When you’re dealing with acid reflux, heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease, it can be difficult to enjoy your favorite meals.
The pain associated with these conditions can be so excruciating it can be mistaken for a heart attack. Taking over-the-counter medications can help in the short term, but they are not a long-term fix. In fact, if over used, they can sometimes lead to other digestive issues and symptoms.
If you’ve experienced burning in your chest, difficulty swallowing, regurgitation of food or a lump in your throat, you may wonder why. GERD is a more serious form of acid reflux and the most common digestive disorder in the United States.
You may have heard GERD and heartburn are caused by too much stomach acid, but for many people, they are caused by too little stomach acid. It’s not the amount of stomach acid that is the problem – it is the small sphincter that connects your lower esophagus and stomach.
When the sphincter malfunctions, it causes harsh stomach acid to flow into the delicate esophagus. Symptoms such as constipation are generally tied to impaired food digestion at the stomach level. Working with digestive-health clients, I typically see heartburn and constipation symptoms occurring simultaneously.
Acid reflux occurs when pressure in the stomach (known as intra-abdominal pressure) causes the stomach to bloat and push its contents through the sphincter and back into the esophagus. Things that cause stomach bloating are spicy or fatty foods, overeating, and bending over or lying down after eating. A deeper issue underlying bloating is carbohydrate malabsorption linked to low stomach acid and bacteria overgrowth. The stomach was designed to disinfect food with lots of stomach acid. When you don’t have that, you have a greater chance of developing bacteria overgrowth.
Here are a few natural ways to lower GERD and heartburn:
Follow a low carbohydrate diet, especially while on stomach acid medication. Don’t be confused by supermarket low-carbohydrate foods, which usually make you feel worse. Instead, understand that grains, legumes and starchy vegetables feed bacteria and should be eliminated or at least held to a minimum in your diet. However, non-starchy vegetables are usually tolerated well.Use “bitters” to stimulate stomach acid production. Bitters get digestive juices flowing in your stomach. Sources include barberry bark, caraway, dandelion, fennel, gentian root, ginger, globe artichoke, goldenseal root, milk thistle, peppermint, wormwood and yellow dock. Finding a tincture of several bitters and starting with the lowest dose is best. Licensed herbalists or functional dietitians are good resources to get started.Boost intake of probiotic foods like raw unpasteurized sauerkraut, unpasteurized pickles, kefir and yogurt (small doses only) as these foods help populate the good gut bacteria. Try deglycyrrhizinated licorice supplementation short-term, this helps to protect stomach lining and bring added relief to the harsh symptoms.Pain and discomfort associated with GERD and heartburn are no joking matter. Using a food-based approach to minimize symptoms and boost digestion is key to feeling better.
Fran Sutherlin, RD, MS, is a local registered dietitian, digestive health coach, speaker, and owner of Sustainable Nutrition. She can be reached at 444-2122 or fran@fransutherlin.com.
