Acid reflux can be an excruciating condition. When the acid comes up it hurts and it can make the sufferer choke!
What causes heartburn or acid reflux?
Your stomach produces hydrochloric acid that digests food in your tummy. Of course, at the same time, your pancreas produces alkaline digestive juices to buffer the acidic contents of the stomach. If they wouldn’t, your intestines would get burnt by the acid!
If that delicate balance is disturbed you could suffer from gastric over acidity. If it continues like this, your digestive system will get oversensitive to acidic foods giving you digestive distress or heartburn after you eat highly acidic foods like pizza, steak, or drink beer.
If you’re sensitive to acid then taking antacids may seem like a practical and an easy solution. However, you should make sure that no serious underlying condition is masking behind your gastric problems. At times, serious diseases like peptic ulcer, and even cancer are the cause of the problem.
That’s why if you have been suffering from symptoms of heartburn for quite some time, you should have your symptoms checked out by a medical professional to rule out a more serious condition.
Symptoms of heartburn and indigestion could also be caused by your stomach’s inability to produce sufficient amount of hydrochloric acid. At other times, you could have a weak pancreatic function. If that’s the case for you, you might find that Swedish bitters or ginger tea could actually make you feel better. Many people with food allergies and food intolerance find Swedish bitters of great benefit.
Acid Reflux Foods to Avoid
In most cases heartburn is caused by the over-production of hydrochloric acid in your stomach. Acid-forming foods are usually to blame. Foods like red meat, dairy products, sweets, and sodas that puts enormous load on your stomach, pancreas, liver, and body. It makes sense to avoid those acid forming foods.
Acid foods must be buffered when eaten to neutralize their low pH. If you’re young, your body is fit and healthy then your body can tolerate acid-forming foods more readily. But, as we get older our body gets weaker and less efficient at removing acids out of the system.
Are food allergies causing your gastric problems?
Keep in mind that if you’re allergic to certain foods, they will cause over acidity. For example, if you’re allergic to milk products, wheat, soy, peanuts, and eggs then consuming these foods may cause gastric problems. If you suspect that certain foods are not stomach friendly for you, avoid eating them for a week and see how that makes you feel.
Getting heartburn, acid reflux, achy joints and muscles, feeling tired, catching the cold and flu often are only some of the warning signs you should not ignore.Over time, chronic damage to cells or tissues can contribute to inflammation,over acidity and disease.
That’s why, for good overall health, we recommend that you alkalize your body. The standard American diet is loaded with acid-forming foods – from beef and pork to pizza, coffee to alcohol, and sweets in between. That’s a perfect recipe for heartburn and acid reflux!
The Alkaline Cookbook gets you started on the healthy alkaline balance for your body and avoid acid reflux.
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