Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or what is more commonly known as Acid Reflux is defined as the chronic symptoms or mucosal damage of the esophagus that is caused by the reflux of stomach acid.

Simply stated – this is when the gastric contents of the stomach are expelled back into the esophagus, this creates discomfort, pain and possibly lasting tissue damage. Also, over time, if acid reflux is not controlled it can lead to esophageal cancer.

This happens due to a breakdown or changes in the barrier between the esophagus and the stomach, where the lower esophageal sphincter does not effectively contain the contents of the stomach.

Many things can cause it, but the most likely causes are dietary problems, a hiatus hernia or simply obesity.

Lifestyle changes, including weight loss and elevating the head of the bed will definitely help, but certain foods seem to promote acid reflux, so watching the food you eat is the most beneficial.

Coffee, alcohol, and excessive amounts of Vitamin C supplements stimulate gastric acid secretion in the stomach; so don’t take any of these before bedtime, as they can especially cause evening acid reflux.

Foods high in fats and smoking should be avoided.  And, having more but smaller meals reduces GERD risk, as it means there is less food in the stomach at any one time.

Other things to avoid include: carbonated soft drinks with or without sugar, chocolate and peppermint. Acidic foods, such as oranges and tomatoes can also cause heartburn. Vegetables to avoid include: onions, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and  brussel sprouts. Also, milk and milk-based products containing calcium and fat should be avoided within 2 hours of bedtime.

As you begin to eliminate these foods from your diet, you should notice a lessening of your symptoms. Keep that up until you’re able to isolate the main causes. You may be able to eat some foods earlier in the day and not suffer from the same acid reflux symptoms as you do at night.

If you don’t have success, try cutting out more processed foods from your diet. You may find that upping your water intake does the trick for you.

The main thing is that simplifying our lives and letting our body alert and guide us toward the foods that we need is the best way to return to our full health.

Not all, but most chronic heartburn cases are more closely related to the poor quality of food that we eat and not just another condition of the good life.

It’s a lot more difficult to recognize and treat the simple causes of a problem, when all we think about is the treatment of the symptoms. When we treat symptoms with medications we are not allowing our bodies to heal and assist us in finding the real problem.

Symptoms are just the body’s way of alerting us to an imbalance and treating the symptoms only impede the body’s natural abilities to heal its self.

This is the simple truth about most cases of acid reflux and heartburn – Just try it – it works!

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