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Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease is often called Gerd for short, or Gastroesophageal Reflux, which is the milder form (Ger), or acid reflux or heartburn. It is caused by acid leaving the stomach and entering the esophagus that leads to the mouth. Because it is acid, it leaves a burning sensation in the esophagus and throat, a burning which is most unpleasant. If you have persistent ger, then you most likely will be diagnosed as having gerd. This occurs in people of all ages, babies to seniors, and it can lead to further health problems.
While the main symptom of gerd is heartburn in adults, it can cause a permanent dry cough, or problems with breathing or swallowing. Children typically do not have heartburn, but suffer with the dry cough or breathing problems.
Now it has been found that some foods are more likely to cause gastroesophageal reflux, spicy foods, chocolate, fatty or fried foods, as well as caffeinated drinks like tea and coffee. Tomatoes too can be a problem, and this affects all the tomato based foods like pizza and spaghetti sauce.
To avoid all of these reflux triggers can seem rather drastic, but the alternative, as far as the medical profession sees it, is to continue to take more and more prescribed medications. But they do not work well, because the way they do work is to reduce the amount of acid actually in the stomach. However, the stomach needs these digestive juices to digest and process the food we have put there, and when it has insufficient acid there, it cannot do a good job. The result is more stomach problems.
What can you do to stop gastroesophageal reflux? There are some foods that you should eat to ease the problem, almonds, avocados, hazelnuts, and others, but you can also change the way you eat. By eating smaller amounts more often, your stomach can deal with the digestion more easily than with a full and overflowing one, so smaller meals more often makes a lot more sense than large meals.
If you are having trouble sleeping at night because of gastroesophageal reflux, then you might want to purchase an acid reflux wedge pillow. They support your body in a more upright position, which stops the reflux from being able to travel easily in the esophagus.
You could also change the combination of foods you eat. For example, if when you eat fruit and only fruit, your body can cope with it more easily because it treat all the fruit the same way. But if you mix proteins in the form of meat with fruit, it has a much harder time, and acid reflux is the result. Since I started changing the combination of foods that I eat, I have been able to stop taking prescribed medications for gastroesophageal reflux, and I can now eat many more foods without getting the horrible indigestion that I did before. It might be something that you want to look into some more.
