Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Natural way of healing acid reflux

In allopathic treatment it cures only the symptoms instead of the disease. These recommended medicines only hide the symptoms of acid reflux disease from the body. People are not aware about the truth in the medicines, which temporarily gives relief to acid reflux problem. Medicine manufactures will wind up if they solve acid reflux completely from the body.
Instead of the use of prescribed medicines the natural approach cures the actual situation without any of the side effects. Many kinds of the natural treatments and medicines are available for acid reflux symptoms, and that too at comparatively lower prices.

Medical community is always opposed to the natural approaches to treating diseases, as it is a business of billions. The allopathic medicine manufactures, hospitals and insurance companies will never like to loose these big business opportunities. People also consider the success of treatment in the amount of business they can do. So the pharmaceutical companies run their business with our money.

Lot of natural remedies are easily available, herbs like marshmallow and slippery elm will help a lot to recover from the acid reflux. Also natural juices like licorice, aloe vera and pure honey can calm the esophagus and the stomach from acid reflux problems.

Alkaline products are the best remedy of acidity. Saliva is a good alkaline substance, which is produced mostly when chewing. So chewing gum after meals is so good to decrease the acidity. Taking dinner minimum three hours earlier than sleeping is good to eliminate the acid reflux throughout the night.

Food is so important in natural approach. Daily four of five little meals with regular menu are so useful to control the acid reflux. Try to start day with kukicha twig tea, then eat fruits like melons and bananas as breakfast and several snacks of walnuts, almonds and other fruits. Having a lunch consisting of grilled chicken breast salad or tofu with hearts of romaine, with little lemon and chive vinaigrette is also useful for reducing the acid reflux.

Try to select the food, which not increases the acid reflux when your esophagus is still aggravated, and make sure your food contains alkaline stuff or food with less acid. Also try to learn to cook regular foods with good absorption and low acidity. Meals like pasta primavera, sautéed white fish with crushed potatoes and baked chicken breasts on mushroom are tasty and easy to cook also.

An easy remedy for acid reflux problem

Factors involved in our eating like the time when we eat, the number of times we eat, what type of food do we eat, the surroundings where we eat etc are a major part of acid reflux problem and indigestion. This is also known by the names gerd or heartburn. You may think that I am being overly simplistic about this. But that is not the case. As people tend to differ from person to person, they need to eat food appropriate to their body.
Some of the food items, which you consume, can cause the worsening of your acid reflux condition. The way these food items change from person to person can change from person to person. Some people may find it difficult to digest raw tomatoes whereas some others will find the same difficulty about raw bell peppers. Either of these groups may not have any problems with the other food item. So these reactions are subject to change depending on the person who is the acid reflux sufferer.

Now you need to find out the products you can eat and those you cannot by trial and error method. Then there are some products, which are known to cause acid reflux for every one. Any food product, which causes your LES to relax and let the stomach acids to travel upwards, needs to be avoided to the maximum. Even when you consume any of these products you should keep the amount to a minimum. LES is the muscular wall which divides the stomach from the esophagus. Any time LES is not working properly, your stomach acids and pepsin can go all the way up to your throat and cause acid reflux.

The stomach acids are pretty strong in nature and can be compared to the acid, which we find in your regular car battery. These acids are an integral part of digestive process. These acids are responsible for controlling any harmful bacteria, which may live in your digestive system. They help in breaking down the food particles and thus helps the body in absorbing the nutrients. As such the consumption of any medicines, which totally stops the production of these acids is not good for your body. These medicines are known as proton pump inhibitors (PPI drugs) and can cause problems in digestion of food and the following absorption of nutrients in to the body. An increase in the growth of bacteria also is possible.

Sharp edged food products like corn chips or crackers may cause scratches on your LES and esophagus. If you consume acidic foods like raw tomato under this condition that can cause acid reflux and the acids can worsen these scratches. A lot of acid reflux problems are caused this way. You can totally avoid this by taking the proper precautions.

Natural therapies for acid reflux

Take 2 tablespoon of ACV thrice a day .After a heavy meal a stronger concoction with less water is ideal.
Another recipe given by Ted included baking soda in acid cider vinegar as he says its much better than acv alone.
Mrs. Simon Kider says; I had been suffering from heartburn for a week now and it was becoming a cause for concern for my husband and my children, I had 6 ulcers a couple of years ago. However I  didn't want to go for standard medication for gastro treatment that includes lansoprazole as I was fully aware of the side effects as well. So I was keen to go for homeopathy as I also felt my gastric
problem was due to my hyperfocussed nature at times that made me forget that I was hungry. And after visiting your website that was little confusing at times, I prepared mixture of the Acv  adding baking soda and 2 tbspn of aloe juice,

1 tbspn of organic honey and 1 tbspn of virgin coconut oil both  melted with water. Here virgin oil is used to make the drink more potable. And there was a miraculous relief from heartburn within 24 hours. Though there was a mild side effect of gas. I just want to know whether this is due to virgin oil or may be because I mixed all of them in a blender. Or is it that I have to know whether I can have it before or after my meals. Overall a good site for helping me .thank you.

food causing acid reflux

Avoid Food and Beverages That Cause Acid Reflux, Change Your Lifestyle
The lack of food makes people hungry. If the food intake do not contain the right amount of vitamins, minerals etc. sufficient to make the body strong and healthy, children could become malnourished.

There are healthy food items. And then there are junk foods too. Junk stands for waste. But they are tasty and so people opt for them a lot.

You will be asked to avoid certain food items if you are diagnosed with certain medical conditions. A patient with acid reflux has to do the same as well. GERD, commonly known as acid reflux, is caused by the acidic stomach fluids traveling upwards in to the esophagus as a result of the improper functioning of lower esophageal sphincter. If acid reflux is not treated properly, you could be looking at serious complications.  Various kinds of food to be avoided to keep acid reflux at bay.

The symptoms of acid reflux are sour taste, burning sensation in the chest or upper abdomen or on your throat's back, excessive belching, breathing problems, throat congestion, difficulty in swallowing food and bad breath.

If you suffer from these symptoms then the chances are that you have acid reflux. Check with a doctor to get a correct diagnosis and to know the severity of the problem.

The following food items are known to cause acid reflux:

- chocolate
- coffee
- spearmint and peppermint
- alcoholic drinks
- fruit juices
- fatty foods and fried foods
- onions
- citrus fruits
- spicy foods
- tomato-based products
- caffeinated drinks

The best method to tackle acid reflux is to change your diet or avoid certain food items. You are going to miss these foods in the starting, but you have to think of the future with severe acid reflux if you continue to eat all these food items

pregnancy acid reflux

Keeping Pregnant Women Safe From Acid Reflux
It is common for women to feel heartburn during pregnancy. This could be because of several reasons.

During pregnancy there is an increase in hormone levels in woman's body. This results in the softening of joints and muscles. This will cause the opening of lower esophageal sphincter (LES) in your stomach and stomach fluids will go up the esophagus.

Changes in woman's body and the baby's position in her stomach causes more pressure in stomach. so there is a higher chance of acidic fluids from stomach to go up through LES.

Some of the methods which would help the woman in reducing the acid reflux problem are:

• Remove items like chocolates, spicy foods, juices, citrus fruits, mustard, tomatoes, products based on tomato, fatty foods, fried foods and seasonedfoods from your menu. These are known to increase acid reflux. Clarify with a doctor to get a complete list foods that reduces and increases acid reflux and reduce the problems associated with acid reflux.

• Caffeinated drinks like tea, coffee and soda should be avoided. They are known to cause the LES to open up and this result in increased acid reflux.

• Do not use alcoholic beverages. They also tend to relax LES and results in increased heartburn.

• Take small portions as they digest better instead of a big meal.

• Eat slowly, chewing the food well. This will help digestion and hence less acidic fluid generation in stomach.

• Leave a gap of at least three hours between dinner and bed time.

• A pregnant woman needs to drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water a day in equal intervals between meals. Drinking water with a meal is going to add pressure to stomach and will increase heart burn.

• While sleeping, keep your pillow elevated by six to eight inches. This way gravity will keep the acidic fluids in your stomach and not in esophagus. Your doctor could further inform you in relieving night time heartburn.

• Wear comfortably fit clothes. Tight clothes will increase pressure on your stomach and will lead to increased heartburn.
• If you have to do some thing on a bent position, bent your knees; not your stomach. Less pressure on your stomach means less heartburn.

• Always sit straight in a comfortable chair. Never slouch.

• Control your body weight at a healthy level. Over weight people will have more stress on their stomach and will result in increased heart burn. check with your doctor to know what is your ideal weight and try to maintain it at or around that range.

• A pregnant woman should not be smoking as it could cause several problems during pregnancy. One among them is the pain of heartburn

Two Natural supplements to bring Acid Reflux under control

In the modern world, medical treatment of any problem is dependent on the pharmaceutical companies. Drugs help to cure some diseases. But there are other efficient natural remedies as well. Modern medicine is more interested in treating the symptoms rather than getting rid of the problem.

Acid reflux has three types of medical cures. The most common one are antacids. They cancel out the acid in your stomach and provide you some quick relief. The chemicals contained in it like aluminum, sodium etc, are not good for your body. The second category of medicines is called H2 blockers. Their purpose is to reduce the production of stomach acid and is helpful for longer-term relief. Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) is the last type of medicines for acid reflux, which stops the proton pumps in your stomach and thus stops the production of hydrochloric acid.

The most commonly used acid reflux medicines are PPI drugs which has its share of side effects. As they stop the production of stomach acid, they are not really safe. Production of acid is a part of the human body function. These acids have an integral part in digestion and absorption of food in to the body. If this process is hindered that is going to adversely affect the functioning of human body. As such any one who is regularly using these drugs are going to be malnourished.

People tend to go for the short cuts of life, when in fact common sense tells them to do otherwise. Doing any thing as natural as possible is the best way to do it. There are two cheap supplements available, which can reduce acid reflux problems in a short time. You need to take them together. They are digestive enzymes and probiotics. These natural supplements are pretty cheap when compared with drugs and should be better for your body. As they are natural, there are no side effects for them.

Probiotics are a group of helpful microbes, which can keep the digestive system in great shape by controlling the naturally existing flora there. Lactobacillus acidophilus, is the most popular one among these, and is naturally found in yogurt. You may buy it in supplement form as well.

The minimum count of live microorganisms to be present in a quality probiotic capsule is five billion. L rhamnosus, L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus must be present in it. These are all helpful bacteria and can leave you with a healthy colon and immune system. If you consume digestive enzymes at the same time, they would keep you from the problems associated with acid reflux.

Different glands present in the digestive system produces digestive enzymes. These enzymes are responsible for breaking down the food particles and thus enabling the absorption of food in to the body. Different enzymes handle different food items. Braking down of lactose is taken care by lactase, proteins are handled by protease and pepsin, and vegetable starch is handled by diatase.

Infant Acid Reflux Diagnosis

Screening and diagnosis of infant acid reflux is required by the doctor if there is a suspicion of a serious condition. It's based on the severity of the baby's symptoms and physical examination. And for such cases the tests may include;;
Lab test;; Here the baby's urine and blood samples undergo varied tests to determine any other possible cause of recurring vomiting and weight gain. Esophageal Ph monitoring; Here a tiny tube is inserted through the baby's mouth or nose to detect the acid level in the esophagus. The tube is attached to a device that detects the acidity level.
For this procedure a baby may be required to be in the hospital for next 24 hours. This helps to find if disturbances in sleep, irritability etc are caused by the acidity in the baby's esophagus. Upper GI series;; In this case a series of X-rays called upper gastrointestinal [GI] series are performed to rule out the problem or obstruction in the gastrointestinal tract.
The baby is given to drink a white chalky liquid called barium that provides a clear picture of the X-rays of any problem area by creating a coat around the stomach.
Upper endoscopy;; To rule out or detect the problem in the esophagus as inflammation [esophagitis] or narrowing [stricture] a special tube is inserted by the doctors through the baby's mouth to reach the small intestine via esophagus and the stomach. The tube is also attached with a camera and light. Any sample to be tested is also taken with the help of this procedure. Upper endoscopy is done under general anesthesia for the baby.