If you've ever had a bout of heartburn... and it does burn, or live with acid reflux, you know first hand how uncomfortable it is. How the pain is worse when you bend over or lie down. So, how would you like an easy heartburn remedy?
Did you know that one in ten Americans (plus half of all pregnant women) have symptoms at least once a week? And while an occasional bout isn't anything to worry about, heartburn that is with you all the time can be a sign of something serious, or a condition known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
The initial treatment is often a heartburn (or GERD) diet that cuts out alcohol, caffeine and rich, fatty and spicy foods. Other foods you'll want to consider removing from your diet include citrus fruits, garlic, onions, chocolate, tomatoes and peppermint, as well as dishes high in fats or oils.
Patients also are advised not to smoke as this relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter, the ring of muscle separating the stomach and esophagus and stimulates stomach acid, to sleep propped up on pillows, to wear loose, comfortable clothing, to avoid overeating and take medications when needed to ease the symptoms.
Stress is also known to cause an increase in acid production in the stomach, and should be managed and limited as much as possible.
Now experts are seeing that losing weight may be very helpful in terms of heartburn relief, especially if you're carrying more than your share of extra pounds.
Research has found that both people who gain some weight up their chances of suffering from heartburn, while losing weight seems to bring down the risk.
No one yet understands how this works, it's likely that extra pounds around the abdomen increases pressure on the stomach, and this causes a reflux of stomach contents back into the esophagus. The extra pressure causes the sphincter (known as the lower esophageal sphincter, LES for short) to relax and let the acidic contents of the stomach seep back into the esophagus. Hardly helping matters, being overweight also impacts how quickly the stomach empties.
In fact, researchers who examined 10,000 female subjects taking part in a large study saw that a weight gain of between 10 - 20 pounds was linked with three times more heartburn. When someone who is overweight becomes obese, this can cause more problems, upping the chances they'll develop GERD as well as heartburn.
And get this; dropping the weight can lower a woman's chance of heartburn by around 40%.
If you decide to make some changes, a heart friendly diet is the best way to go, for heartburn and weight loss. The good news is that it doesn't matter if your eating plan is high fat, high carb or low protein, a recent study found little difference between four popular diet plans in terms of weight lost.
You need to set a daily calorie goal that's appropriate for your age, level of activity, weight loss goals and gender - somewhere between 1,200 and 2,400 calories each day - and stick with that.
Being active each day can help with your weight loss, and keep stress under control too. You should aim for half an hour of activity each day. Things like working in the garden, cleaning the house, walking the dog, all of them count.
You're aiming for a weight loss of a slow but steady one to two pounds each week. Not glamorous, and calling for both patience and sustained effort, this is the type of weight loss, and heartburn remedy that has lasting results.
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