Wondering how to prevent heartburn attack and acid reflux? Heartburn is a very common condition. If you are suffering from heartburn, you are definitely not alone. It is said that up to 10% of adult population experience an episode of heartburn attack almost every day. There are also one third of adult population suffering from occasional heartburn attack.
For those of you who are suffering from frequent heartburn attack, you will definitely be interested to know how to prevent a heartburn attack or at least reduce its frequency.
Well, one way to do so it to work on the food you eat. By avoiding certain type of food, you can improve your health dramatically and prevent heartburn attack.
Before we discuss what type of food you should avoid, it is probably a good idea to talk about how a heartburn attack occurs. Armed with this information, you will begin to understand why you need to avoid certain types of food, no matter how much you love them.
First and foremost, you probably already know that heartburn attack usually happen just after a heavy meal, although it can also strike you at some other timing.
Here is what happen when we are eating.
The food will travel from our mouth through the esophagus (the pipe linking the mouth to the stomach) all the way into the stomach.
Before the food enters the stomach, it has to pass through a tight muscular valve called the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES), which is located at the bottom part of the esophagus.
The function of the LES is to prevent the food that entered the stomach to travel back into the esophagus.
Once the food enters the stomach, the stomach acid will begin to digest the food. This stomach acid is extremely acidic and has the potential to damage many other parts of our body.
Obviously, the stomach is protected by a special layer of mucous which is why the stomach remains unscathed by the stomach acid.
Unfortunately, there are times whereby the stomach acid will flow up into the esophagus. This happens when the LES fails to close properly.
Since the esophagus is not protected by the special layer of mucous, it gets burned by the stomach acid. As a result, you suffer from heartburn attack.
That is why you are often advised not to lie down or bend down just after a heavy meal, especially if you are already a heartburn sufferer. You do not want your stomach acid to flow into the esophagus.
If you are wondering how to prevent heartburn and acid reflux, here is the answer.
The key is to avoid acidic food that will worsen your condition.
Some foods to avoid are fatty and spicy foods, tomato sauce, chocolate, onions and mint. If possible, try not to drink coffee as caffeine can cause the stomach to produce more acid.
Alcohol should also be avoided. In fact, you should also try to avoid smoking.
