You’re at a wedding and looking your finest but after that steak, your acid reflux just won’t let you go through the day in style. How annoying can that be? As much as acid reflux can be a nagging nuisance, it may have more serious complications than you think.
Acid reflux and heartburn
Acid reflux happens when your lower esophageal sphincter (i.e. LES) doesn’t close all the way when you eat food. When your LES stays open or opens most of the time, acid from your stomach will go up and reach the esophagus or food pipe. Once this happens, you might experience burning chest pain or what is commonly called as heartburn. If you experience acid reflux at least twice a week or more, this has already become a disease known as gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.
Binge-eating culture
How can I avoid getting acid reflux disease or GERD? Simple. Beware of the binge-eating culture. From the comfort of our couches and an HD TV with a netflix subscription, I’m pretty sure movies and series are not the only things you’re binging on. How about nachos, french fries, pizza, and soda? HOLD UP. These cravings can actually be risk factors for instigating acid reflux disease.
Eating heavy meals then immediately lying down or bending over your waist can risk acid going up to your food pipe. Midnight snacks can also put you at risk, so you have to be careful about eating close to bedtime.
The type of food you eat also matters, as fatty and spicy foods can trigger that acid. Too much citrus, tomato, min, onions, garlic and chocolate might not also help you. Beverage such as coffee, carbonated drinks, and alcohol should also be taken in moderation.
If you are a smoker, consider stopping as well. Other risks for GERD also include pregnancy and taking certain medications such as ibuprofen, aspirin and even blood pressure medications.
Of course, you can still have these foods, beverages, and conditions as long as you’re taking them in moderation and they’re not bothering you.
The other key takeaways with acid reflux is many times it is caused by too LITTLE acid and/or a hiatal hernia. Yes, that’s not a typo. If the stomach acid is too low in supply, the stomach must work harder to digest a food (especially protein rich ones like steak, other meats, eggs, etc.) and may make you more prone to digestive upset.
Correcting this deficient acid by way of foods and/or supplements such as Apple Cider Vinegar, bitter herbs and actually dosing stomach acid may help you considerably. However, it’s important to not start these when you’re really flared with gastritis or have an ulcer. You must first work on healing the lining more before beginning to correct the low acid potential risk.
A hiatal hernia is where the stomach tends to get displaced upwards in the abdominal cavity, which concurrently tends to move up the acid and contents of the stomach, making it more likely for them to infiltrate the esophagus, resulting in heartburn. Adjusting the stomach’s position with a proper chiropractic adjustment can make a world of difference for people with this issue!
Symptoms to watch out for:
If you abuse the risk factors mentioned above, you’ll have to watch out for the following symptoms:
- Heartburn – you’ll know it’s heartburn if there’s a burning sensation moving up your chest. This pain may be coming from your stomach, abdomen, or chest. The pain can also move up to your throat.
- Regurgitation – assess if your throat or mouth has a sour or bitter acid aftertaste.
- Bloating – check if you feel as full as a balloon
- Bloody or black stools/bloody vomit
- Burping
- Dysphagia – you should feel that food is somehow stuck in your throat
- Hiccups that won’t stop
- Nausea
- Losing weight for no reason
- Wheezing, chronic sore throat, or dry cough
- Shooting, ‘random’ pain in your chest and/or back
- Cracking, dry fingernails and/or with ridges
- Hiatal hernia issue
Acid reflux complications
If left untreated, your acid reflux may develop into the following complications:
- Adult-onset asthma – disorder of the lungs that causes shortness of breath, frequent coughing especially at night, wheezing, and tightness in chest
- Esophagitis – inflammation of the esophagus that causes trouble swallowing, sore throat, and heartburn
- Esophageal stricture – narrowing of the esophagus that causes difficulty in swallowing
- Barrett’s esophagus – a condition from long-term GERD where the lining in the esophagus is thickened and becomes red
- Regurgitation of acid into the lungs – where your airways are trapped by the reflux of liquid which can lead to pneumonia
- Sinusitis – where the reflux of liquid has reached your sinuses
- Ulcerations/bleeding – sores or infection on your stomach or upper portion of your small intestine
- Stomach or esophageal cancer
Improve your GERD for good
These complications are obviously something you don’t want to neglect. Take matters into your own hands by changing your lifestyle now.
Overweight or obese? Start working out. If you can’t handle it on your own, find friends to workout with, or get your personal fitness coach.
A chain smoker? Quitting smoking is never bad. It has always had good effects on a person’s overall health.
Ordering your next box of spicy pizza, fast food or hot Mexican? If you’re aggravated by these foods, take a break for a while so you can work on healing your stomach/esophagus or better yet, try and minimize them for good!
Suffering from chronic bloating, heaviness in your stomach after eating meat or have recurrent yeast or gut infections? You may have too little acid and need to improve this!
When it comes to health, especially when your organs are about to be damaged, there’s no going back. Improving your condition as early as possible would be your best option.
A LINX device surgery would at least cost $13,000, and a fundoplication would cost $8,000 at the cheapest rate. Of all these surgeries, wouldn’t it cost less if you helped your mild acid reflux immediately? Heck, you would even save up money from all of those food deliveries you’re not paying for!
Serious concern for acid reflux
Your acid reflux may be bearable at the moment, but are you going to wait for it to get worse? It may be a nagging nuisance that you’d just want to ignore but ignoring it might be a grave mistake in the future.
If a lifestyle change did not solve acid reflux for you, maybe your doctor can. Consider a consult with a qualified holistic doctor. Schedule a Free 15-minute Discovery Call with Dr. Eric Wood, ND by clicking this link.