Acid Reflux Disease is a painful disorder where the sufferer encounters heartburn at least twice a week. Treatments for this problem are wide ranging, from over the counter medications to natural solutions, to changes in the sufferer?s daily routine.

Medications

? There are several over the counter options that help neutralize stomach acid, like Tums or Mylanta.

? Prescription options can help target the specific cause of reflux.

o Proton pump inhibitors ? like Nexium and Prilosec ? and H2 blockers ? such as Zantac and Pepcid ? halt the production of stomach acids.

o Prokinetics ? like Reglan ? help push food through the system and strengthen the lower esophageal sphincter (the muscle that moves food into the stomach and helps prevent it from backing up into the esophagus).

o Foaming agents help coat the stomach and prevent the onset of reflux.

Natural Remedies

? Warm chamomile or fennel tea, when sipped, can help soothe a stomach irritated by heart burn.

? Apple cider vinegar has also been helpful during heartburn and with prevention of heartburn. Take 2 to 3 tablespoons to help relieve reflux, and dilute the same amount in a cup of water for prevention.

? Ginger can help alleviate all kinds of stomach discomforts, including heart burn. It can be mixed with hot water in tea form, consumed in candied form, or taken in pill form. All help relieve and prevent heartburn.

? Drinking a quarter of a cup of aloe vera juice may also prove to be helpful. Be careful though, as aloe from a house plant contains a powerful laxative and isn?t recommended for consumption. Only drink aloe vera juice that is meant for drinking.

? Yogurt that?s unflavored has helpful bacteria that aide in tightening stomach walls, preventing acid from being allowed up into the esophagus.

? Milk has been shown to help soothe heartburn. Drinking a glass may help relieve symptoms.

? Drinking a glass of water may also help. It dilutes the stomach contents and flushes them through the system, preventing pressure and acid to build.

Daily Changes

? Quit smoking! Among other detrimental health problems caused by smoking, heartburn has been shown to be caused by it.

? Less is more! Eat smaller meals more often. Eating a few large meals a day has been shown to overload the stomach, creating pressure and acid buildup which results in reflux.

? Don?t be a Scrooge! Avoid eating right before bed. Gravity helps keep acid where it belongs and lying down right after eating allows it into the esophagus where it can cause irritation.

? Watch what you eat! Track the foods you eat to help pinpoint which specific foods are triggers for heartburn.

? Beware! Monitor your intake of certain over the counter pain medicines ? like aspirin and ibuprofen ? as well as vitamins ? like calcium and potassium ? as they?ve been shown to spur acid reflux.

Surgery

While rare, sometimes reflux is so bad surgery is necessary. The procedure involves wrapping a portion of the upper stomach around the lower esophagus. This solution aids in tightening the muscles located in the lower esophagus and prevents acids from migrating out of the stomach. This is often a last resort of treatment.

For additional treatment ideas, please see our Reflux Remedy Report.

If you have heartburn more than twice a week, you may have Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD.? The chronic heartburn condition is caused when the lower esophageal sphincter malfunctions.? When operating normally, the sphincter only allows food and liquids to flow one direction – into the stomach.? GERD occurs when stomach acid is allowed to flow the opposite way, and up into the lower esophagus. ?This results in pain and irritation of the esophagus.

What causes GERD?

GERD has several causes ranging from health and hormonal abnormalities, to daily habits.

• Medicines: Certain medications can be pointed to as causes for, and irritants of, GERD. Over the counter pain medicines called NSAIDS like aspirin and ibuprofen, as well as vitamin supplements like iron, potassium and calcium.
• Health: Hormones help control the contractions of the lower esophageal sphincter, so pregnant women often find they suffer from frequent heartburn. Additionally, a small percentage of people with Type 1 Diabetes have a digestive disorder (called gastroparesis). It delays food passage out of the stomach, causing pressure to build and leading to GERD. There is also a condition called Hiatal Hernia that is thought to worsen the symptoms of GERD. This happens when a part of the stomach is displaced and either forced into the lower esophagus, or beside it.
• Foods: It’s difficult to point to one certain food that causes heartburn, but some foods can cause it more frequently than others. Things like garlic, citrus, caffeine, alcohol and onions can make heartburn worse. But, everyone has their own triggers – something that may cause heartburn in one person, someone else with GERD may not react to at all.
• Habits: Daily routines can also cause GERD. Things like wearing clothes that are too tight and smoking can cause acid build up. Even if you’re just a little overweight, that added pressure on your abdomen can trigger heartburn.

What are the symptoms?

GERD presents with a few symptoms.? They include:

• Frequent heartburn
• Regurgitation
• Difficulty swallowing

These symptoms can be exacerbated if you lay down to soon after eating, eat a large meal, or even bend down to lift something heavy.

What can you do?

If you have GERD, there are many options for treatment.? If you’re a smoker, quit.? If you’re overweight, loose a few pounds.? You should also use caution with medicines known to aggravate GERD.

Even a change in diet can have a profound effect.? Try keeping a food journal and track what foods set off your heartburn, then avoid them.? Also, wait 2 to 3 hours after eating to go to bed, and eat smaller, more frequent meals to avoid pressure build up in the stomach.

Over the counter antacids or prescription medications can also be helpful.

If all else fails, your doctor may recommend surgery.? The procedure involves attaching the stomach around the lower esophagus, tightening the muscles there and blocking acid from making its way up.? However, this is generally a last resort.

For more on this condition and coping with its symptoms without surgery, read our Reflux Remedy Report.

Do you have questions about your hiatal hernia and exercise? If you don’t, you should have. The whole problem with hiatal hernia is the physical stress placed upon your entire torso. A hiatal hernia, as you may well know, creates so much discomfort that it’s almost impossible to even bend over or lie down.

So thinking about exercise isn’t going get you anywhere, chances are that’s the last thing you feel like doing. The catch is . . . ?exercise really is of the utmost importance to reversing and curing your hiatal hernia pain.

So let’s find an exercise you can practice.

As you may already know exercising while lying down isn’t an option. In fact exercising on your back, side or stomach will only force more acid reflux up past your esophagus flap. This flap or Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) is really the main problem you’re dealing with.

It’s a mistake to think all hiatal hernias are caused from an acid reflux disease. In fact it’s usually the opposite case. Because there’s so much pressure in your stomach from eating too much of the wrong foods, it piles up and pushes against your esophagus flap.

Lack of exercise makes a hiatal hernia worse and may be one of the root causes in the first place.

Nothing beats going for a walk in the park after eating a meal. If you suffer from hiatal hernia, you really would benefit from exercising more after eating any amount.

So forget about lifting dumbbells, doing sit-ups and somersault, those types of exercise will make your hiatal hernia symptoms even worse than before.

Whatever you do while exercising, avoid putting any pressure on your hiatal hernia area.

Drugs for acid reflux should only be used by a small minority of hiatal hernia cases, and if used, use them only for a short time.

Covering up symptoms is counter-productive for most people, especially if you are capable of doing some simple exercises.

I suggest getting one of those big yoga exercise balls. I personally found this helps stretch the stomach area. You can exercise your abdomen by using the giant ball to arch your back, head over heels.

Another exercise which helps relieve hiatal hernia pressure is jumping up and down. In fact I would suggest a few tools, or toys. Pick up a small trampoline. This works great for people who can’t walk outside for one reason or another.

Living in the Snow Belt makes it hard to get out and having a little trampoline to walk and jump upon is a great way to invigorate digestion.

If you suffer from hiatal hernia, you’ve got to focus on whatever it takes to increase proper digestion.

If you’re really determined to exercise, buy a jump rope. I can’t think of a better exercise for a hiatal hernia.

Probably the easiest exercise for hiatal hernia is walking and there are many other benefits to walking, such as increasing circulation, moving food away from your esophagus, promoting movement of lymph fluid and it also encourages deep breathing. . . plus it keeps you away from raiding the refrigerator-which is the worst exercise you can be caught doing. I know it’s hard to even breathe with hiatal hernia, but when you can, use deep breathing exercises to.

Anything that stretches, creates downward movement and invigorates digestion is highly encouraged.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologis

Most corn these days is full of pesticides and herbicides and it?s not beyond the possibility your cornmeal is from a genetic modified source (GMO). Most people think cornmeal is good for them, thinking it?s just another yellow vegetable, but don?t forget corn is not a vegetable, it?s a grain.

Grains can trigger allergies, asthma and acid reflux disease symptoms.

Funny thing about grains, their seeds that have built in plant-made herbicides and pesticides called phytotoxins. One of the most common of these plant-made toxins is called phytic acid.

Phytates are toxins that are designed to protect the seed.

You see Mother Nature designed the seeds of fruits and vegetables to be spread around by those that eat them, often discarding the pit or passing the seeds in their body waste.

The problem with grain/seeds is if they get eaten, they can?t grow knew plants and would become extinct. That?s where phytotoxins come in–they help ensure the future propagation of the species.

Acid reflux can have many causes, but one of the most common causes of acid reflux is a mineral deficiency.

Phytates are found in very high quantities in all the processed cereals, especially cornmeal. These phytates, or phytic acid, actually keeps the corn kernel, or seed, in a hardened, dormant state. Phytates ward of mold, fungus and are designed to absorb certain minerals.

This way, when the corn falls upon fertile ground rich with the perfect growing conditions, the phytates will dissolve and allow the corn seed to sprout and grow. What happens when people eat unsprouted seed or in this case cornmeal flour, is that all their minerals are inhibited or blocked from being absorbed into the body.

Acid reflux is triggered from a ?lack? of stomach acid, in most cases. Your body requires specific minerals to make bile ?salts? and other digestive acids. Once these mineral salts are depleted from your body?s store house of nutrients, it causes a chain reaction of other deficiencies.

Your enzymes, hormones and stomach acids depend on minerals and their cofactors to help run and regulate all your metabolic processes.

I like cornbread as much as the next guy; however, if you are older, your minerals, nutrients and cofactors are usually on the low side.

So if cornmeal triggers heartburn, acid reflux or indigestion, better not eat it until you get your body?s nutritional storehouse restocked with viable essentials.

Always go into any subject, whether it?s acid reflux or anything else, do your due diligence. Don?t just take my word or anyone else?s word for it . . . look into the matter yourself. I apologize if I?m preaching to the choir.

Obviously you know what you?re doing or you wouldn?t be here now reading this article, right?

Anyway, keep searching, the root cause of your acid reflux exists and perhaps it?s even from eating too many unsprouted grains like cornmeal and not enough enzyme rich fruits and vegetables, who knows?

Truth is YOU are the last authority of your own health . . . read on and live well!

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologist