• One of the easiest cures or natural remedy for Acid Reflux or for GERD, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, is to change the life-style. This consists of changing your routine and changing your food intake. There are quite a few modifications in eating practices that can be favorable in treating GERD.
• Reflux is more likely to occur when patients with Acid Reflux lie down. Reflux of acid is more damaging at night than during the day. During nighttime, when human beings are lying down, it is easier for reflux to take place. The explanation for this is simple. Gravity is not holding back the reflux, as it does in the upright position during the day. Additionally, the lessening of the effect of gravity permits the refluxed fluid to pass further up the esophagus and stay in the esophagus for a longer period of time, causing more damage to the esophagus.
• These problems can be partly conquered by careful positioning of the upper body in bed. You can elevate your body either by putting blocks underneath the bed's headboard feet or by lying with your upper body positioned on a pillowed wedge. These activities raise the esophagus above the stomach, and, to some extent, reinstate the effects of gravity. Additionally, it is essential that the upper body and not just the head be raised. This elevation of the upper body at nighttime usually is suggested for all patients with GERD. Nonetheless, a good number of patients with GERD have reflux only during the day and elevation at nighttime is of little comfort to them.
• Unfortunately, it is not possible to know for certain which patients will gain comfort from elevation at night. Not unless acid testing undoubtedly reveals night reflux. Conversely, patients who have regurgitation, heartburn, or other indications of GERD at night are perhaps experiencing reflux at night and certainly must use upper body elevation. Moreover, reflux also happens less often when patients lie on their left sides than on their right sides.
• A variety of foods are known to increase reflux. These foods include chocolate, peppermint, caffeinated drinks, and alcohol. Fatty foods, which should be decreased, and smoking, which should be stopped, also decrease the pressure in the sphincter and promote reflux. Additionally, patients with GERD may discover that other foods worsen their symptoms. Some examples are spicy or acid-containing foods, carbonated beverages, tomato juice and citrus juices. These foods should be avoided.
• Include more fiber in your foods. Eat small and more frequent meals to ensure that your stomach does not get totally full. Eat more complex carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Cut down on your intake of fatty and fried foods. Include herbs like ginger in your meals. This is the best, healthiest and a long-term solution.
• Antacids are also known to reduce the problems brought about by Acid Reflux. Antacids are said to neutralize the acid in the stomach so that there is no acid to reflux. The problem with antacids is that their effectiveness is short and long term use can actually cause severe conditions.

The Terrible Truth about Acid Reflux Disease

• First of all, acid reflux is not a disease.  It is an acquired condition which can be completely healed by eating properly.  I wonder if people had acid reflux, gerd and heartburn a thousand years ago.  I sincerely doubt it.  I believe it is a symptom of the quality of the food we eat today, our eating habits and the stressful times in which we live.
• People who eat convenience food on the run can't expect to enjoy proper digestion.  Proper digestion requires chewing food well and not diluting the digestive juices with liquids, the worst of these being carbonated beverages.  And of course all the fat associated with convenience food makes the situation worse.  Most people who go to fast food chains eat a burger with fries and a large soda.  The employees are trained to push the soft drinks on the customers.  They look at you as if you are nuts if you opt to skip the big soft drink.
• People today are always in a hurry, always late, both parents working and commuting to those jobs.   There seems to be no time to shop for and prepare quality food.   Children are forced to be self sufficient from an early age.  They prepare their own meals, microwaving food which has little food value and is loaded with sodium and fat.
• We are raising a generation of future acid refluxers.   The parents are no better off, grabbing junk food to eat in the office.   No wonder so many people suffer from acid reflux.   I am sure that the big drug industries are thrilled at the prospects of future sales.
• The medical community wants us to believe that only prescription drugs are the answer for the symptoms of indigestion.  Of course this is not true.  Antacids are, at best, a temporary fix and they are loaded with harmful ingredients such as sodium and aluminum.   PPI drugs (proton pump inhibitors) like Nexium and Prilosec should only be used for eight weeks, at most.  It says so right on the package, but after eight weeks what are we to do?    Furthermore, these drugs only mask and hide the symptoms and have hundreds of harmful side effects.  The heal the condition and  only make the drug makers rich at our expense!
• I used to suffer from acute GERD.  I confess that I too ate on the run.  I didn't chew my food properly.  I washed everything down with soda and became addicted to a PPI drug - that purple pill.  It was so easy and convenient.  I could abuse my body and not suffer for it.  I thought that drug was my salvation until that illusion came crashing down on me.
• After several years of taking this drug, my condition became worse and I was told to double the dose.  I began to feel sluggish and tired.  My vision suffered and my blood pressure soared.  I realized that these were probably side effects of this PPI drug.  Perhaps I was suffering from malnutrition?  How does the body digest and assimilate food without stomach acid?
• I did a computer search and found that there were hundreds of possible side effects.  I was shocked at what I found! I was harming my body and I wanted to stop taking this drug!  But when I tried to stop taking the PPI, the acid pumps, which had been shut off, went wild and produced more acid than ever before.
• I can't tell you how much I suffered. My esophagus was constantly burning and l feared that I would suffer permanent damage.  I couldn't sleep at night. I was afraid to eat or drink anything but water.  My friends didn't understand my problem.  They would call and say,"Let's go out for Southwestern barbeque".  Of course, I couldn't. I loved to eat hot chili sprinkled with raw onions and jack cheese, but it was now my worst nightmare.  My life was becoming unbearable!
• I was determined to beat this illness.  My doctor couldn't help me and  no one could tell me what to do.  I had to heal myself.  I became completely dedicated to finding the answers.  I studied and researched.  I wanted to discover naturopathic treatments as opposed to drugs.  I searched high and low for natural remedies that might actually cure acid reflux.  I tried every possible remedy and healthy diet I could find.  I made myself a virtual guinea pig.
• In the end, I found that the answers to the acid reflux problem are really quite simple.  With a few changes in lifestyle and with the help of natural remedies, one can absolutely beat the acid reflux syndrome, without the use of drugs.
• Remember, that the reason this condition exists in the first place, is due to a damaged esophagus.  Let the esophagus heal by not eating the same foods in the same way that caused the damage.  Loosing weight, exercising, chewing properly, drinking sufficient amounts of water and elevating the head at night, are all simple things that anyone can do to improve this condition.
• There are also many natural ingredients found in any health store, which can help during, what I call, the acid reflux recovery period.  Herbs, such as slippery elm and marshmallow have wonderful healing properties.  Aloe vera juice, licorice and natural honey can sooth the esophagus and assist in the healing process.
• I had to take control of my life and assume responsibility for my own actions.  I managed to turn things around.  I did heal myself of the acid reflux condition.  With a little knowledge and discipline, anyone can do the same.
• For more information on how to heal acid reflux the natural way, go to: this site.. Click here.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

• Acid reflux is an extremely common health problem. So common in fact, it affects one out of two of you watching this video. Other terms used for this condition are gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD), or peptic ulcer disease. Typically, acid reflux is thought to be caused by having too much acid in your stomach.
• This is a serious medical mistake that affects hundreds of millions of people.

What’s the REAL Cause of Acid Reflux?

• It’s important to understand that acid reflux is NOT a disease of too much acid being produced, but rather it’s a condition related more commonly to hiatal hernia – a condition in which the acid is coming out of your stomach, where it’s supposed to remain.

  There’s a valve between your stomach and your small intestine called the pyloric valve. When the acid in your stomach refluxes over that valve, it causes symptoms very similar to those of acid reflux. Heartburn is the primary symptom of acid reflux; a burning sensation that radiates up from your stomach to your chest and throat. It occurs when food and stomach juices reflux up into your esophagus, which is the tube that leads from your throat to your stomach. It’s typically most bothersome at night, and tends to occur in connection with certain activities, such as:

  • After eating a heavy meal
  • Bending over
  • Lifting
  • Lying down, especially when laying on your back

• Other symptoms include:

• Hoarseness
• A feeling that food is stuck in your throat
• Tightness in your throat
• Wheezing
• Asthma
• Dental problems
• Bad breath
• While I was in residency training in medical school in the early 80s, an Australian physician named Dr. Barry Marshall did some pioneering work on acid reflux. He discovered that an organism called helicobacter pylori (initially called campylobacter) causes a chronic low-level inflammation of your stomach lining, and is responsible, or at least a major factor, for producing many of the symptoms of acid reflux.
• There are over 16,000 articles supporting the fact that suppressing stomach acid does not treat the problem. It only treats the symptoms. And one of the explanations for this is that when you suppress the amount of acid in your stomach, you decrease your body’s ability to kill the helicobacter bacteria. So it actually makes your condition worse and perpetuates the problem.
• Of course now we have treatments such as antibiotics that are  designed to eradicate that organism. However, I’ve found that it’s virtually never necessary to use antibiotics, and I’ll share several simple, effective strategies to eliminate the helicobacter without the use of drugs.
• How to Wean Yourself Off Dangerous Acid Reflux Drugs
• If you suffer with this condition, and made the unwise choice of seeing a conventional physician for it, you’ve likely been put on a proton pump inhibitor like Prilosec or Prevacid.
• Please understand that these are very dangerous drugs. It’s the last thing you’ll want to take for this condition.
• Unfortunately, proton pump inhibitors are very popular because they work quite well. However, you’ll develop both tolerance and dependence on them, so you can’t stop taking them without suffering serious repercussions.
• You should NEVER stop taking proton pump inhibitors cold turkey. You have to wean yourself off them gradually or else you’ll experience a severe rebound of your symptoms, and the problem may end up being worse than before you started taking the medication.
• Ideally, you’ll want to get a lower dose than you’re on now, and then gradually decrease your dose. Once you get down to the lowest dose of the proton pump inhibitor, you can start substituting with an over-the-counter H2 blocker like Tagamet, Cimetidine, Zantac, or Raniditine. Then gradually wean off the H2 blocker over the next several weeks.
• Safe and Effective Strategies That Can Eliminate Acid Reflux
• While you wean yourself off these drugs (if you’re already on one), you’ll want to start implementing a lifestyle modification program that can eliminate this condition once and for all.

• These strategies include:

• Eliminating food triggers -- Food allergies can be a problem, so you’ll want to completely eliminate items such as caffeine, alcohol, and all nicotine products.

  Increasing your body’s natural production of stomach acid -- Like I said earlier, acid reflux is not caused by too much acid in your stomach -- it’s usually a problem with too little acid. One of the simplest strategies to encourage your body to make sufficient amounts of hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) is to consume enough of the raw material.
• One of the simplest, most basic food items that many people neglect is a high quality sea salt (unprocessed salt).
• I recommend eliminating processed, regular table salt for a lot of different reasons, all of which I’ve reviewed before. But an unprocessed salt like Himalayan salt -- one of the best salts on the planet – will not only provide you with the chloride your body needs to make hydrochloric acid, it also contains over 80 trace minerals your body needs to perform optimally, biochemically.
• Taking a hydrochloric acid supplement – Another option is to take a betaine hydrochloric supplement, which is available in health food stores without prescription. You’ll want to take as many as you need to get the slightest burning sensation and then decrease by one capsule. This will help your body to better digest your food, and will also help kill the helicobacter and normalize your symptoms.
• Modifying your diet – Eating large amounts of processed foods and sugars is a surefire way to exacerbate acid reflux as it will upset the bacterial balance in your stomach and intestine.
• Instead, you’ll want to eat a lot of vegetables, and high quality, organic, biodynamic, and locally grown foods. You can also supplement with a high quality probiotic or make sure you include fermented foods in your diet. This will help balance your bowel flora, which can help eliminate helicobacter naturally.
• Optimizing your vitamin D levels -- As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, vitamin D is essential, and it’s essential for this condition as well because there’s likely an infectious component causing the problem. Once your vitamin D levels are optimized, you’re also going to optimize your production of 200 antimicrobial peptides that will help your body eradicate any infections that shouldn’t be there.
• You’ll want to make sure your vitamin D level is about 60 ng/ml, and I strongly recommend you use LabCorp, which is a high quality testing facility.As I’ve discussed in many previous articles, you can increase your vitamin D levels through appropriate amounts of sun exposure, or through the use of a safe tanning bed.
• If neither of those are available, you can take an oral vitamin D3 supplement. However, whenever you use oral vitamin D, it’s imperative you get tested regularly to make sure you’re not reaching toxic levels.Implementing an exercise routine – Exercise is yet another way to improve your body’s immune system, which is imperative to fight off all kinds of infections.

For more information on how to heal acid reflux the natural way, go to: this site.. Click here.

Tags: acid reflux, acid reflux treatments, treatments