Acid reflux disease, also known as Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), is a disease plaguing thousands of people every day. Acid reflux, simply stated, is what happens when the acids from the stomach that are used to breakdown and digest foods escape the stomach and leak into the esophagus causing what is commonly known as heartburn.

How does acid reflux happen?

Acid reflux happens when the circular ring, which is also a muscle, located at the entrance of your stomach and the lower part of your esophagus called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) doesn’t adequately serve its purpose. The purpose of the ring is to allow for the passing of food from the esophagus to the stomach. As soon as the food passes through, the LES is suppose to close, only opening if there is more food that needs access. If the LES neglects to close all the way or if it opens too often, the acid that is produced by your stomach to break down food can escape your stomach and make its way into the esophagus resulting in heartburn and other acid reflux symptoms. If this happens rarely, you should not be alarmed. However, if this occurrence happens two or more times a week you may be suffering from acid reflux disease.

Another cause of acid reflux disease is an abnormality of the stomach known as a hiatal hernia. This type of hernia occurs when the LES and the upper part of the stomach move above the diaphragm which is suppose to separate the stomach from the chest. The muscle that is the diaphragm serves as a sort of blockade helping to keep stomach acids in the stomach. With a hiatal hernia, acids may travel to the esophagus causing acid reflux disease.

Symptoms of acid reflux disease vary from person to person. While there are those who may experience acid reflux symptoms mildly, there are others that find acid reflux disease symptoms to be quite debilitating. The most common symptom of acid reflux disease is heartburn. Heartburn may be described as a burning or discomfort in the chest. This burning and discomfort has also been known to travel to the throat and lower abdomen. In rare instances, there have been reports of heartburn making its way to the back.

Regurgitation is also a symptom. Regurgitation happens when acids and undigested, recently consumed food and drinks travels up from the stomach into the esophagus and exits the body from the mouth. This symptom has been known to be accompanied by a sour or bitter taste in the mouth as well. Bloating, burping, hiccups, dysphagia (a narrowing of the throat), and in some cases nausea are also known symptoms.

There are ways to lessen the likelihood of acid reflux. The best way to rid acid reflux would be to change how and what you eat. Try eating smaller meals several times a day as opposed to large meals that may overwork stomach acids during digestion. Drink water instead of carbonated, caffeinated and alcoholic beverages. Eat at least two hours before bedtime, and if you are a smoker, quit. Also keep a food log. If you notice that some foods are triggers for acid reflux, eliminate these foods from your diet.

These are just a few suggestions. For more information on acid reflux disease feel free to visit refluxremedy.com.

Acid reflux disease affects thousands of people every day. Sufferers of this disease know all too well how living with this disease can affect their lifestyle and ultimately their livelihood. It is very important to discover the cause of your acid reflux condition so that you may seek the proper treatment. Acid reflux doesn’t manifest in one way in every sufferer. Though sufferers often complain of similar symptoms, there are those instances where those with acid reflux find that it manifest in their bodies uniquely.

Most people with acid reflux may or may not be aware that there may be aspects of your lifestyles from habits to foods you eat that may be acid reflux triggers. The quicker you determine the cause of acid reflux the most efficiently you’ll be able in determining a solution.

In general, acid reflux takes place when the acids from your stomach escape the stomach and enters the esophagus. The cells walls of the esophagus are very sensitive to your stomach acids. When the walls of your esophagus are met by your stomach acids the result is usually a burning sensation or discomfort that is most commonly referred to as heartburn. Heartburn is a direct affect of your lower esophageal sphincter (LES) which is located at the bottom of the esophagus and the top of the stomach neglecting to close and serve as a barrier after food passes through the esophagus. This allows your stomach acids to leak out into the esophagus.

Treatment for this condition varies and most acid reflux disease care is preventative. You may notice that you suffer from acid reflux after consuming a large meal or when you lie down immediately after eating. To prevent acid reflux from happening in this instance you may want to consider eating smaller meals several times a day and eating at least two hours before lying down. Eating smaller meals allows for the stomach acids to breakdown lesser portions which could eliminate the risk of your stomach acids becoming hyperactive.

Try keeping a log of foods that you eat and make note of any acid reflux symptoms that you may experience after eating these foods. Foods such as tomatoes, raw onion, ground beef, fried chicken, french fries, buffalo wings, chocolate and other fatty foods are more commonly known to be acid reflux triggers while foods like apples, broccoli, carrots, salads, goat cheese skinless chicken breast, extra-lean ground beef and baked potato are less likely to be listed on your trigger list.

Increase your water intake. Water is great for combating acid reflux. Not only does water do an excellent job at stabilizing stomach acids, it also soothes the esophagus lining if there is acid reflux damage.

Try ginger. Ginger, in any form, has been discovered to greatly reduce acid reflux.

Chew gum. Chewing gum after meals is not only great for dental care; it also is great in aiding with digestion. Chewing gum stimulates the production of saliva which can help dilute stomach acids.

These are just a few acid reflux treatments. For more treatment suggestions check out refluxremedy.com.

Acid reflux is a condition that can be very painful and irritating. A backup of stomach acid in the esophagus is harmful, causing inflammation, heartburn, regurgitation and difficulty swallowing. If gastric acids continuously enter the esophagus, acid reflux disease may be the result. Heartburn, nausea, stomach pain, and regurgitation are all harmful symptoms of acid reflux. Diet is an important method for controlling acid reflux and its symptoms. In order to curtail your diet to treat and prevent acid reflux, you must understand which foods are suitable for you to eat, and in what amount.

Balance

The body needs a balance of acidic forming and alkaline forming foods to maintain proper nutrition and health. This goes beyond getting the perfect amount of vegetables and grain. Eating foods for reflux requires a serious consciousness of what foods are good for the body’s pH balance. The pH balance of the body is controlled through the regulation of hydrogen in the body. A large amount of hydrogen within your bodily fluids raises the chances of developing severe acid reflux. Acidic foods increase hydrogen bonds while alkaline abundant foods remove or neutralize hydrogen ions.

Common Misnomers

Acid forming foods are not necessarily foods that taste acidic. Foods that on the tongue may be alkaline and acidic, may have the opposite effect once the nutrients are extracted and supplanted in the bloodstream. A diet that is heavy in either type of food is unhealthy. Eating in moderation is the best bet. A balance of pH will allow the body to efficiently absorb nutrients, vitamins and minerals that are needed for superior health. Although citrus foods like lemons and oranges taste acidic, if eaten in moderation, they do not increase the level of acid in the blood or instigate reflux.

Action

Taking a serious look at your diet is probably the safest way to control acid reflux. Eating a large amount of vegetables is great for increasing alkalinity. Eggplant, broccoli, lettuce, onions, pumpkins and collard greens are just a few of the vegetables with high alkalinity. Oatmeal, white flour, corn, lentils and chick peas are acid forming foods. In general, eating lean meats, limiting fats and oils, and minimizing alcohol, are all great methods of reducing the symptoms of acid reflux disease. People who initiate a rounded diet plan can keep the symptoms of acid reflux at bay. Avoiding garlic and onions is wise, although their effects vary from person to person.

Future Risk

If reflux becomes a consistent problem, this can lead to more serious, life-threatening conditions. Minerals cannot be properly absorbed into the bloodstream if the acidity is too high. It is imperative that you recognize how diet relates to your struggle with reflux and use the natural tools to combat the problem. A diet that is high in fat can trigger heartburn, the leading symptom of advance acid reflux disease and Gastroesophageal reflux disease.

These are just a few of the foods that will help to guide your diet plan. For more information on foods for acid reflux, visit refluxremedy.com today.

There is a misnomer going around that if you treat your acid reflux symptoms with medication or have surgery to attempt to permanently fix your acid indigestion issues, that this is the same as healing. . . it’s not.

Medication and surgery is not healing anything.

There isn’t any medication that can substitute for your natural healing process; there is no pill or surgery that can heal your acid reflux.

True healing takes place from nurturing optimum cellular health enough to allow the source of life to sustain your health and restore natural harmony.

Direct-to-Consumer drug advertising has countless people sold on the false idea that if you’re free of acid reflux symptoms you’ve been healed . . . again, this is simply not true.

Before your acid reflux can be healed, the blocks preventing your acid reflux from naturally healing need to be removed.

Medication for your acid reflux doesn’t remove the blocks to healing; it only blocks the effects of what is really causing your acid reflux.

The more you learn the clearer it all becomes.

Read on . . .

The big business of treating your acid reflux with medication earns an obscene amount of money getting you to take drugs to treat acid indigestion and Gastro-Esophageal Acid Reflux Disease (GERD) symptoms . . . over and over again and again.

It is your choice whether you want to allow your own built-in healing intelligence to naturally cure your acid reflux, or chose to forsake all natural means of getting better for medication.

The problem here is people aren’t free of biased influence to make a fair choice . . . a choice that seems obvious to you and me.

When all the available information regarding acid reflux is about medication and nothing is said about folk remedies and ancient healing wisdom . . . it’s easy to see why acid reflux is pandemic today.

Most people don’t do their own due diligence like you are. They just settle for whatever the television, paper or radio happens to blurt out at them.

In a world where people are sick and dying the big business of selling medicine is growing by more than 50% every year . . . all while our so-called American economy collapses.

Your acid reflux medication is supporting America’s bottom line, in the worst way. As the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grows you and millions of other acid reflux customers just keep buying more medication and keep staying sick.

There’s no profit for them to tell you how to solve your acid reflux problems. In fact powerful multinational corporations spend more money advertising biased information than they do developing medication.

These corporations have tricked the public into believing they are people like you and I . . . legally they may be represented that way for now, but you know as well as I, corporations have no soul.

As you may already know money is created by corporations who make problems and then sell us a temporary solution. Your acid reflux problem is a reaction to a harmful Western dietary pattern called the Standard American Diet (SAD). This is a subsidized program where Big Food corporations feed you processed food stuff packed with additives and chemicals that do harm to your digestive system and more.

Big Food, Big Agri and Big Chem are an arm of Big Medicine . . .

So don’t be mistaken, treating your acid reflux with medication isn’t the same as being healed of acid reflux disease. Address the root cause and the acid reflux symptoms will stop, treat the symptoms with medication and ‘the cause’ remains your problem.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass

Health Advocate