Our stomach produces concentrated hydrochloric acid, which mixes with water and becomes diluted. The acid helps in protein digestion in the stomach, which is also the first phase of the digestion process. Sometimes, the acid starts accumulating inside the stomach, especially when you go hungry for long hours. The moment you eat something, even drink water, you will feel the acid coming up through your esophagus. This is what we know as acid reflux in medical terms.
It is not mandatory that people who fast for a long time and do not eat in between only suffer from acid reflux. Instead, several studies have shown that GERD is a common health problem that can occur for many reasons. Yes, certain immediate medicines and solutions reduce acid reflux and dilute the concentrated acid in your stomach, but they come with one or more side effects. For this reason, depending on the natural remedies for acid reflux sounds like a much more feasible option.
What causes acid reflux?
Acid reflux can happen due to a variety of reasons. Usually, the specific reasons vary from one person to another because they symbolize any underlying disease. For example, if someone suffers from a gastric ulcer, acid reflux will accompany a searing pain inside the stomach and a burning sensation. We cannot classify it as a common symptom of acid reflux because it happens only in people suffering from ulcers.
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On the contrary, in regular people, the burning sensation usually happens along the esophagus and the upper part of the stomach where the esophagus and the fundus meet.
Going to this, we have listed some common reasons you can suffer from acid reflux, acidity, and gastritis.
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Lack of sleep, stressful life, chronic depression, and anxiety quickly lead to acid reflux and gastritis, especially if these conditions prevail for an extended period. This is because your hormones are highly dependent on the cytological conditions. Therefore, if you feel too stressed out or cannot sleep properly for weeks, the impact can be seen in the performance of your gastrointestinal organ system, especially in the stomach.
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Obesity can also lead to gastric acid reflux because the fat deposits do not allow the stomach to use the acid for protein digestion. As a result, you will feel the acid coming from your abdomen to your mouth every time you burp.
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Another major cause of acidity is drinking less water and more caffeinated drinks. For example, when you depend on coffee, tea, soda, and other drinks, your body receives more caffeine than water. Caffeine is dehydrating, and due to lack of an appropriate quantity of water, you suffer from extreme dehydration that leads to acid build-up and reflux. In addition, the absence of water fails to make gastric juice dilute, which is also one of the prime reasons for acid reflux.
- Overeating junk foods, fried items, and other food can often lead to acidity and acid reflux. For instance, if you overeat with lemon juice or any other citrus fruit juice, you will likely get acid reflux after a couple of minutes or an hour. Similarly, if you eat a lot of nuggets, deep fried bogus, and so on, the excessive amount of cooking oil will cause acidity and acid reflux since it is hard to digest for your body.
What are the three best natural remedies for acid reflux?
As you now know the prime causes of acid reflux, we are sure you won’t follow a lifestyle with all these issues. So, to fix everything and reduce the episodes of getting acid reflux after having a meal, you can follow the below-mentioned natural remedies. They are helpful and can quickly reduce acid production or prevent regurgitation.
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Avoid food that triggers acid reflux
One of the best remedies for reducing acid refluxes is avoiding food that triggers this particular GI problem. For example, you should stop drinking too much caffeine, which often leads to acid reflux. Substitute tea or coffee with green tea, white tea, or oolong tea that does not contain any caffeine.
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Also, try to avoid as much sugar and sugar-based products as possible. For example, go for dark chocolate instead of milk or white chocolate since it helps indicate. Similarly, do not overeat candy, marshmallows, meringue, etc. Instead, you can replace these snacks with energy bars, granola cubes, seeds and nuts, frozen fruits, and so on.
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Get proper sleep and lead a stress-free life
You should maintain a sleep routine of a minimum of 6 to 8 hours without any questions. Your body needs rest after a tiring day; without that, none of the metabolic and other functions will work properly. Therefore, if you do not sleep enough, your body cannot utilize the produced acid in the stomach for protein digestion the next day.
You will get acid reflux when you drink water on an empty stomach, especially if you had dinner late at night. Therefore, have an early dinner, and then go to bed and get proper sleep. This will also reduce stress and depression, ensuring that your psychological health cannot hurt your gastrointestinal health.
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Keep yourself hydrated as much as possible
One last natural remedy to keep yourself away from acid reflux is keeping yourself hydrated as much as possible. The more the water content, the more it will dilute the gastric juices in the stomach, thereby reducing periods of acid reflux.
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You can have tender coconut juice or fresh fruit juice made from seasonal fruits as a water source if you do not like to drink plain water too much. However, try to have water throughout the day according to your body weight, which is a minimum of four to five liters for a healthy adult.
Conclusion
In this article, we have discussed the major causes of acid reflux and the three most helpful natural remedies with which you can get rid of the problem. However, you have to remember that no matter what, your lifestyle will have a significant role in maintaining GI health. Therefore, if you allow your lifestyle to go haywire, you will get a relapse of acid refluxes later on. So, please stick to the three natural remedies discussed above and maintain them religiously daily.
