When you eat food, technically you expect it to move down without any effort and this usually happens no matter what you do. In fact, experts say that even if you hand someone from the feet, he will still be able to swallow food which will eventually move all the way to the stomach. However, as we age, the digestion process becomes weaker, and every time you eat, the acid-mixed food moves upwards as acid reflux.Usually, this stops near the esophagus area causing heartburn but sometimes this can get all the way across the esophagus as well.
If you are young, this might seem very weird but as you age especially when you hit your late 30’s this issue will become very common. Usually, experts say that if you want to comfort your heartburn, you can drink milk or anything alkaline. However, experts say that rather than waiting for acid reflux and then heartburn to happen, you need a method to get rid of this issue altogether.
This is mainly because every time you will feel acid reflux, the acid backwash that takes place causes irritation in the lining and this might damage the lining causing permanent damage.
Can You Repair The Damage Done Due To Acid Reflux?
To deal with this issue you need a treatment that can help you minimize the damage, soothe the discomfort and also help you heal the damage, and stop the acid reflux from happening again. This is why you cannot just rely on medication and need a full treatment consisting of medication, diet change, and lifestyle change.
Usually, acid reflux happens when you eat spicy food, fried food, or protein-based food while other times acid reflux is triggered by stress, depression, or mental health issues. In short, everything is connected and if you want to speed up the healing process you need to improve your diet along with exercise and then adjust your lifestyle and only then will you be able to manage the disease. In case you miss the medication or just focus on exercise, this might not be able to help you heal.
With the help of this article, we will look at some of the easiest ways to manage your acid reflux issue. We will also look at the important role exercise has to play and how you can use exercise to manage your acid reflux issue.
How To Choose An Exercise That Can Help With Acid Reflux?
Most people think that since exercise is about moving around and running, you will be making the symptoms worse. There is no doubt that it can happen especially in the case of high-impact workouts. However, experts explain that exercise or staying active will help you keep the weight in check. Since acid reflux is connected with weight gain, you will notice that the more weight you gain, the more frequent the issue gets.
Most people think that can acid reflux cause chest pain while doing exercises there will be just one exercise form that they can use and this exercise will help them to avoid acid reflux. However, there are so many different exercises and it is up to you to choose the one you like or find interesting. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that you want a low-impact, consistent workout that can help you melt the fat.
However, your workout should not intense enough that it can bring up the acid. This mainly happens when you choose exercises like running, weight lifting, or jumping. Your focus should be on simple exercises like stretching, walking or any other low-impact workout that will help you improve with simple steps but over a long time rather than instant results. While selecting the workout, you need to avoid exercises like running, sprinting, weightlifting, gymnastics, cycling, jumping rope, stair-climbing, etc.
How Diet Can Impact Acid Reflux?
Apart from the exercise you also need to keep in mind that there are some food items that can contribute to the acid build. Although all the food items you will eat will eventually get mixed with acid for digestion, however, there are some food items that already are acidic and further increase acid production. This includes citrus fruits, coffee, fried items, fatty food items, chocolate, sugar pop, alcoholic beverages, etc. while selecting your food, make sure to keep it on an alkaline radius so the food you eat can be digested and it doesn’t harm the inner lining.
While adjusting your diet and lifestyle you also have to think about cutting your food portion into smaller meals. You need to keep in mind that controlled food portions can help you reduce acid reflux making it easier for you to digest rather than making acid reflux worse. Also, if you smoke or use alcohol, you need to reduce that as well because it facilitates the acid buildup that can damage the lining. Similarly, lying down right after a meal or eating fatty fried food before bed can also contribute to acid buildup.
Bottom Line
To sum it all up, if the acid reflux issue is very infrequent and you don’t face this very often, you don’t have to change your lifestyle or do anything too drastic, however, if the symptoms are getting severe, it is the right time to change your lifestyle completely. In case you already have acid reflux, get some over-the-counter medicine like milk of magnesia or just drink cold milk to soothe the burning sensation. In case the acid reflux is happening frequently and medication is only offering momentary relief you have to think about adjusting your life routine. This is especially common in people who have desk jobs because they sit the whole day without walking or exercising.
Another common issue is that most people get home very late and they just have enough time to eat something and get to bed. This can also cause acid reflux because you are simply lying down after eating. When you start the workout you will be facilitating the digestion process and eventually the food in your stomach will stay in your stomach rather than move upwards.
