3 Acid Reflux Diet Principles You Should Follow
Acid reflux is such an irritating disease. Not only is it uncomfortable with all the burning pain in your chest and throat, but it also can be scary not knowing whether your symptoms are truly from acid reflux or whether your symptoms are indicating you are suffering a heart attack. Assuming you have a history of acid reflux and that is what you are suffering from, what type of diet should you choose to help alleviate this disease? Here are 3 of the best acid reflux disease diet principles you can follow that will help you overcome this aggravating problem.
1. Avoid rich fatty foods. A good example of these type foods would be hamburgers and french fries. Individually, they can help cause acid reflux, but when eaten in combination such as at fast food restaurants or holiday barbecues they can really bring on the heartburn. A dietician I know told me once that when you chew a carbohydrate such as the bun on the hamburger or french fries, that your body will produce saliva in an attempt to start the digestive process. Unfortunately, he stated when you mix the meat with the carbohydrate, this process is halted. This makes it harder for you to digest your food, which is one of the main contributing factors of acid reflux disease.
2. Chew your food thoroughly. Just as saliva plays an important part in beginning the digestive process, so does chewing. The more your body has to work to digest your food once you swallow it, the more prone you are to heartburn. Americans are lousy chewers, myself included. We don't even begin to chew our food enough. We should be chewing our food approximately thirty times for most of what we eat. Next time you are eating, count how many times you chew your food. You'll probably be surprised how low your chew count is. Thirty or more times really helps to break down your food. The dietician I know advised me to chew even more. He advised chewing up to fifty times!
3. Don't over eat. Many people nowadays eat while working at their computer, or watching TV and really don't pay attention to how much they eat. There are studies which show that people who ate at the table without the computer or TV actually ate less during a meal. If you add step number two for chewing more properly, you will also eat less. Chewing your food properly helps your body to realize when it is full sooner. Just as with the first two steps, over eating creates a harder environment for your stomach to process your food and increases the likelihood that you will experience acid reflux symptoms.
Avoiding rich, fatty foods, chewing properly, and not over eating are three principles that are important for you to have the best acid reflux diet. These habits take time to develop so while you are trying to develop them, consider trying natural remedies for acid reflux that can help keep the pain at bay until you get control of this disease.
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