July 7, 2011
Stress And Acid Reflux
As of right now, researchers are unsure of the exact link between stress and acid reflux. However, there is truth to the statement that stress can cause acid reflux. While the exact relationship between stress and acid reflux is unknown, there are several different factors that can cause a relationship between the two. Those individuals who tend to stress will typically consume comfort foods. These comfort foods are usually foods that are not particularly healthy choices. In many cases, comfort food includes greasy and fried foods. Foods that are greasy will usually cause acid reflux.
For some people, smoking cigarettes is a way to relieve stress. Smoking is very well known to cause acid reflux in individuals. When an individual is stressed, it takes longer for their stomach to digest the food that they have consumed throughout the day. When food takes a while to digest in the stomach, it remains in the stomach much longer than usual. When that food is not properly digested, acid reflux may occur.
It has been proven that stress can alter the habits of an individual. This individual may end up eating more, smoking more, and not taking proper care of themselves. The individual may also end up consuming alcohol which can also cause acid reflux in some people. The fact that stress alters the habit of someone is another way that stress related to acid reflux in an indirect way. In a way, much of the research that has been done to prove the relationship between acid reflux and stress shows that it is not the stress that is directly related to the acid reflux. Instead, it is more so the types of things people do while stressed that tend to cause the acid reflux.
A person who may be suffering from acid reflux caused indirectly by stress should take time to consider what it is in their life that is causing the stress. There are so many different reasons why someone may feel stressed. Whether it is work, school, relationships, or other situations, the individual will need to find productive ways to help reduce the stress in order to also reduce the acid reflux. There are several methods to relieving stress that do not involve smoking or overeating unhealthy foods.
While it is best to avoid stress altogether, that is not always possible. There is always some sort of stressful situations that can and will arise throughout life. One beneficial way to relieve that unwanted stress is through exercise. Exercising for just one hour a day is not only a great way to relieve the stress, it is also good for the health of an individual. Meditation has also been practiced and used as a means of reducing stress by many different people. By reducing the stress with various healthier methods, the individual is much less likely to suffer from acid reflux because they will no longer be using unhealthy methods to cope with their stress. For more information on stress relief and acid reflux feel free to download the Reflux Remedy Report at refluxremedy.com today!
Filed under Acid Reflux by admin
February 4, 2011
Acid Reflux and Stress
Acid reflux has several medical names such as heart burn, acid indigestion and gastro-esophageal reflux disease, regardless they’re all associated with STRESS.
Everyone loves stress don’t they? NOT.
Stress is stressful. Just the thought of being stressed out stresses me out . . . at least it used to. I’ve learned how to not sweat the little stuff in life in order to better enjoy the bigger, more important things . . . like my health.
Acid reflux is unnatural; it’s what happens when you do unnatural things, but in a way I guess you could argue that it’s a natural response to an unnatural act.
Acid reflux is your inner intelligence getting back at you for not going with the flow. Seriously, we humans really do take everything for granted. Your mind/body is the most intelligent representation of Mama Nature’s handy craft in the entire world, and look what we do to ourselves.
We stress ourselves out in so many ways it’s not funny one bit.
We have dumped industrial pollutants into our oceans, lakes and streams. We’ve spewed noxious gases into the air . . . we stress out the world.
Then we take living soil, rich with more than 72 trace minerals and burn it up with chemical fertilizers until our foods have nothing but nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium . . . we stress out our food.
The result is biological stress caused from under-nutrition. It takes a bushel of tomatoes to equal the nutritional value of an heirloom tomato from 100 years ago.
Then we stress ourselves out . . . with radiation from the thinning sky, cell phone transmissions and nuclear fallout to boot. Add to that our desperately paced lifestyles, racing us around 24/7 just to pay the bills . . . it’s no wonder millions of people have acid reflux and acid reflux associated diseases.
Up to 44% of the United States adult population experience acid reflux, heartburn or acid indigestion at least once per month, 14% weekly and 7% daily. Acid reflux is one of the most common disorders today and it’s all from a dysfunction between the throat from the stomach.
When people are stressed in America, they eat more, or they eat the wrong food and often eat it at the wrong times. All this triggers acid reflux because the food isn’t being digested so it places stress on the barrier between the throat and the stomach called the diaphragm. Once the stomach is stressed from all the undigested garbage food in it and the diaphragm is stressed from the pressure forcing it up toward the throat . . . acid reflux happens.
You have a flap-like valve called a Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES), which normally keeps acid reflux separate from the throat. However, once the food pressure becomes great enough it warps this flap-like seal allowing stomach acid to reflux upward into your throat, lungs, sinus cavity and mouth . . . which stresses you out even more.
Bottom line acid reflux patients who are stressed report chronic acid reflux symptoms. Psychological factors may play a critical role, especially for patients without inflamed throats. There are further studies on understanding the brain/gut relationship and how a person’s perception of stress helps trigger acid reflux.
Considering all forms of stress and its relationship to acid reflux clearly shows that less stress equals less acid reflux.
You were born to heal,
Todd M. Faass
Health Advocate
Source: http://www.cns.med.ucla.edu/Articles/PatientArticleFl99GERD.htm
Filed under Acid Reflux by admin
Stress can cause a whole host of health problems. Stress and digestive problems often go hand in hand, and it goes back to the body’s natural fight or flight response. When in an emergency situation, digestion becomes low on the body’s priority list, which is why things like diarrhea, constipation, heartburn and other problems arise in stressful situations.
Think about what happens to your body in the days and hours leading up to that big presentation you have to give.
- Did you spend a few extra minutes in the bathroom?
- Did you pop a few extra Tums to help settle your stomach?
- Are you feeling the burn hours after the presentation is over?
The problem with chronic stress is that it causes these disruptions on a regular basis, which isn’t healthy. It can wear your stomach lining down, increase acid production and damage your esophagus. That’s why you need to take steps to help your body’s digestion process, and de-stress your life.
First, to help digestion, less is more. By eating less more often you’ll help your body properly handle the amount of food you’ve given it, rather than stressing it out by throwing more than your stomach can handle in the ring. You’ll still get the same amount of food by eating three small meals and two snacks as you would if you ate two giant meals, it’ll just be spread over a longer period, which gives your stomach time to process what’s there.
Second, take steps to lower stress levels in your life. Although some stress has been shown to be good and keep productivity levels high, too much stress can be extremely detrimental to your health. So, reprioritize. You may be concerned about money, relationships, the holidays, work, deadlines, that home renovation that never seems to be done, a death in the family, your kids or any number of problems. But, worrying about them won’t make them better. So, focus on what will make your situation better. If you need help learning some techniques, see someone, i.e. a therapist or counselor. Although you may feel like this adds to your financial stresses and takes time away from your family, it can help you deal with what’s going on, and learn techniques for dealing with future stressors.
You also may benefit from getting a massage. Treating yourself to something like this can help you reduce your stress levels and promote healing in your body if chronic stress has done any damage to your digestive system. Like seeing a therapist, you may view it as a time and financial suck, but it can pay dividends in the long run.
Additionally, you may want to look into adding exercise to your daily regimen. People who exercise regularly are much healthier and are proven to be less prone to stress related illnesses like heartburn and ulcers. So, go for a walk, take up running or tennis, do whatever you can to keep exercise fun and engaging and keep stress at bay.
Stress and digestive problems often go hand in hand. For more information on dealing with stress and helping your body’s digestive disorders heal naturally, visit refluxremedy.com today.
Filed under Digestive Problems by admin
January 25, 2011
Causes of Gastritis
It’s not a big mystery what causes gastritis, for one thing, gastritis isn’t a drug deficiency . . . you can rule that out.
Gastritis like any disorder or degenerative health issue, it’s a matter of nurturing proper nutrition and having healthy lifestyle habits.
When you ask what causes gastritis you are really asking what causes the stomachs protective layer of specialized cells to become weakened?
Normally you have a protective mucus lining that shields your naked stomach cells from corrosive stomach acid.
Your digestive system isn’t designed to digest itself.
Once you identify the underlying root cause of your gastritis and remove the cause, your body heals relatively fast.
Here’s a list of gastritis triggers and possible causes:
- Helicobacter pylori is the name of a bacteria found in ulcerations of people with gastritis. The interesting thing is millions of people have these bacteria and they don’t have any gastritis symptoms. The reason is bacteria, like viruses are opportunistic organisms, which means if the conditions are right they will flourish and thrive . . . so the condition is a cause of gastritis, not the bacterium.
- Pain drugs like Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) often irritate the stomach environment, changing the conditions. Taking aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen can upset the delicate digestive system leaving it vulnerable to infection and inflammation causing gastritis.
- Alcohol is literally more addictive than crack cocaine and because of this fact it’s considered a socially acceptable drug because getting everyone to stop taking alcohol is impossible . . . prohibition never works. Alcohol, like NSAIDs changes the conditions of your digestive system’s environment, making it subject to bacterial infection and causing gastritis.
- Stress will also change your internal conditions making your stomach more vulnerable to the cause of gastritis.
- When your cells lose inner-net communication they can end up causing an immune reaction and attacks itself without realizing it. This is called an auto-immune dysfunction, which is rare but it does happens more often in people with other auto-immune disorders like diabetes type 1, Hashimoto’s disease or Addison’s disease. The cause of autoimmune gastritis can be a simple communication breakdown triggered by a nutritional deficiency and lifestyle factors.
- Gastritis can be triggered from eating too much animal proteins and fats in which case bile reflux disease can develop often causing gastritis. Bile helps you digest animal fats. Bile is made in your liver and stored in your gallbladder and prevented from contaminating your small intestine by a valve . . . if bile leaks by it will inflame and turn into acute gastritis.
- Other problems that can cause gastritis or are associated with it are AIDS, Crohn’s disease, parasites, liver failure, kidney dysfunction and some connective tissue disorders.
Bottom line is if you learn to keep your internal conditions properly balanced though right diet and lifestyle you can prevent or even reverse the cause of gastritis.
You were born to heal,
Todd M. Faass
Health Advocate