If you’ve been prescribed any type of acid reflux medicine from your doctor, of course you should follow his or her instructions carefully and not make any changes to your dosage or discontinue its use without speaking to him or her first.  If you’ve gotten a prescription for acid reflux medicine, then your doctor must have examined you and made the determination that you need medication to keep your condition under control.

However, there are some dangers to acid reflux medicine, and one is the potential side effects of these medicines.  Most are made with a combination of sodium, magnesium, calcium, carbonate, and aluminum hydroxyl.  All of these elements can eventually cause kidney failure, and can contribute to kidney stones, gallbladder disease, cardiovascular problems, hypertension, constipation, diarrhea, and dehydration.  Many people are not aware of these potential side effects of their acid reflux medicine, and are often not warned of them by their doctors.  Many rely on their medicine to control their acid reflux without much thought as to whether or not they’re actually doing more damage is a common mistake that many patients make.

It’s also true that some rely on their acid reflux medicine to control their symptoms and don’t give much thought to making changes to their diet in order to stop those symptoms before they even begin.  Some therefore use their acid reflux medicine as a type of crutch, thinking that it will allow them to eat anything they want and how much they want.  This is very dangerous because as soon as you feel the pain of acid reflux, you have already done damage to your esophagus.  That pain you’re feeling is the stomach acid hitting the esophagus and causing ulcers, bleeding or strictures which are small holes.  Once you feel the pain, there has already been an injury to your esophagus.

When you use acid reflux medicine as an excuse to eat what you want and how much you want, you are hurting not just your digestive system but your health overall.  The foods that you eat that cause acid reflux are probably very hard on your system entirely, and acid reflux is sometimes just a symptom of a poor diet.  Overeating, eating very spicy foods, and a diet high in red meat and dairy are not good for you in the first place.  When you insist on continuing in these bad habits and just use your acid reflux medicine as a way to enable you to do so, you are causing harm to your health and to your digestive system.

Rather than relying on your acid reflux medicine to control your symptoms, it’s always a better idea to address the things you may be eating that are causing your condition in the first place.  This means cutting back on red meat and citrus fruits, dairy products, fried foods, junk foods, and heavy desserts, and eating more fibrous foods, leafy vegetables, and lean protein, as well as drinking adequate amounts of water.

Article Written By J. Foley

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Parents who are concerned about their own child’s infant acid reflux would do well to make some adjustments to their child’s eating patterns.  Very often parents feed their children too much and too fast, not realizing how delicate their systems are.  And of course it doesn’t help when a child is crying for his or her bottle!  But rather than simply letting the baby gulp down an entire bottle’s worth of food without a break you might consider letting them have a few sips and then taking the bottle of out the baby’s mouth for just a moment or two, and then letting the child have a few more sips, and so on.  This cuts down on incidents of infant acid reflux as the child is not eating too fast and is not pulling a lot of air into his or her system when eating either.

The amount of food that a baby eats can also do a lot to cause or remedy infant acid reflux.  When a stomach is overwhelmed with food, it can’t help but to regurgitate not only the food but the stomach acid with it as well.  Putting a limit on your child’s portion sizes and having him or her eat many times throughout the day rather than just a few times is going to be easier on the stomach.  The position in which you hold your baby when feeding can also cause infant acid reflux; try holding him or her a bit more upright even when breastfeeding.  When the body is flat on its back the stomach acids are more likely to flow back into the esophagus.  However, you may not want the youngest of babies to be too upright as you might be putting pressure on the stomach.  The digestive system needs some room to function properly.  And of course if you are concerned about your child’s case of infant acid reflux, you should speak to your doctor.  He or she can address your concerns properly.

Article Written By J. Foley

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Virtually everyone has experienced heartburn at one time or another, and usually having a case of indigestion or heartburn is not going to cause you a lot of problems or be something so serious that it requires medical intervention.  However, it’s important to know the acid reflux symptoms and when an occasional bout of heartburn or indigestion should be considered acid reflux, because this disease is actually very serious and needs to be addressed.

Acid reflux symptoms typically mimic those of heartburn.  There is a burning sensation that can radiate anywhere from the stomach to the mouth.  This burning feeling can be slightly uncomfortable to downright painful.  It may actually happen in the chest area closer to the throat than just along the stomach area.  Other acid reflux symptoms, along with the burning, include pressure and squeezing in the chest, especially after you’ve eaten.  This pressure can also radiate from the stomach all the way up to the throat and can be slightly uncomfortable to downright debilitating.  Some report that the pressure is so bad that they have a hard time even moving, as this just increases the discomfort in this area.  Many acid reflux symptoms are like that – they cause discomfort to the point where the sufferer does not want to move so as to not make the pain any worse.

Other acid reflux symptoms include a pressure or choking sensation when you swallow food.  Patients report being very aware of the food moving down the esophagus, something that you shouldn’t be feeling.  This is usually happening when a person develops strictures, which are tiny holes or erosions in the esophagus due to acid reflux.  Strictures are actually very dangerous and can lead to ulcers and internal bleeding.  The biggest problem that most patients have with these acid reflux symptoms of strictures and holes in the esophagus is the pain they feel when eating.  Meals can be very uncomfortable and even downright painful, while eating and afterwards as well.  Sometimes patients begin to neglect good dietary habits as soft foods are less painful to swallow, and they soon start to lack the vitamins and amino acids they would get from protein and other such foods.

It’s also true that many acid reflux symptoms mimic those of a heart attack or other heart condition.  The pressure and squeezing one feels in the chest area can be mistaken for a heart attack, and vice versa – a person can be having heart problems but mistake those symptoms for acid reflux symptoms.  In either case, a patient can be subjected to unnecessary medical tests as emergency personnel assume he or she is having a heart attack, or a person can assume their heart attack is acid reflux.  Both scenarios are very dangerous.

If you have any acid reflux symptoms, it’s important that you speak to your doctor and have it treated properly.  You need to make sure your chest pains aren’t the signs of a heart attack, and also need to be sure you’re not doing untold damage to your digestive system.

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Article Written By J. Foley

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When considering what foods to avoid with acid reflux, there are two very important points to consider.  The first is that you want to make note of the foods that typically cause acid reflux flare-ups.  These are foods that are high in acid content themselves; their acid coupled with the acid from your stomach is going to overload your system and cause reflux.  Foods high in acid content include red meat of any variety, citrus fruits (limes, lemons, oranges, grapefruits, tomatoes), spicy foods such as garlic, onions, and peppers, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, wine, coffee, tea, cola, and dairy products high in lactose content such as yogurt, milk, and ice cream.  Other foods to avoid with acid reflux are those cooked in heavy oils.  This mean fried foods of any sort, potato chips and other such snack items, and fries.  Also, most packaged foods use oil as a preservative, so you may also want to avoid toaster pastries and foods such as these.  Fast foods are typically also fried in oils, so drive-through hamburgers may need to be avoided.

The other consideration when it comes to foods to avoid with acid reflux is being mindful of what foods seem to cause a flare-up with you personally.  It’s a good idea to keep an eating diary for a few weeks, with notes about what you eat, how much, and when you’ve eaten it.  Also note your acid reflux flare-ups and the time.  This way you can compare the two – if you have a small bag of potato chips as a snack at 3:00 and note that you have a flare-up at 3:30, then you know you’re very sensitive to the oils used in those chips.  Some people need to add to their list of foods to avoid with acid reflux items such as yogurt, cheese, chocolate, certain grains such as macaroni or spaghetti, and desserts that are baked with a lot of oil such as cake, cookies, and brownies.

Everyone’s system is different and sensitive to different things; your list of foods to avoid with acid reflux might be very different than someone else’s.  Along those lines, if you note that strawberries and tomatoes don’t bother you, then of course you can indulge in these foods.

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The common foods that cause acid reflux are those that are very difficult to digest and that have a high concentration of acid in them already.  Red meat of any variety is one such food.  Because of the high amount of enzymes in red meat, it often causes acid reflux in those who eat large portions of it.  While a diet high in protein may be good for weight control, you may be better off opting for leaner varieties of pork, turkey, chicken, and fish instead.  If you must have red meat, have a very small portion and limit the number of times per week that you do.  This can be one of the more difficult foods that cause acid reflux to give up, but for those who do it can be very beneficial.

Other foods that cause acid reflux include citrus fruits such as limes, lemons, grapefruits, tomatoes, tangerines, and oranges.  Most berries are also very high in acid content, and this includes cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.  Wine and hard liquor also has a high acid content, but beer is usually acceptable for most.  Beverages that contain caffeine are also included on the list of foods that cause acid reflux, so that means coffee, tea, cola, and other sodas.  Unfortunately, chocolate is also very high in acid content and typically causes acid reflux in many.  Many dairy products are also very acidic, so this means milk, cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt and ice cream.  Heavy oils are not necessarily high in acid content but are very difficult for the body to digest, meaning that they cause the stomach to produce more acid than normal.  Anything fried should be added to the list of foods that cause acid reflux; this means not just fried chicken and chicken-fried steak, but French fries, potato chips, corn chips, popcorn made in oil, buffalo wings, and so on.  Most packaged foods use oil as a preservative, so be careful of toaster pastries and anything else that comes in a box.  Many desserts are also cooked with heavy oils, so you may want to add cakes, cookies, and brownies to your list of foods that cause acid reflux.

Of course, some of these foods mentioned might not have an effect on you and your system, while there may be other foods that do trigger flare-ups.  Keep track of what you eat and when you have an attack so that you can make your own personal list of foods that cause acid reflux.

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While a small amount of acid reflux cases are caused by a defect in the small valve or flap that covers the top of the stomach which is supposed to keep stomach acid where it belongs, most cases of acid reflux are caused by poor dietary habits.  This includes acid reflux in children.  For example, red meat is very high in acids and enzymes that are difficult for the body to break down and digest.  They cause the stomach to produce more acids on its own so there is a rush of acids when you eat red meat.  Many people today eat hamburgers almost every single day; this means that their stomach is producing an onslaught of acid on a daily basis.  Heavy oils also cause acid reflux flare-ups, and foods that are fried often cause acid reflux in children.  Think of how many times children eat fried foods, from toaster pastries in the morning to chicken nuggets and fries for lunch, along with potato chips, corn chips, and popcorn also cooked in oil.  Foods like macaroni and pizza also contain a lot of oil, as do many desserts such as cakes, cookies, and brownies.  All of these typically cause acid reflux in children.

It’s also true that eating too much food at any one time causes acid reflux, in children as well as adults.  When your stomach is overly full, the acids have no choice but to spill back out of the stomach and up into the esophagus.  Think of how meals these days have grown to monstrous proportions, not to mention how many snacks kids have in between meals.

It’s interesting to note that there is an increase in cases of obesity every single year, and many of the causes of obesity are the same as the causes of acid reflux in children.  Meals that are very calorie dense, that are made up of fried items, junk foods, sugary foods, and heavy meats and oils all contribute to both obesity and acid reflux in children.

If your child has chronic heartburn meaning an attack more than once per week, you may want to take him or her to the doctor for a thorough exam.  In the meantime, keep an eye on the dietary habits of your family and see if perhaps there are some choices the family is making that is contributing to the acid reflux in children in your family.  It may take some extra effort to change your daily meals, but it can be worth it if it means controlling flare-ups of acid reflux.

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Smoking is one very common cause of acid reflux, and if you smoke, there are going to be very few effective means of acid reflux treatment.  It’s obvious that quitting smoking is a very difficult prospect for many, but there is nothing healthy about the habit and many, many reasons why one should quit; acid reflux is just one of those reasons.  Nicotine and the other poisons in cigarettes are absorbed in the bloodstream and from there transferred to every area of the body, including the digestive system and stomach.  Any thorough and effective method of acid reflux treatment will include a smoking cessation program.

A poor diet and eating habits are also common causes of acid reflux, and making some changes in both areas is another important part of natural acid reflux treatment.  This means avoiding very spicy foods such as garlic and peppers, and foods that have a high acid content themselves.  These foods include red meat, citrus fruits (lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits, tomatoes), berries, and even some dairy products.  Oils are also very hard on the digestive system, so fried foods, fast foods, and junk foods (which are typically fried) also need to be avoided.  Eating too much at any one time is also a common cause of acid reflux.  When you overwhelm your stomach with food, even healthy foods, you’re going to naturally produce a lot of acid and because your stomach is full, that acid has nowhere to go except back up the esophagus.  Having modest portions at all your meals is part of a natural method of acid reflux treatment.  If this is difficult for you and you find yourself constantly hungry, simply have a light snack every few hours.  This might be a piece of fruit that doesn’t cause acid reflux flare-ups, some whole grain toast, or something else light that won’t bother your system.

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The good news about this connection between acid reflux disease and diet is that this means that you may be able to make certain changes in your life and your dietary habits in order to control and possibly even eliminate acid reflux.  For example, red meat of any variety is one of those foods that are very difficult for your body to break down and digest.  While many people hate to hear they should cut back on their beloved steaks and hamburgers, by at least cutting back some on the number of times you eat red meat you should have fewer flare-ups of acid reflux disease, and diets lower in red meat and typically healthier anyway.  Also, foods that have a high acid content can be harmful to your stomach, so cutting back on citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits and tomatoes may have a good effect on your condition.

One connection between acid reflux disease and diet that many people forget is the amount of food that you eat, not just what type.  When your stomach is overloaded with food it is just naturally going to produce more acid and then because your stomach is so full, it will naturally spill over and back up into your esophagus.  When considering acid reflux disease and diet, you absolutely must be aware of your portion and meal sizes at any one time.  Stuffing yourself at every meal is going to cause more flare-ups, but limiting your portion sizes to something more modest may help as well.  If you’re still hungry throughout the day, having small snacks between meals usually helps to fill you up.  Many doctors report that this type of eating is healthier for you anyway, as your body has a better chance of digesting your food properly if you eat smaller meals.

For some, there may not actually be a connection between acid reflux disease and diet.  They have a genetic defect in the area of the stomach or are just more prone to acid buildup.

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Article WrittenBy J. Foley

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