Our topic this month comes from a question my cousin asked me about acid reflux. After answering, I realized I had not covered this topic in a newsletter before, so no time like the present!
The 5-Second Skim: Managing Acid Reflux
• Encourage slower, smaller, and earlier evening meals to reduce pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter and ease symptoms
• Identify personal trigger foods through short-term food journaling rather than relying only on generic “eat this, not that” lists
• Address lifestyle factors—like stress, body composition, and smoking—that can worsen reflux symptoms
Acid reflux: An Undelicious Side Effect of Delicious Food
All year long can be one glorious food season after another!
Shortbread cookies in your office kitchenette, honey-glazed ham leftovers in your fridge, a virtual library of beer options at that bar you’re planning to go to for tonight’s gathering.
(And what goes great with beer? Spicy wings of course!)
But all those treats can start to sit funny, especially if you struggle with acid reflux, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
GERD affects about 1 in 5 US adults.
(And you can bet that number goes up during certain times of the year.)
But how do you manage these uncomfortable symptoms, which include:
❤️🔥 Pain or burning in the chest, usually after eating
❤️🔥 Burping or regurgitating food or sour liquid
❤️🔥 A feeling of a lump in the throat, or trouble swallowing
Let me offer some simple dietary and lifestyle modifications for when/if you are looking for relief.
1. Eat slowly, in a relaxed setting.
When you’re rushed and stressed, you tend to eat faster and less mindfully.
That also probably means not chewing properly, and gulping your food down in (harder to digest) chunks.
Stress also activates the sympathetic nervous system—our “fight or flight” mode—which inhibits digestion. (Result: At 8 p.m., you still feel like you can sense the exact contours of that burrito you ate for lunch in your stomach.)
2. Eat smaller meals.
GERD is due in part to a poor-functioning or overly-relaxed lower esophageal sphincter—a valve that allows food to pass from the esophagus into the stomach.
When that sphincter doesn’t close properly, undigested food mixed with stomach acid can splash into the esophagus, causing that telltale burn.
Larger meals put additional pressure on a valve that’s not very good at holding food back to begin with.
So, try smaller meals—which put less pressure on the walls of your stomach—and symptoms will likely improve, at least slightly.
3. Eat earlier.
When you eat a meal late in the evening, and then lie down for bed before it’s fully digested, fluids can slosh back upstairs because of gravity.
If you have night-time heartburn, I suggest you eat earlier in the evening so the stomach has more time to empty itself. Some people also find that elevating the head of their bed slightly can help too.
4. Keep a food journal.
Certain foods are triggers for acid reflux. Here are a few common ones:
🧈 High fat foods and meals: Dietary fat slows gastric emptying, meaning that food and acids stay in the stomach longer. This increases stomach pressure, which can promote reflux, as mentioned earlier.
☕️ Irritating or acidic foods: Coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, spicy foods, and citrus foods can irritate the esophagus and make heartburn worse.
🍷 Relaxants and carbonated drinks: Relaxants—foods that relax muscle activity in the body—can make a lazy esophageal sphincter nearly fall asleep. Alcohol is a common relaxant and GERD trigger, as is peppermint tea. (Note: Although it’s triggering for GERD, peppermint tea can still help other digestive woes, like gas or constipation.) Bubbly drinks add volume to the stomach, which again, puts pressure on the valve.
Not all triggers are universal though.
The best way to find out YOUR GERD-kryptonite is to keep a food journal: For two weeks, record all food and drinks, plus symptoms, and look for patterns.
Other triggers of GERD to remember.
Aside from diet, certain lifestyle factors and stages of life can influence reflux:
▶ Pregnancy: During pregnancy, progesterone—a natural muscle relaxant—increases, causing the esophageal sphincter to relax. (Your baby’s foot pressing on your stomach doesn’t help either.)
▶ Having a lot of body fat: Visceral fat (around the internal organs) compresses the space around the stomach. You might notice that if you lose body fat, the GERD eases too.
▶ Bacterial overgrowth: Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria responsible for ulcers, can also contribute to symptoms of GERD.
▶ Age: Time tends to weaken muscles, including sphincters. Eventually, the esophageal sphincter is less able to seal the esophagus properly.
▶ Smoking: This can worsen not only GERD but also increase the risk of esophageal cancer.
While some of these factors are out of your control, the tips earlier in this email can still help.
It’s amazing how many distressing symptoms can be improved through simple dietary and eating modifications.
Any questions, let me know.
Until next month, be well and pay attention to how what you eat affects how you feel!
shelli
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