Changing Your Life for Acid Reflux

Once you have been diagnosed with acid reflux, it is important to find out how you can control your symptoms so you can live a more comfortable life. You will always have the acid reflux disease but you can at least reduce and in many cases prevent the symptoms of acid reflux by making several lifestyle changes.

Consider eating six small meals a day rather than the average three large meals. This will prevent your stomach from getting overfull. This will help reduce the amount of gastric pressure in your stomach. Along these lines, it is a good idea to eat slowly.

For at least two hours before going to bed, do not eat or drink anything. If you like to take naps during the day then perhaps you can consider sleeping in a chair. If you lay down on a full stomach, the contents in your stomach will press against the lower esophagus, which will increase your chances of acid reflux.

Quite a few foods and drinks can trigger acid reflux either through the increased production of acid and gastric pressure or by loosening up the lower esophagus muscle. Foods that trigger heartburn should be avoided. Food that can irritate the lining of the esophagus such as spicy foods, coffee, citrus fruit and juices should be eaten in moderation. You should avoid eating these types of food altogether at dinner so you don't get nighttime heartburn as a result. If you do not know which foods are going to trigger you heartburn, try keeping a heartburn record for a week to determine what foods you need to stay away from.

Another thing to do is to avoid alcohol consumption. The alcohol will cause an increase in stomach acid while it relaxes the lower esophagus muscle. This allows the stomach contents to reflux back up into the esophagus. However, you can still consume alcohol but you should do some in extreme moderation. If you notice complications from the intake of alcohol then you should discontinue drinking altogether.

You can also try sleeping with your head and shoulder on an incline. By sleeping with your head slightly higher than your stomach, you will help reduce the pressure and keep your stomach contents in the stomach. You can place either bricks or blocks under the legs at the head of your bed or you can purchase a wedge-shaped pillow that can elevate your head.

Avoid wearing tight fitting clothing that constricts the area around the stomach. Tight fitting clothing will squeeze the stomach which forces food up against the lower esophagus and can cause food to reflux into the esophagus.

Along the lines of no alcohol, it is a good idea to quit smoking. Smoking stimulates the production of stomach acid, which can lead to an increase of acid reflux symptoms.

Another idea is to relax. While stress has not been specifically linked to heartburn, stress has been known to lead to the behaviors that can trigger your acid reflux symptoms. Develop some good relaxation tips to help alleviate stress and make stress-related heartburn behaviors less likely.

Return to Acid Reflux...