Anti Gerd Diet – Preventing GERD By Eating the Right Foods
Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD sounds like a very ominous illness but it can actually be treated simply by following an anti GERD diet. When diagnosed with GERD, many people immediately assume that complicated treatment methods would be necessary to get rid of the illness, probably because of the condition’s scary-sounding name. Quite the contrary, most cases can actually be completely treated or even prevented just by going on an anti GERD diet. All you have to do is make some changes to your daily diet and you will no longer have to suffer the painful and uncomfortable symptoms that normally show up with gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Most of the known causes of GERD have something to do with food — eating foods that are too acidic or starchy, drinking too much alcohol, and excessive weight. Therefore it only makes sense that if you improve your diet, you will also be able to reduce your risks of contracting GERD. Furthermore, a good anti GERD diet is also highly effective in treating acute to moderate cases of the illness.
When a person suffers from GERD, their lower esophageal sphincter or LES, whose purpose is to prevent stomach acids from reentering the esophagus after food is swallowed, is weakened. Stomach acid can then freely flow back into the LES, causing the pain that is typical of most GERD cases. An anti GERD diet will restrict your consumption of foods that cause such weakening of the LES.
A good anti GERD diet is not hard to find, nor does it have to be too complicated. In fact, you can formulate your own anti GERD diet. You just have to make sure to leave out foods that would make your condition worse, such as chocolate, peppermint and most fatty foods. You will also need to cut out alcohol consumption and drastically reduce your intake of coffee and other caffeine-rich beverages. If you are a smoker, you should also seriously think about quitting the habit because it is one of the leading causes of GERD, as well as a number of other health problems.
According to the most recent heatlh surveys, approximately a fifth of the entire American population is currently suffering from GERD, and this statistic is spread across various demographics. This only goes to show how prevalent the condition actually is. What many people don’t realize is that if left untreated, GERD can cause permanent damage to the esophagus and trigger other digestive problems. So in order to avoid these issues, it is best to go on an anti GERD diet now and keep your body as safe and healthy as possible.
GERD Surgery Or Take Medication and Antacids?
There are many people that suffer from GERD or gastro esophageal reflux disorder which is often also known as heartburn. In case you are one of those sufferers you will need to find out about how best to cure the condition. From over-the-counter medications to GERD surgery there are many options to choose from.
Most people however start off by using antacids including those such as Tums and Maalox as well as Mylanta and though each brand uses different ingredients they each do work to neutralize digestive tract acids.
So What Is An Effective Method?
However, GERD surgery is an option that needs to be understood, especially as according to the findings of a study that was conducted by UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas physician came up with the conclusion that surgery was not the most effective treatment option and was in fact no better than taking antacids.
Furthermore, studies have also been conducted on patients that ten years ago have undergone surgery and the results in this case were the opposite: patients that had, fared much better than those that had only taken prescription medicines. So, what is the real conclusion?
Most patients that have tried GERD surgery are actually quite satisfied with the results though at the same time, surprisingly, people that had, were still found to be using antacids and in fact about two-thirds of patients that had undergone surgery were still on medications.
This makes one conclude that in case you are about to undergo GERD surgery you should be very careful that you understand the real reasons for going under the scalpel. In case you think that after surgery your GERD condition will be totally cured then you may find that neither will GERD surgery completely cure your condition and nor will it help in preventing esophageal cancer.
So, you need to weigh the pros and cons very carefully and you must ask questions of your doctor and only if you get satisfactory answers should you proceed further. If you feel the benefits outweigh the risks then you can go ahead with surgery, otherwise, you might as well stay with taking antacids.
It pays to find out which the best medication for heartburn is. This in turn means to understand what the real cause of GERD is and then you need to check as to which medication cures the symptoms in the most effective manner. In this regard you will need to choose between over-the-counter medications, antacids and even H2 blockers.
