Do you get a burning sensation in your chest or the back of your throat? Or maybe you just feel nauseated, or have recurrent belching.
These symptoms collectively are referred to as Acid Reflux or Dyspepsia. You may have looked to antacids or acid blocking drugs to find relief. These treatments might make you feel better temporarily, but they don’t address the underlying cause.
In fact, antacids and acid blocking medication may have some adverse consequences like increased risk of food poisoning, as Dr. Oz describes.
If you believe the drug ads you may think that acid reflux is caused by too much acid in the stomach. You may be surprised to learn that your stomach is not capable of making too much acid. The acid itself isn’t bad, the problem is when it ends up contacting the wrong tissue.
A Sphincter You Probably Didn’t Know You Have
A malfunctioning lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is one cause of acid reflux symptoms. When this sphincter, between your stomach and esophagus, opens at the wrong times or doesn’t close tightly, the result is the burning sensation of stomach acid in the wrong place.
These lifestyle factors can lead to a too-relaxed LES:
- Smoking
- Being overweight
- Pregnancy
- Eating too much at once
- Consuming peppermint
Dr. Marina Rose, DC has helped people with acid reflux symptoms and other challenging, chronic digestive issues in and around the city of Sunnyvale, CA.
If none of these lifestyle factors are an issue for you then you may want to explore Common Food Triggers of Acid Reflux.
If you want to take a natural approach to your acid reflux symptoms, correcting lifestyle imbalances is an important first step. Practitioners of Functional Nutrition help you identify which of these steps will create the quickest improvement in your specific case.
When you need natural solutions to acid reflux symptoms, click here to find out how Functional Nutrition can help you.
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