{"id":1085,"date":"2019-08-28T09:36:58","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T04:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wecreatedesign.co\/dev\/WP\/fitterfly\/?p=1085"},"modified":"2024-02-05T16:16:33","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T10:46:33","slug":"gastro-esophageal-reflux-disease-gerd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/gastro-esophageal-reflux-disease-gerd\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease [GERD]? Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"details-box\">\n<p>Acid reflux happens when contents from stomach flow back into your esophagus &#8211; the food pipe connecting mouth and stomach. It is also called regurgitation or gastroesophageal reflux.<\/p>\n<p>Occasional acid reflux is quite common, however, if you have persistent symptoms occurring more than twice a week, your doctor might diagnose a condition known as Gastroesophageal reflux disease [GERD].<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are the symptoms of GERD?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Heartburn, usually after eating, which might be worse at night is the most common symptom of GERD. However, not all patients have heartburn. Other symptoms include &#8211; chest pain beginning behind the breastbone and moving upward to the neck and throat, difficulty swallowing, regurgitation of food with a sour\/bitter taste in mouth, hoarseness of voice, nausea, bad breadth.<\/p>\n<p>If you have night-time acid reflux, you might also experience:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Chronic cough<\/li>\n<li>Laryngitis<\/li>\n<li>Worsening of asthma<\/li>\n<li>Disturbed sleep<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What is the cause of Gastroesophageal reflux disease?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If the lower esophageal sphincter [circular band of muscle around the bottom of your esophagus] relaxes abnormally or weakens, stomach acid can flow back up into your esophagus and causes GERD.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the treatment strategy for GERD?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Along with medical and surgical treatments, doctors usually recommend lifestyle and dietary changes for most people needing treatment for GERD.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is GERD diet, and other lifestyle remedies for GERD?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Making certain lifestyle changes may help reduce the frequency of acid reflux. Guidelines for treatment of GERD include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight puts pressure on your abdomen, pushing up your stomach and causing acid to reflux into your esophagus.<\/li>\n<li>Stop smoking. Smoking decreases the lower esophageal sphincter&#8217;s ability to function properly, increasing reflux.<\/li>\n<li>Elevate the head of your bed. Raise the head end of your bed by 6 to 9 inches. Raising your head with additional pillows isn&#8217;t effective.<\/li>\n<li>Do not wear clothing that is tight around the abdomen.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t lie down after a meal. Wait at least three hours after eating before lying down or going to bed.<\/li>\n<li>Eat food slowly and chew thoroughly.\u00a0Put your spoon down after very bite, chew your food slowly and completely before taking the next bite.<\/li>\n<li>Decreasing the size of portions at mealtime may also help control symptoms.<\/li>\n<li>Eat moderate amounts of food and avoid overeating.<\/li>\n<li>Chewing gum after eating is known to help some people<\/li>\n<li>Identify trigger foods and avoid their consumption.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What are the common foods that trigger GERD symptoms and should be avoided?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fatty or fried foods such as French fries, potato chips, whole milk, ice cream etc. Fat takes the longest time to leave the stomach; therefore, reduce the total amount of fat that you eat at a meal by decreasing the amount of ghee, butter, oils, salad dressings, gravy, fatty meats i.e. red meat, and full-fat dairy\/milk products such as cheese, and whole milk.<\/li>\n<li>Spicy and excessively salty foods with high red chilli content.<\/li>\n<li>Fruits and vegetables like pineapple, citrus fruits, such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes, garlic, onions, tomatoes and tomato-based foods, such as tomato sauce, salsa.<\/li>\n<li>Beverages including alcohol, coffee, tea, soda, carbonated beverages, citrus and tomato juices.<\/li>\n<li>Other foods like chocolate, peppermint, processed foods.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What foods should be included in GERD diet?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Certain food products improve the symptoms of GERD and provide relief.<\/p>\n<p>These include \u2013<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Protein from low-cholesterol sources, such as almonds, lean poultry, beans, and lentils<\/li>\n<li>Fruits high in fiber, magnesium and\u00a0potassium, especially berries, apples, pears, avocados, melons, peaches, and\u00a0bananas<\/li>\n<li>Vegetables like potatoes, peas, cucumber, ginger, beans, and green vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach, asparagus.<\/li>\n<li>Whole grains, oatmeal and brown rice<\/li>\n<li>Egg whites<\/li>\n<li>Yogurt<\/li>\n<li>Healthy fats such as avocados, walnuts, flaxseed, olive oil, sesame oil, and sunflower oil.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A comprehensive GERD diet considers additional factors beyond basic dietary changes such as avoiding nutritional deficiencies while maintaining a good quality of life. A qualified nutritionist may be able to guide you to make diet and lifestyle changes alongside medication to provide relief from GERD and acid reflux.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bot-info\">\n<div class=\"aboutus-box\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Acid reflux happens when contents from stomach flow back into your esophagus &#8211; the food pipe connecting mouth and stomach. It is also called regurgitation or gastroesophageal reflux. Occasional acid [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,18,400,30,403],"tags":[427,435],"acf":{"reviewed_by":false,"references":null,"author":"","table_content":null,"medically_reviewed":null,"show_updated_date_in_post":"No","faq_list":null,"custom_schema":"","media_url":"","reviewer":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitterfly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}