Health Care

By Gerri Stone

Are you one of millions of people who suffer from irritation from acid reflux? Do you find that eating certain foods results in a burning pain that creeps up behind your breastbone? Or maybe it's the gas and bloating that accompanies your meals that you would love to eliminate. Whatever symptoms you suffer, these five steps will help you create a diet for acid reflux that will minimize, or eliminate the symptoms that cause you distress.

Step One

Recognize that you really do need to change your eating habits. Lifestyle changes are more difficult that simply taking a medication, but your body is trying to tell you that it is time to make some changes. Take it one meal at a time, and you will feel the improvements quickly.

Step Two

Keep a food diary for seven days. Write down what you ate, when you ate it, and how you felt after eating. This will help you identify your trigger foods. Several foods commonly cause acid reflux symptoms. Keeping track of your personal foods will help you discover the foods that you need to stay away from for a personalized diet for acid reflux.

Step Three

Add more raw fruits and vegetables to your diet. Your stomach does not create as much stomach acid to digest raw fruits and vegetables as it does to digest meats and heavier, fatty foods. Less stomach acid is less ammunition for acid reflux to bother you with after your meal.

Step Four

Eat smaller meals, more often through the day. Large meals can give your stomach acid nowhere to go but up your esophagus, creating irritation. You will also produce more stomach acid to help digest a large meal, which increases the risk of suffering from acid reflux after eating. Split up your regular meals into smaller portions and try to eat every four hours. If you normally have fruit and cereal in the morning, have the fruit as a mid-morning snack instead. Or try having a smaller lunch, and a mid afternoon snack of cheese and fruit. One word of warning here- don't just add snacks to your regular sized meals, or your expanding waistline will create other health problems for you.

Step Five

Never eat within three hours of bedtime. When you lay down, it is easier for stomach acid to travel up your esophagus, creating nighttime acid reflux, and disturbing your sleep. When you miss a good sleep, stress is likely to bother you more the next day, and you will be more tempted to reach for food that triggers acid reflux. This cycle can destroy even the best resolve to stick with an acid reflux diet.

By Lee Dobbins

Acid reflux is a condition in which the gastric contents of the stomach back up into the esophagus and some doctors promote using an acid reflux pillow to alleviate the problem. This can be serious as it causes damage to the lining of the esophagus and symptoms can range from heartburn to severe chest pain. Some times this pain radiates to the upper back and neck. Many times, when this happens, it can be indicative of a possible cardiac condition.

If you are having this type of pain, see a doctor immediately.

These symptoms can be extremely difficult to endure at night while lying in bed. When the patient lays flat in bed, the stomach’s gastric contents do not have to fight gravity to enter the esophagus. The sufferer may awaken several times a night with moderate to severe pain.

What is the fix for this?

Many physicians and sufferers use what is called “positional therapy” to accommodate the nighttime occurrences of GERD symptoms. What this means is that by elevating the patient’s head and shoulders slightly, the acids have a harder time getting past the lower esophageal sphincter and into the esophagus. If this propping is not done properly, it can cause pain to occur in the lower back as an indirect by-product of GERD. Proper use of this technique will save you a lot of trouble in the future.

There are several items available to accomplish the positioning of the patient in a comfortable, safe manner. These are named, quite simply, acid reflux pillows. These pillows work very simply by elevating the head and neck slightly so the stomach’s gastric contents have to fight gravity to reach the esophagus, which is where the discomfort is felt.

Acid reflux pillows are available in many forms and materials. The most common are foam pillows and soft plastic wedges. By far, the best ones available are inflatable since they will be adjustable to the individual user.

While these items are called “acid reflux pillows”, that is a general term given to them. These are also used for a variety of other conditions such as congestive heart failure, sleep apnea and snoring problems. But by far, the best results are seen in sufferers of GERD, Barrett’s esophagus and general stomach/digestive system problems.

In all forms, acid reflux pillows are available for purchase widely on and off line. If you want to look online, you can always use your favorite search engine and find one that suits you. Each person will have a different requirement, so be sure you pick the right one for you. Prices that I have found range from around $25 all the way up to almost $100, depending on what type you want and what material it is made from.

As always, you should consult with your doctor prior to using an acid reflux pillow. He will know your symptoms and can suggest which one would be suited for your situation.