Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is something that develops over time. It is also referred to as acid reflux disease. This is what happens when your digestive system is altered causing acid to move from the stomach to the esophagus and throat. The digestive system involves several parts of your body. This means that all parts have to be functioning properly to allow digestion to run smoothly. If there is one element of the digestive process that isn?t working, this can cause serious health problems. When you eat, the food is chewed in the mouth, swallowed at the throat, transitioned through the esophagus and passed through lower esophageal sphincter (LES).

The LES is a very crucial part of the digestive process. It acts as the passage to the stomach. When food reaches the end of the esophagus, the LES opens to let it pass. After the food goes through, the LES closes again. If the LES doesn’t close quickly or tightly enough, the food may have the opportunity to come out of the stomach and get back into the esophagus. Along with the food is gastric acid which can be extremely damaging and painful when in the esophagus or throat.

Passage through the LES permits food to enter the stomach for the next phases of digestion. In the stomach, food particles are further fragmented with the help of gastric acid. After the food has been broken down significantly, it moves to the large and small intestines so that nutrients that are useful for the body can be extracted and the waste can transition to the rectum.

Treating GERD doesn’t have to include prescriptions or surgical operations. You can do things at home to decrease symptoms and prevent it from occurring regularly. Certain lifestyle changes may be necessary to handle this problem.

• Don’t eat meals before going to bed. Allow at least a few hours.
• Try not to lie down after a meal. This keeps gastric acids in place.
• Eat smaller portions. Heavy meals increase acid production.
• Quit smoking. This weakens the LES.
• Cut down on alcohol consumption. This can further irritate the esophagus and throat.
• Monitor foods that trigger acid reflux. Remove these foods from your diet and replace with healthy options.
• Cut out fatty, greasy foods from your diet because they increase acid production.
• Drink a lot of water, ginger tea and aloe juice. This reduces acid reflux symptoms.
• Eating fennel seed and ginger root is also a great for GERD.

The best way to manage your GERD is to figure out what might be causing it. This can be done through logging your eating and lifestyle habits to find out what may be leading to your GERD. After you find out what may be causing the disease, you can address it naturally. For more information on home remedies and cures for GERD, review the Reflux Remedy Report or visit refluxremedy.com today.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), also known as acid reflux, is something that affects many people in different ways. There are several causes and symptoms that are related to GERD. If the symptoms of GERD are not addressed, this may lead to long term problems that can include ulcers, cancer of the esophagus, inflammation, scarring of the esophagus lining, abdominal pain and irritation.

Symptoms

There are a number of symptoms that can result from having acid reflux or GERD. Symptoms may include heartburn, nausea, regurgitation, dysphasia, sore throat and hoarseness. The severity of these symptoms ranges from person to person. Heartburn is the most prevalent symptom of GERD. This can be identified as a burning sensation in the esophagus. The location of the esophagus in the chest area is what causes this to be called heartburn. The burning sensation is as a result of bringing up gastric acid from the stomach to the esophagus.

Causes

GERD isn’t developed because of one cause necessarily. Most of the causes are related to the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The LES is a muscle that is located just below the esophagus and above the stomach. It is a part of the diaphragm. The LES is the passageway for food that is chewed, swallowed and in the esophagus. Once the food reaches diaphragm, the LES should open to grant entry to the stomach for digestion. When the LES doesn’t close properly or right after the food goes to the stomach, gastric acid may be permitted to go through the LES and into the esophagus. If this happens, this can cause GERD. A weakened or dysfunctional LES may be caused by a number of things.

• Hiatal Hernia: This is when the stomach shifts to an abnormal area.
• Pregnancy: This may cause the internal organs to shift to accommodate the growing fetus.
• Smoking and Alcohol Consumption: This can cause heartburn and irritation to the LES.

Natural Treatment

Treating GERD doesn’t have to include medications and prescriptions. Here are some natural ways to avoid and treat this disease:

• Papaya: Eat papaya enzymes to aid the stomach and intestines with natural digestions. This prevents the stomach from having to produce too much gastric acid.
• Ginger: Drinking ginger tea or eating ginger root will help to absorb excess stomach acid and sooth the organs in the digestive system.
• Fennel seed: This is an herb that can control stomach spasms. Stomach spasms contribute to GERD.
• Aloe Juice: Drinking aloe juice can settle your stomach and relieve heartburn.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: Even though vinegar tastes acidic, this substance can balance the pH of your stomach and make digestion easy.
• Water: This is the most accessible of all the natural remedies. It has a neutralizing effect on the stomach.

Getting your GERD/acid reflux under control can be a challenge if you don’t understand the causes, recognize the symptoms or become aware of the treatments. For more information on natural treatments for GERD, review the Reflux Remedy Report or visit refluxremedy.com today.

Causes of Acid Reflux

There are many different factors that can contribute to the development of acid reflux disease. If you have this disease, it was probably caused by a combination of issues surrounding your digestive system. Digestion is one of the most important processes of the body. Whenever you eat food, the process begins. Food that is swallowed goes down your esophagus, past the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and into the stomach. The LES opens and closes to allow food to enter the stomach. If you have a LES that is weak, you may develop acid reflux. A weakened or dysfunctional LES will not close normally. If it remains open, this can permit stomach or gastric acids to go up the esophagus. Other causes of acid reflux disease include pregnancy, hiatal hernia, obesity, diet, behaviors and certain medications like diabetes. Respiratory diseases can also contribute to acid reflux.

Symptoms of Acid Reflux

Heartburn is the major symptom of acid reflux. When stomach acid reaches the esophagus and throat, this causes irritation. Stomach acid is used to break down foods for the extraction of nutrients. This acid is too corrosive for other parts of the body. When stomach acid travels to other areas, this can cause you to feel a painful, burning sensation in your chest area.

Dysphagia is another symptom of acid reflux. This is when you have the feeling that food is stuck in your throat. You may also have difficulty with swallowing.

Regurgitation is also a sign of acid reflux. Food can also escape from the stomach through the LES and into the esophagus, causing discomfort. People with acid reflux disease may feel nauseated and uncomfortable. Nausea is related to another symptom which is excessive burping and vomiting. Wet burps also allow gastric acid to reach the esophagus and throat.

Bloating is yet another symptom. Bloating will cause you to feel pain and fullness in your abdomen. Bloating can trigger chest pain and hiccups as well.

Treatment for Acid Reflux

There are several treatment options for acid reflux. Some treatments are preventative while others offer a solution for acid reflux that is already present. These measures can help to prevent you from developing acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The easiest ways to combat acid reflux is to have lifestyle changes. You should try not to eat meals right before you go to bed because this increases gastric acid production at a time when your body will be horizontal. In this position, the acid can easily escape through a weak LES and get into the esophagus. Eating smaller meals is best for preventing acid reflux. Larger meals encourage acid production. You should also be careful about the kinds of food you eat. Fattening foods are not ideal. Stay away from caffeine, garlic, onions and alcohol. Aloe juice, water, ginger and papaya enzymes have been known to neutralize stomach acid, promote digestion and reduce the discomfort caused by acid reflux disease.

A more common term for Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The only difference is Laryngopharyngeal reflux describes the damage GERD does specifically to the ‘voice box’ or larynx.

When gastric acids slide up past the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) it enters the throat and can reach as high up as the mouth and sinuses, in fact even the lungs are susceptible to exposure.

Normally this gastric acid burns the mucus lining of the throat away over a period of time, because it refluxes, or regurgitates up and then drips down, usually not spending a lot of time there.

On the other hand, with Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) the gastric acid gets hung up on the vocal cords and doesn’t drip away as fast, the same goes for the sinus area.

The stomach acid is strong enough to eat glass, so if you get acid reflux up into your larynx repeatedly, you’re going to end up with Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR).

You can imagine what the symptoms would be easy enough. Hoarse voice, choking feeling and heartburn complain are sure signs that old stomach acid is erupting up into your voice box and dissolving your flesh.

As with GERD, Laryngopharyngeal reflux starts with a simple case of heartburn, but for one reason or another it becomes chronic.

If your heartburn keeps coming back you need to remedy the problem at the root level. Many people make their simple heartburn and acid indigestion issues into something worse than it should be by only treating the symptoms.

As with any dis-ease or health issue, if you fall for using gimmicks to just cover symptoms, the root cause will still fester.

If your Laryngopharyngeal reflux is caused from you over eating and then immediately lying down, taking antacids isn’t going to stop it from happening again and again.

Besides antacids are really bad for you, especially if you eat them all the time . . . they’re chocked full of heavy metals and other unwanted ingredients.

So if you suffer from Laryngopharyngeal reflux, change your diet and lifestyle habits and don’t expect some magical pill to make it all right.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass

Health Advocate