GERD Diet with All Essential Considerations

If you are frequently experiencing heartburn, regurgitation, bloating, or a feeling of food stuck in your throat, it’s time to pay attention. Keep in consideration that it may be signs of acid reflux, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and acidity. However, there is no need to worry anymore because the acid reflux diet can help you a lot to reduce these uncomfortable symptoms. Along with this, medicines are also used quite commonly to remedy acidity issues, so modifying the diet can help address the issue. Let’s have a look at some of the essential considerations regarding the Gerd diet.  

Remedy Your Acidity with Alkaline Foods

Modifying the diet is the easiest and most effective way to avoid reflux. Eating less acidic as well as more alkaline food aids reduce the backflow of acid into the esophagus. Alkaline foods that neutralize the acidic contents of the stomach also numb the effect of reflux. However, some of these foods include:

• A lot of vegetables (green or otherwise) such as spinach, okra, cucumber, beetroot, fenugreek, carrot, cabbage, coriander, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potato, onion, peas, pumpkin, eggplant, and radish
• Many fruits such as bananas, watermelon, apples, figs and pomegranate
• Unsweetened yogurt
• Beans such as green beans, broad beans, moong bean sprouts, navy beans, lima beans, pinto beans and lentils
• Nuts and seeds like almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, and sunflower seeds

To incorporate more acid-reducing foods into the diet, bring colorful, nutritious green salads or a stand-alone snack, and keep a small jar of seeds at the desk to eat in small doses. Moreover, swap your greasy dessert dish for a healthy yogurt cup with a variety of fruit, especially in the summers. You can also add a pulse or legume dish or new sprouts salad to the meal. For further information, visit this link.

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

Keeping yourself hydrated is considered underrated health advice. According to recent researches, it has been shown that drinking mineral water decreases the symptoms of reflux. Moreover, drinking enough water also dilutes the acids in your stomach for symptom relief. 

However, another study has also shown that drinking alkaline water largely helps reduce reflux symptoms. Alkaline water increases the pH of the water are available in stores. Consult any nutritionist or doctor to understand if making the switch will help your GERD. If you are following a keto diet too, check the benefits of keto diet.

Avoid Acidity-Causing Foods

It is essential to identify reflux-causing foods in the diet and mix them. Foods that are rich in fats also tend to increase the perception of reflux. Some of these foods are:

• Fried delicacies 
• Fat-rich sweets 
• Oily side dishes 

Moreover, next in line are spicy foods that irritate the stomach wall and induce heartburn too. Chocolates and coffee also induce gastroesophageal reflux. Along with this, all the carbonated beverages tend to induce a reflex effect a couple of hours after they are consumed. Some of the packaged foods are rich in sodium that is known to cause acidity as well.

Watch Your Habits

When it comes to GERD, what you eat matters a lot; lying down, sleeping within half or an hour of eating, and even wearing tight clothing, post-meals can also increase acidity chances. Being overweight also set-off gastric issues that cause acid reflux, and all the more reason to focus on fresh, healthy, alkaline foods.

Well-armed with this knowledge, it’s the best time to plan your menu around an acid reflux diet with natural acidity remedies. You likely already have them in the kitchen.

GERD Diet – General Guidelines

• Stop smoking or chewing tobacco.
• Discuss your weight with the doctor. 
• Do not overeat. It is recommended to eat at small portions at meals and snacks.
• Avoid tight clothing and tight-fitting belts. Do not lie down within the first 15-30 minutes after eating.
• Do not chew gum, as well as suck on hard candy. The reason is, swallowing air with chewing gum and sucking on hard candy may cause belching and reflux.
• Use bricks or wood blocks to raise the head of your bed 6-8 inches.