Ulcers are a highly painful condition. They can cause eating to become a chore as foods you previously enjoyed suddenly seem to have turned on you, creating misery and discomfort. You don’t have to live with the pain and discomfort of ulcers. Simple nutrition principles can help remove the burning pain of ulcers and leave you free to enjoy your life.

Tips for Eating

Some important steps to take to calm ulcers begin before you even pick up a fork. Before you begin eating it is important to try to relax. Meals that are eaten slowly and calmly will help. Rushing through a meal will increase ulcer pain. Take care to chew your food thoroughly and enjoy it.

Eat small and frequent meals evenly spaced throughout the day. Avoid overloading your stomach with a large meal; a smaller meal is more easily digested. Aim for about three small meals and three snacks. Try to avoid eating in the three-hour period before you go to bed as going to bed with a full stomach will increase acid secretions overnight, which will result in ulcer pain that can wake you up in the night.

Eat at the table and sit up straight. Do not lie down immediately following a meal as this can cause stomach acid to leak into your esophagus, creating the painful, burning sensation commonly called “heartburn.”

Foods to Avoid

Some foods should be avoided, as they are more likely to irritate an ulcer. This doesn’t mean that they should never be consumed, but consuming them infrequently will increase your comfort and help heal the ulcer. This list includes:

• foods and beverages that contain caffeine, like coffee and chocolate
• tomato products, including spaghetti sauces
• citrus foods like oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit
• high-fat foods, especially those that have been fried
• spicy foods

Foods to Include

Certain foods are very helpful for a person who is suffering from ulcers and should be included frequently.

• Foods that are high in protein should be included in every meal and snack. This includes lean meats, low-fat dairy and eggs. Other great protein options are nut butters and tofu.
• Fiber is also very beneficial, as it keeps the digestive system working efficiently. Foods that are high in fiber such as fruits, vegetables and whole grain breads and pastas should be on your plate regularly.
• Fresh, frozen or canned fruit is good, as are fresh, frozen or canned vegetables.
• Fish is a good choice if you have an ulcer, regardless of whether it is fresh, frozen or packed like tuna or salmon.
• Soups, whether broth based or cream based are excellent, as long as they are mildly spiced.
• Good snacks to eat while on an ulcer diet include sherbet, frozen juice bars, flavored gelatin, graham crackers, angel food cake, pretzels and hard candies.
• Seasonings and flavorings are fine also, such as salt and pepper, most herbs, ketchup and mustard as tolerated.

For more information on the ulcer diet, feel free to download the Reflux Remedy Report at refluxremedy.com today!

Stomach acid is created by special cells (parietal) located within the third layer of tissue at the upper part of the stomach. The stomach acid making cells are a vast network produces stomach acid into the lumen of the stomach.

The stomach acid has a very acidic pH of 2 to 3, .01 being the most acidic ph you can get on the scale 6.9 pH is the weakest possible acid. The stomach acid cells also create bicarbonate helping to maintain a higher alkaline blood pH.

The strong stomach acid causes proteins to break down to the molecular level revealing the peptide bonds. Enzymes then interact to further breakdown proteins.

Stomach acid activates the enzyme pepsin to digest the bonds between the sequences of protein building blocks known as amino acids (proteolysis). Stomach acid naturally protects the gut from invasion from infectious bacteria and other harmful organisms, that?s why a proper pH balance is vital.

Stomach acid production takes place in multiple steps. Charged ions of chloride and hydrogen from excess stomach acid (HCL) produced from within the parietal cells are mixed in the secreting cell network within the inner lining of the upper stomach, diluted and released.

Stomach acid is then released into the lumen of specialized glands and gradually reaches surface layer of the stomach lining at a higher pH, slightly less acidic than in the network of secreting cells..

The strongest stomach acid used for digestion (pH 2) is about 3,000,000 times more caustic than anything found in bloodstreams pH. ?The strongest stomach acid produced in your stomach acid cells has a pH of 0.8 and is then ultimately diluted to around pH 2 and 3 in the stomach.

There are three phases of stomach acid production:

1. The cephalic phase: 30% of the stomach?s acid is created by chewing, tasting and smelling foods.

2. The gastric phase: 60% of the excess stomach acid production is triggered from actual food being digested in the stomach

3. The intestinal phase: the remaining 10% of excess stomach acid is produced when chyme enters the small intestine.

Truth is if you?re over 40 years old the probability you have excess stomach acid production is quite low. You lose about 10% to 15% of your stomach acid production every ten years, because of loss of minerals, nutrients and cofactors your body used up digesting cooked and processed foods all those years.

This often gives the symptoms misdiagnosed as an excess of stomach acid production because of all the bloating, acid reflux surges and heartburn.

Bottom line is only about 5% of the people who think they suffer from excess stomach acid production really do. The remaining 95% of people actually need an excess production of digestive acid.

The main cause of acid reflux is improper chewing and from combining the wrong foods. Other cause of acid reflux, heartburn and acid rebound is from taking antacids.

Picture all that undigested food bubbling and rotting inside your stomach pushing acid reflux up into the throat, burning away the lining of your throat, mouth and sinus linings . . .eventually creating a deadly situation.

Don?t take drugs and surgery as the final answer- if they worked 30% of the US population and 60 million people with arthritis, due to a lack of excess stomach acid, wouldn?t be suffering like they are.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologist