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The Causes Of GERD Are Not What You Think

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Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a condition that is highly common in the United States. When one has this condition, the valve separating the esophagus from the stomach allows acid into the unprotected esophagus, often causing an unpleasant sensation.

stomach on fire

Between 10-20% of people experience weekly symptoms, and $13 billion in prescription pharmaceuticals were spent treating this condition. The identification of the causes of GERD is a matter of some controversy right now which has significant implications in how the disease is treated.

Most people believe that GERD is caused by too much stomach acid. The vast majority of medicines that are given to people to treat GERD lower stomach acid.

While these are effective, there is a lot of evidence that the exact opposite scenario is true. Too little stomach acid could be causing GERD, and treating it with most prescription pharmaceuticals could make the condition worse in the long run.

The first thing someone should notice with regards to the too much stomach acid hypothesis is that most people experience dramatic drops in stomach acid when they age.

As a result, one would expect that GERD would become less and less of a problem if the high stomach acid cause hypothesis were correct. However, the exact opposite is observed. The incidence of GERD actually increases as one ages.

Why are young people not getting GERD in huge numbers given their large amounts of stomach acid? The main reason is that the valve separating the stomach from the esophagus normally works.

If it fails at all, then it does not matter if you have a little stomach acid or a lot. It is going to cause a problem. The reason why is the esophagus just is not protected against the corrosive effects of the acid.

This fact also explains why many people get systemic relief from pharmaceuticals. By dramatically decreasing the stomach acid that is flowing into the esophagus, one will get less symptoms. However, if the valve is not functioning well, there will always be small amounts of acid corroding the esophagus.

Recent evidence indicates that even silent GERD, that is when symptoms are not noticed, is dangerous and can even lead to a much greater risk of esophageal cancer.

The underlying dysfunction of the valve is believed to result from the unnatural expansion of pressure in the stomach, which pushes stomach juices out of the valve.

There appear to be two things that cause this increase in pressure. The first is an overgrowth of bacteria in the gut, and the second is the accumulation of improperly digested carbohydrates.

Both of these underlying issues actually can be the result of lower stomach acids. Bacteria cannot survive well in the stomach when the pH drops below 3. If one weakens the acid of the stomach, then this bacteria will overgrow causing increased stomach pressure.

The presence of undigested carbohydrates also helps to feed such bacteria. The reason that the carbohydrates are undigested also largely relates to the fact that the stomach acid is not powerful enough to quickly reduce them.

As a result, when people consume medicines such as proton pump inhibitors, they could be temporarily relieving their GERD symptoms while weakening their stomach acid, which is only making the underlying problem worse.

In contrast, many physicians have found that providing hydrochloric acid supplementation to boost the acid content of the stomach actually resolves the disease.

Thus, understanding the causes of GERD has very important implications towards changing our current treatment paradigm. If you currently suffer from GERD, you should seriously consider going off the prescription medications and taking actions to increase the acid content of your stomach.

Stop Your Heartburn with a Healthy Acid Reflux Diet

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If you have a burning pain after eating that moves up into your throat, you could have an acid reflux attack problem.

Heartburn

Food can be salvation to a starving man, but it can also cause serious problems when the wrong foods are eaten of an extended period of time. If you have heartburn, you can heal it with a sensible acid reflux diet.

 

When your doctor diagnoses a disease, he frequently will give you a list of foods you should not eat. This is certainly true if you suffer with heartburn, which is also referred to as acid reflux or GERD.

Acid reflux is caused when your stomach acids come back up into your esophagus due to the esophageal sphincter not functioning properly. If this condition goes untreated it can cause serious health complications over time.

You can tell if you have heartburn by a burning sensation in your throat, chest or upper stomach. The burning is usually worse in the back of your throat and it literally feels like there is acid present. An attack of acid reflux can result in labored breathing, belching and difficulty in swallowing.

If you are familiar with these symptoms, then there is a good chance that you have acid reflux. The first thing you should do is get a professional diagnosis from your family doctor and let him or her know how severe the symptoms are.

Your doctor will probably suggest a healthy diet. But first he may tell you which foods you should avoid. These include foods that are high in fat, acid, salt, sugar and spices.

On the list will be chocolate, coffee, alcohol, citric fruit juices, fatty and fried foods, extremely spicy foods and soda. Pin your list of prohibited foods on your refrigerator.

Some of the foods that you will want to include in your diet include oatmeal, ginger, aloe vera, green salads, bananas, melons, fennel, lean chicken, turkey and fish (not fried), root and green vegetables, celery, parsley, couscous and rice.

Some of these are easily attainable at your grocery store. Some, like aloe vera and ginger may be have to be taken in the form of supplements. It is also important to begin eating several small meals each day as opposed to two or three large meals.

Naturally your new diet and way of life will take some time to be effective. But you will find as you change your diet that your reflux problem will go away. Self discipline is important to make sure you stay on your diet.

While many people deal with heartburn by taking antacids or prescription medications, a natural acid reflux diet is the way to get rid of your heartburn for good. Yes, there are medications available that will help but only temporarily. The long term solution will depend almost entirely upon the foods that you choose to eat.

Your new diet may seem restrictive at first but you will soon get used to your it. And what a relief it will be to no longer have acid reflux attacks!