7 Ways to Relieve Acid Reflux Symptoms

An acid reflux disease diet can help control the occurrence of acid reflux and decrease the risk of heartburn for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) sufferers.

Following a controlled diet is a matter of determining which foods trigger symptoms, and which foods are safe to eat.

Creating a two-week food diary, where you make a record of all the foods you ingest and the symptoms that follow, is the best way to discover the foods to eliminate. After two weeks, you should then present your food diary to your doctor or dietician so he/she can help create a acid reflux diet plan that is beneficial for you.

Although it is in your best interest to create a food diary, the following are 7 food categories and the related foods you should avoid, or are considered safe to eat in each.

The seven categories are:

1. Dairy 2. Meat 3. Grains 4. Vegetables and Fruit 5. Fats and oil 6. Sweets and snacks 7. Beverages
By knowing what you should and shouldn’t eat within each food category is how you create an acid reflux disease diet that effectively relieves symptoms by stopping them before they start.

Foods you should avoid

The following foods should be eliminated or dramatically limited in an acid reflux disease diet, as ingesting them, even in small quantities, can aggravate symptoms and lead to recurring heartburn.
Dairy - Cottage cheese, sour cream, ice cream and ice cream related products (I.E. milk shakes, floats, etc.)
Meat - Buffalo wings, chicken nuggets, ground beef, and marbled steak
Grains - Pasta with marinara sauce, macaroni and cheese
Vegetables & Fruit - Vegetables: raw onion, French fires, mashed potatoes.
Fruits: Citrus fruits and juices which include lemon, lime, lemonade, orange, orange juice, grapefruit and grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, tomato and tomato juice.
Fats and oil - Oily or creamy salad dressings, and essentially all fried or fatty processed Foods.
Sweets and Snacks - Chocolate, doughnuts, butter cookies, brownies, corn chips, and potato chips.
Beverages - Alcohol, regular or decaffeinated coffee and tea, high-sugared drinks such as soda.
 
Foods considered safe

The following foods are considered safe to eat and shouldn’t aggravate your GERD symptoms; therefore, they can become a regular part of your acid reflux disease diet.
Dairy - Fat-free cream cheese, feta or goat cheese, low-fat soy cheese.
Meat - Extra lean ground beef, London broiled steak, skinless chicken breast, egg whites, imitation eggs, and fish without additional fat. 
Grains - Whole grain or white bread, corn bread, oatmeal, bran cereal, white or brown rice
Vegetables & Fruit - Vegetables: broccoli, carrots, cabbage, peas, green beans, and baked potato.
Fruits: banana, fresh or dried apple, apple juice.
Fats and oil - low fat salad dressing
Sweets and Snacks - Pretzels, baked potato chips, graham crackers, rice cakes, fat free cookies, red liquorice, and jelly beans
Beverages - Water

Occasional treats
Last, but not least, the following is a brief list of foods you can occasionally enjoy in your acid reflux disease diet, but should be consumed with discretion and in moderation as they can aggravate symptoms:
Dairy - Yogurt, cheddar or mozzarella cheese
Meat - fired eggs, fried fish, hot dog, ham and tuna salad.
Grains - Granola cereal and muffin.
Vegetables & Fruit - Vegetables: garlic, leeks, and green onions.
Fruits: low-acid orange juice, dried cranberries, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.
Fats and oil - ketchup
Sweets and Snacks - low-fat cookies
Beverages - non-alcoholic drinks and carbonated drinks

Finally, keep in mind that the above food lists are only general guidelines. Some of the foods considered safe to eat for one heartburn sufferer may not be the same for another.

Therefore, make sure you keep a food diary to determine what the best acid reflux disease diet is for you, so you can effectively treat and prevent your symptoms.

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Acid Reflux and Back Pain Can Be Connected

You may think that there is no logical connection between acid reflux and back pain, and in a way you are right. However, there may be connections that you might not have considered. Acid reflux can have a knock on effect to other parts of your body, but when you think of back pain, you might not think your stomach acid is at fault.

The problem is you never know if there is a connection between any two seemingly unrelated conditions unless you really think about it. You have to think of the more indirect reasons in order to take care of your back problems.

Acid reflux happens when the acids from the stomach move up through the esophagus and sometimes all the way into the mouth. The acid is produced in the stomach to aid in digestion, but should be held in the stomach by a small muscular value at the top end of the stomach.

When this valve is not working properly, the acid leaks up and causes pain and discomfort. This can also lead to damage to the soft tissues, which may or may not be repairable. Some people only have this problem once in a while, and over-the-counter medications help. Others have it daily, and must rely on a prescription to make symptoms bearable.

You may wonder how acid reflux might lead to back problems. In a way, it can, but in a very round-about way. Though the acid is not harming your back, the side effects can be. Some acid reflux sufferers find that the only way to gain relief while sleeping is to have their head elevated.

Because the valve at the top of the stomach isn’t closing properly, gravity can work against you when you lie down flat to sleep. This means the acid leaks into your esophagus while you sleep. You may wake up many times a night with intense pain in the chest.

To combat this, sufferers try sleeping with their head and upper body elevated. The problems occur if you don’t do this the right way, and the end result is you can hurt your back. It might not happen right away, but back pain start to appear after you do this night after night.

Other suggestions for having a painful back are as a result of eating the foods that cause acid reflux. There is very little information to be found to back this up, but it could be a possibility. When the pain is severe enough, it might radiate into your back.

This pain will be associated with other pains though, and will not be something that you feel all the time. If you have chronic back pain, it might be because of your sleeping position and not really the direct result of acid reflux.

If you are experiencing acid reflux and back pain, you should talk to your doctor about what is going on. It might be related, however, if it’s not, you do want to know what is causing your issues. There may be something going on that is totally unrelated to your reflux.

If that is the case, you want to get it taken care of incase something else even more serious than acid reflux is going on.


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Home Remedy For Acid Reflux - Herbal Tea

There are many things that cause problems for those who have GERD (otherwise known as acid reflux). There are some things you can’t eat, and some that you should.

There are times when this can be very confusing, and many don’t want to rely on medications to make all foods tolerable. If you want a home remedy for acid reflux, there are things you can try.

One of these things is drinking herbal teas. Some of them will help, and some might make matters worse, so you should know which to have and which to avoid.

When choosing herbal teas, there is one important thing to think about when you are choosing what you want to try. Caffeine is a known trigger for acid reflux, and it should be avoided. That means that any herbal teas that you try must be caffeine-free.

Though you can get decaffeinated coffee to drink, even that is known to aggravate GERD and should be avoided. This makes decaffeinated herbal teas the best choice when you seek a hot and soothing drink.

Some of them might even help with some of your symptoms of acid reflux.

Many suggest that ginger can help sooth acid reflux symptoms, and if you can find it in a tea, a cup after a meal might help your stomach settle down for the night. You can mix peppermint with aniseed and lavender for a great tasting and soothing blend.

You should boil a few cups of water and a teaspoon of your herbal mix, then drain the herbs after sitting for about ten minutes. If you boil this tea and want to have it sweetened, you might try honey instead of sugar or artificial sweetener.

Chicory Root can also be used to make a great herbal tea. You boil a few cups of this and then let sit for a while. You can then drink the tea with honey if you wish. Marshmallow tea might also help.

This is not tea made from the marshmallows in your cupboard as the name might suggest, but from a root by the same name. This is known to soothe the digestive system. Another popular type of tea is Chamomile. This is also known to help soothe the symptoms of acid reflux.

You can make many of these on your own, but you can also find them in natural food stores or special sections of your grocery store. Any of these teas might help you feel better, but you won’t know until you try them.

However, it is important that you talk with your doctor before you try them, as some can have side effects that you need to know about, and they might also mix badly with any prescription drugs that you might be taking for your acid reflux or for any other reason.

You usually will not have any problems with this type of home remedy for acid reflux, but you don’t want to take a chance with your health.


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