Natural Ways to Stop Acid Reflux

When the natural acid in the stomach flows back up into the esophagus and causes that hot, painful feeling that many people are familiar with, it is called acid reflux.

Some people use over the counter medications to stop acid reflux symptoms while others head off to the doctor for something stronger.

What should be remembered is that there can be several reasons for acid reflux and so a simple prescription for prevention may not be of any use.

Acid is a natural product that is necessary to digest food. Certain prescription medications work by stopping the body from producing acid.

But this acid is necessary to break down food particles so that the body can digest them and extract the necessary nutrients.

If there is less acid, then the process will be impaired and lack of nutrition will be the result. Many medications contain products such as aluminium, which are actually quite harmful.

These days many people see the wisdom of avoiding drugs that may cause more harm than good.

So before seeking prescription medication for your reflux problem, try some small changes that could quite well make a difference. Firstly, make sure you eat slowly and chew your food properly.

A calm and pleasant atmosphere during mealtimes will also help. Rush, tension and stress cause the stomach to produce more acid.

If you eat smaller meals it will reduce pressure on the esophagus with the benefit being that less acid is forced up. Never eat the evening meal too close to bedtime.

You need at least two hours before going off to bed or resting in a prone position. The head of the bed can be propped up on bricks so that gravity can help keep your stomach acid down.

Taking a walk after eating will also help as the gentle exercise helps to massage the stomach and ease the passage of food and gas.

Tone up both your muscles and the digestive system with aerobic exercise. Thirty minutes of exercise every day will be found helpful.

But any exercise that includes bending should not be undertaken soon after a meal as this increases pressure on the stomach and esophagus.

The kind of food you eat is also important. Eating foods that are more alkaline than acidic will also help to control acid reflux.

In addition, raw vegetables, fruit and nuts all help to keep your digestive system healthy and are easy to digest. Chewing gum is also beneficial because it helps to increase saliva, which is alkaline.

Digestive supplements such as probiotics and full spectrum digestive enzymes will certainly help in the quest to stop that acid reflux. Avoid eating peppermint-flavored foods, as peppermint is actually a muscle relaxant.

It can be responsible for relaxing the sphincter muscle that should remain firmly closed against stomach acids. Thus, after dinner mints should be avoided.

Many other simple changes to your lifestyle could help with reflux problems. Avoid tight-fitting clothing, lose weight, cut back on alcohol and smoking and eat smaller meals.

Look into herbal remedies for acid reflux. Such products as slippery elm, orange peel extract in tablet form, Aloe Vera juice, and twig tea are all helpful.

Twig tea is a Japanese tea that contains both the twigs, stalks and leaves of green tea.

It has a creamy, nutty taste and neutralizes stomach acids. For those who don’t mind a bitter taste, chicory root tea may be found helpful.

Learn more about your health online when you read the rest of our information here about: acid reflux and digestive health issues

** Further reading through our articles on health issues will give you a body of information that will help you decide what options you have to deal with the underlying causes of your problem through giving your body the nutrition products that will assist you body to heal from the inside out.

You can visit our health food products page here: Herbalife Health Nutrition Supplements and learn more about our core nutrition program, the Cellular Nutrition Advanced Program and also check out these targeted products, Florafiber to replace your healthy flora and Aloe Vera Juice to help cleanse your system.

We wish you well in your search for solutions to this problem and your movement towards better health in all areas.

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