digest them.

One the medical specialists’ recommendations is to add more plant protein in your diet, like beans and lentils, in this process the animal protein that you have taken will be replaced.

Also, try to observe in your diet the time you spend for eating, the amount of your meal, your relaxation when you eat, and how thorough you chew your food. It is advisable that you take several small meals in a day, than you take large meals regularly, for instance six small meals a day will do than having three large ones. The procedure is simply breaking up the meal.

If you want additional information regarding proper diet to battle Acid Reflux, you can visit a nutrition-oriented health care practitioner like a dietician, naturopathic physician, or nutritionist. They can give you accurate dietary schemes that will fit your private health needs and objectives. for more infomation on acid reflux you can visit my site at http://www.acidrefluxhealthcheck.com/


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