10 Lifestyle Changes For Sufferers Of Acid Reflux

If you have acid reflux, it is important that you make changes to your lifestyle. These changes can do much to help in alleviating the symptoms that you are experiencing. Here are 10 lifestyle changes that you can easily make in order to improve your acid reflux condition:

1. Eat smaller meals at more frequent intervals. By eating larger meals, you are causing your stomach to expand and this increases the pressure in the esophageal sphincter. When this happens, your lower esophageal sphincter (LES) will find it hard to stay closed. In eating less at a meal and more frequently, the risk of getting acid reflux is reduced.

2. Avoid certain food triggers. Eat foods that rarely cause heartburn and avoid those that cause heartburn. Proper selection of food would differ from one person to another. An experiment can be done in order to recognize the food that would should be eaten and avoided. Another option is to limit the amount of acid stimulating foods and beverages. Also, eliminating coffee, tea, caffeinated and carbonated beverages, alcoholic beverages, spices, pepper, onions, tomatoes and tomato based products, citrus fruits, fried and fatty foods, chocolate and peppermint from your diet is also helpful.

3. After eating, wait for at least three hours before lying down. The acid breaking down the food may flow down upwards, if you lie down sooner than three hours. Doing so would trigger acid reflux symptoms such as heartburn. Hence, it is recommended that you plan for early dinners and try not to eat any late night snacks.

4. Sleep with your head elevated. The fourth lifestyle change to keep your head elevated a few inches while sleeping. By laying down flat, you put pressure on the stomach’s contents against the LES. With that, elevating the head a few inches which means higher gravity that helps reduce this pressure

5. Maintain a reasonable and healthy weight. Obesity is known to create abdominal pressure, which pushes stomach contents into the esophagus. As little as a ten percent decrease in weight will improve many people’s heartburn symptoms.

6. Do not smoke. Another lifestyle change is to stop smoking. This is especially if you suffer from severe heartburn symptoms. Cigarette smoke causes the production of saliva and lowers the amounts of bicarbonates in the saliva, which help to neutralize stomach acid. Therefore, the longer you smoke the more chance you have that your body will be unable to keep down the stomach acid.

7. Give up or reduce on alcohol. You should not be drinking alcohol if you suffer from acid reflux. However if you still want an alcoholic beverage, then limit yourself to special ocassions.

8. De-stress. Simply resting the body and mind can help ease heartburn symptoms. Although, stress is not directly related to heartburn, it can lead to bodily reactions that trigger heartburn. When you are under stress, you may disrupt your regular eating and exercise plan. This plan may have been put in place because of your acid refulx. Therefore, find ways to alleviate stress in your life.

9. Dress with proper selection of clothes. Try not to wear belts or clothes that are tight fitting around the waist. This will squeeze the stomach and force food up against the LES causing food to reflux into the esophagus.

10. Keep a logbook. The final lifestyle change is to maintain a logbook of your acid reflux symptoms. Keep a record of what you eat and when you eat. Then make notes on what triggers your acid reflux and how severe each episode of acid reflux is. Take note of how your body reacts and what you do to find aid. You can take this information to your doctor so they can help you determine the best lifestyle changes needed to give you maximum relief.

The above lifestyle changes may sound cumbersome but can be the solution to help you reduce the frequency and severity of your acid reflux symptoms. Sticking to the plan may just be all you need that the best medicine cannot give.

More tips are available for acid reflux treatment here.