November 8, 2010

Natural Cures for Acid Reflux

If you suffer from occasional heartburn, you might be a good candidate for trying natural cures for acid reflux. After you have seen your doctor and ruled out more serious conditions such as esophagitis, hernias, or even cancer, you can talk to your physician about homeopathic remedies, which have helped millions of people.

The problem occurs when your stomach produces more acid than your esophagus and esophageal sphincter can handle, allowing acid to creep up into your throat, and causing burning sensations. You might experience upset stomach, excessive burping, a bad taste in your mouth, tightness in your chest, or feelings like you have a piece of food stuck in your throat. If it is just an occasional occurrence, say after an especially heavy meal, you might be able to get away with a one-time treatment.

If it is more frequent however, diet changes and lifestyle modification may be necessary to completely take care of this problem. Fatty foods and processed, fast food can be a big cause for your stomach?s overproduction of acid. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, tomato-based products, and citrus as they are common acid reflux triggers.? Try tracking what you eat to discover what causes reflux for you most consistently, and then react accordingly.

Natural cures for acid reflux may include supplements from your local natural food store.? These include chamomile tea, slippery Elm, fennel, catnip, and ginger root. Adding chopped ginger to a dish or a tea before a meal can help with an upset stomach, and can give your overtaxed acid pumps a chance to calm down.

Simply changing your daily eating habits may result in relief from acid reflux. Several small meals over the course of the day are much easier for your stomach to process than are large, heavy, fat-laden meals. Your stomach does not have to produce nearly as much acid to take care of the digestion of these smaller meals; therefore, less acid is likely to come up to the top of your esophagus.

Also, try giving yourself a few hours after your last meal before going to bed, so that your stomach has a chance to digest the food at least partially, and it is not working overtime right when you are going to lay down flat.

Another homeopathic remedy involves elevating the head of your bed slightly, or adding a pillow under your head, to bring your head above your stomach. Gravity works here, to keep stomach acid down where it belongs, and give your esophagus and esophageal sphincter a break from the bombardment of acid that occurs when you lay completely flat.

Natural cures for acid reflux can also include actual weight loss. Heavier people tend to get heartburn more often, simply because of the added weight on their abdomens causing pressure on their stomachs. It may help that one of the suggestions is to avoid fatty foods; the dual benefit being reduced acid and weight loss.

Whichever cures you try, check with your doctor first and get his or her advice, then check with the folks at Reflux Remedy. The natural cure you need may be waiting for you at www.refluxremedy.com.

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