Wondering what GERD means?
As always, doctors like to give simple medical problems complex names. All GERD really is gastroesophageal reflux disease, in other words heartburn.
But whatever name you give it, it is a condition that happens when stomach contents leak upstream into the esophagus, in the area that links the mouth to the stomach.
This condition can be very disabling and severe cases can even lead to cancer.
To address a GERD problem, one needs to start with diet:
- Avoid foods known to trigger reflux: chocolate, coffee, peppermints, citrus fruits and spicy or fatty foods, alcohol and smoking.
- Avoid medicines that can aggravate it: asthma drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, antidepressants and channel blockers used to treat heart disease and high blood pressure.
Unfortunately, just taking some medications will bring on GERD in certain people.
Anything that pushes on the belly encourages stomach acid to “backwash” into the esophagus. Even tight clothing can do it.
So can being overweight and even eating too much at a time.
Some easy things you can do if you suffer from GERD is:
- Avoid lying down after eating
- Avoid eating or drinking for a couple of hours before going to bed
- Elevate the head of the mattress with a foam wedge to sleep in a more upright position
- Take 2 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar before eating
A more difficult but more natural approach to getting help for GERD is:
- Start using digestive enzymes and probiotics daily
- Make sure the food you are ingesting contains an abundance of these ingredients: and they don’t need to be in their conventional form to do the job. (read more)
Usually, acid reflux happens because we don’t have enough digestive acids present and so our food sits there, rots and turns acidic and causes flatulence.
A common misconception is to think we have too much.
Another culprit is antibiotics, so over-prescribed nowadays, that the friendly bacteria we need to ensure proper digestion, has been killed off and not been replenished.
It really irks me when I come across advice that mentions only medication as the solution to certain problems that could really be addressed very simply.
But I guess it’s understandable since Big Pharma funded medical schools don’t deem nutrition an important topic and only give it a cursory glance during the 8 years of schooling aspiring doctors go through.
Oh my God! Maybe this could be one problem they wouldn’t have to bother with if people were better educated when it comes to diet and well-being.
But oh my God, the cash cow would have to go to slaughter and that would be unacceptable.
Tags: enzymes, GERD, nutrition, probiotics
