Beat Acid Reflux With These Lifestyle Changes

If you’re battling acid reflux and heartburn, you probably already know that you’re not alone. GERD and its symptoms are extremely common in the American population, although pregnant women, overweight individuals, and those who smoke are more likely to develop it. GERD can be a lifelong struggle; however, there are a few lifestyle changes you can make that are virtually guaranteed to make a difference! Here’s a few tips to try out as you explore how to stop acid reflux and how to help heartburn. Spoiler: taking OTC medications isn’t one!

Top 10 Lifestyle Changes for Acid Reflux

Change #1: Take A Look At Your Diet

While there are some common heartburn triggers, it’s amazing how different all of our patients’ trigger foods can be. Your best course of action is to keep a food and drink log to keep track of your symptoms after consuming different things. For example, if you consistently get heartburn after eating fats and oils, cut back on them considerably.

Change #2: Change The Way You Are Eating

Sometimes, we just eat more than our stomach can handle. Many of our patients have had success with eating smaller portions more often. If your stomach is empty, the predigested food (also called chyme) is less likely to slosh around and up into your esophagus.

Change #3: Eat At Different Times

Bedtime is often the worst time for a patient’s GERD symptoms. If you struggle with nighttime regurgitation or heartburn that impedes your sleep, consider moving your last meal back an hour earlier. Ideally, you should stay awake and upright for two to three hours before bedtime. Make sure you cut out those pre-bedtime snacks for a better chance of uninterrupted sleep, too.

Change #4: Avoid Common Triggers

Across the board, it seems that carbonated beverages, alcohol, chocolate, coffee, citrus, fried and fatty foods, and some medications (see tip #9) cause worsening symptoms. To reduce the severity of your symptoms, you should avoid these substances unless you have had your lower esophageal sphincter (LES) repaired with reflux surgery.

Change #5: Try Taking Probiotics

Honestly, the jury is still out on whether probiotics can help reduce your acid reflux. Still, this study suggests that probiotics containing strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium can help to reduce symptoms in up to 79% of individuals. Since probiotic use isn’t harmful, it’s worth a try.

Change #6: Sleep Upright

As a general rule of thumb, patients suffering from GERD should aim to sleep as upright as possible. This limits gravity’s ability to back stomach juices into your esophagus. It’s highly recommended that, even if your symptoms do subside, you continue to sleep upright at night.

Change #7: Quit Smoking

There are many reasons you might want to quit smoking, and GERD symptoms might be the least compelling of all. However, smoking has been linked to acid reflux in several ways: nicotine relaxes the LES, smokers produce less saliva, cigarette smoke damages the esophageal lining, the smoke increases stomach acidity, and nicotine also changes the way the esophageal muscles contract to move food into the stomach.

Change #8: Lose Weight (In A Healthy Way)

Since overweight and obese individuals are more likely to struggle with acid reflux and heartburn, it makes sense that your doctor might recommend some healthy weight loss. Make sure you don’t lose weight with rubber band diets or pills— your GERD will only return with a burning passion when the weight comes back.

Change #9: Discuss Your Medications With Your Doctor

Many people aren’t aware that their medications might be causing their reflux. Some blood pressure and heart disease medicines can make GERD worse, while antibiotics and some pain relievers can cause heartburn all by themselves. For a complete list of the medicines you should discuss with your doctor, see this article on the Mayo Clinic website.

Change #10: Ditch The Tight Clothes

It is suspected that continuous upward pressure in the abdominal cavity is the root of problems with the LES. Being overweight or pregnant has this effect on the abdomen, but you’ll also want to avoid putting unnecessary pressure in that area. Tight clothing like underwire bras, high-waisted underwear and pants, and compression garments will likely make your GERD symptoms much worse. Try to choose loose clothing, especially while sleeping.

When All Else Fails…

Sometimes, the LES is simply too weak to be rehabilitated through lifestyle changes. In these scenarios, physical, surgical interventions are usually the best course of action. Here at the Tampa Bay Reflux Center, we offer three different procedures that will help to manage your symptoms at their source. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with our reflux specialists.