Home Remedies For Acidity can help fight unhealthy eating habits and poor lifestyle choices that take a toll on a person’s health. One of how it is seen is “Acidity” or “Acid Reflux.” Every year, a lot of Indians suffer from this health issue. With the steps mentioned here, you can reduce acidity and gas at home.
Why Acidity Occurs: Acidity is characterized by heartburn that causes a burning or painful sensation in the lower chest and throat region. It happens when the excess acids are produced in the stomach glands. These acids are forced to flow again into the food pipe.
A person who suffers from acidity experiences discomforting signs like stomach pain, trouble swallowing, acidic taste in the mouth, bad breath, tooth enamel erosion, etc.
The leading acidity causes are smoking, alcohol, long gaps between meals, spicy foods, and heavy meals. This article will show you some practical, easy, and natural remedies to get relief from acidity at home.
Recommended Home Remedies For Acidity:
Facts on Acidity:
- An estimated fourteen to twenty percent of adults in the world are seen to have acid reflux.
- Researchers also estimate that seven percent of the global population experience heartburn every day. Out of them, twenty to forty percent of people are identified with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). It is the chronic form of acid reflux that has become a major digestive disorder in America.
Home Remedies To Treat Acidity – 5 Natural products to eat
It is easy to treat Acidity by including commonly available ingredients in your diet. All these ingredients are also effective in preventing different types of digestion issues and keep the stomach healthy.
Fennel Seeds
Fennel seed, or saunf, is touted for its potent gastrointestinal benefits. Chewing fennel seeds after meals is the simplest way to get rid of stomach acidity. These seeds contain a soft compound named “Anethole.” They are also packed with dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins that soothe your stomach and prevent flatulence and spasm.
Fennel seeds boost the digestive system. It has a cooling effect that calms the interior lining of the stomach. It is an effective antidote to indigestion and bloating. It keeps your digestive tract happy and healthy.
Jaggery
Jaggery is the next valuable ingredient in our list that promotes the digestive system. This ingredient has alkaline nature that works by lowering the high acid levels in the stomach. Furthermore, jaggery has high magnesium content that helps to boost the strength of your gut.
The simplest way to reap its benefits is to suck on a tiny piece of jaggery after a meal. Jaggery also helps to maintain the right stomach temperature by giving a cooling sensation. It is ideal to consume in the summer season.
Cloves
There is a lot mentioned about Cloves in Ayurveda. This herb has a carminative nature; this implies that it prevents gas build-up in the gastrointestinal tract. Its alkaline nature and calming properties soothe the inflamed inner lining of the gut.
Regular consumption of cloves keeps a wide range of digestive disorders such as heartburns, stomach spasms, flatulence, bloating, etc., at bay. While following Home Remedies For Acidity, you can add cloves to the tea to gain its benefits. You can use cloves in powder form in the preparation of curries and other dishes.
Ginger
When it comes to treating digestive issues, you can’t overlook this precious herb. Under its twisted exterior, ginger hides a multitude of health benefits.
Ginger is an excellent anti-inflammatory agent that neutralizes acid that is produced in the stomach. It speeds up metabolism in the body and acts as one of the Home Remedies For Acidity. Add fresh ginger into your tea or in dishes to obtain its digestive benefits.
The healing properties of ginger can cure digestive and gut disorders effectively. It works remarkably to reduce acidity. Ginger possesses superior anti-bacterial properties. It destroys pylori bacteria that trigger acidity and indigestion in the body.
Cold Milk
Cold milk is also beneficial in reducing acidity. This benefit can be attributed to the presence of calcium in it. This mineral works by normalizing the levels of acid secreted in the stomach. In this way, it prevents the buildup of excess acidity content in the stomach. So, the next time you suffer from acidity, try the above remedies to get instant relief.
Lactose Intolerance Disclaimer: Those who’re Lactose Intolerance should ignore this pointer.
Home Remedies For Acidity – follow these tips
Here are proven and time-tested natural ways to lessen heartburn and acid reflux in the body.
1. Do Not Overeat
Eating in a controlled way is the most important tip for people who suffer from acidity. Large-sized meals, especially the ones composed of heavy and spicy foods, should be avoided. When you eat such meals, your stomach produces more acids to digest the food. When the level of acid increases in the stomach, it leads to acidity.
While following Home Remedies For Acidity, it’s imperative to eat a little less than required.
2. Avoid Acidity Trigger Foods
It would help if you avoided a high intake of carbohydrate-rich foods. These foods cause impaired digestion and absorption of carbohydrates in the body.
Undigested carbohydrates cause an overgrowth of bacteria in the stomach. It increases pressure in the abdomen that, in turn, leads to bloating, flatulence, and acidity. Acidity patients should abstain from spicy foods that can irritate the lining of the stomach.
Other foods that trigger acidity are:
- fried foods
- coffee
- alcohol
- carbonated drinks
- chocolate
- fatty foods
- garlic
- spearmint
- citrus fruits
- onions
- peppermint
- tomato sauce
Everyone’s experience is different. If you find that eating a specific food, you feel gassy and bloated, then avoid that food while following Home Remedies For Acidity.
3. Limit Your Alcohol Intake
Intake of alcohol can worsen discomforting signs of heartburn and acid reflux. It increases the secretion of stomach acid and impairs the capacity of the esophagus to eliminate acids on its own. To save yourself from such trouble, you should reduce your alcohol consumption.
Home Remedies For Acidity generally works when alcohol levels are controlled.
4. Reduce your Coffee consumption
In one research, Research results showed that coffee causes immense acid damage in the lower esophageal sphincter that reduces its strength. Coffee results in frequent episodes of acidity in the body. So, if you have been habitual of drinking coffee daily, you now have to reduce your consumption.
5. Chew Gum
According to health experts, chewing gum is another way to lower acidity in the esophagus; this is due to the presence of bicarbonate that increases the secretion of saliva in the mouth. Chewing gum, in turn, helps in cleaning the gastric acid from the esophagus.
6. Sleep on Your Left Side
A few studies conducted in the past reveal that sleeping on the right side can worsen reflux symptoms at night. One of the reasons behind this finding is that the esophagus enters the right side of the stomach. In this situation, stomach acid completely covers the lower end of the esophageal sphincter.
Sleeping on the left side eventually results in the possibility of acids leaking through it and cause reflux. On the contrary, when you sleep on the left side, the lower esophageal sphincter rests over the level of gastric acid. The abovementioned shows that resting on the left side is beneficial for reducing the discomforting signs of acidity and getting a comfortable sleep.
Home Remedies For Acidity Not Working – What to do ?
If you see acidity symptoms more than two times a week, then you should consult a doctor. He would look out for signs of Gastroesophageal reflux disease. It is a severe form of acidity that can cause acute risks such as:
- Esophagus damage and esophagus cancer
- Erosion of the enamel of the teeth that leads to cavities
Your doctor may prescribe you the following treatments to treat the condition:
- An antacid that has calcium, magnesium or aluminum
- Histamine blocking agents that includes cimetidine, ranitidine, famotidine, and nizatidine
- Proton pump inhibitors
In severe cases, your doctor may advise you to perform Vagotomy surgery. This surgical procedure works by lowering the secretion of gastric acids in the body.
Does Home Remedies For Acidity works?
Acid reflux, in itself, is not a severe condition. However, chronic acidity can damage the esophagus. Unhealthy food, smoking, and alcohol are the three leading causes of acidity. By controlling these factors and using effective home remedies, you can quickly treat mild acidity on your own.
However, if you find that the symptoms are persistent and uncontrollable by natural Home Remedies For Acidity, then you should seek immediate medical assistance.
Frequently Asked Questions about Home Remedies For Acidity
Here are some of the commonly asked questions by people who follow Home Remedies For Acidity.
How to avoid getting acidity?
People in metro cities are most affected by acidity. The primary reason behind it is an unhealthy lifestyle. Living a busy life, they do not have time to eat and develop unhealthy habits like smoking and health. You can prevent a mild form of acidity by incorporating positive changes in your lifestyle.
1. Keep a gap of three hours between your dinner and sleep time.
2. Practice portion control. Prefer to eat smaller-sized meals at regular intervals throughout the day.
3. Wear loose-fitting clothes to prevent pressure on the abdomen
4. Shed excess body weight
5. Abstain from smoking, and alcohol
6. Lie on the bed with your head in an elevated state. Keep the head at six to seven inches above the bedposts. The use of bed risers is advisable.
7. Avoid foods that trigger acidity. (Refer to the list of acidity-triggering foods mentioned above in the article.)
GERD vs. acid reflux
Acid reflux is a commonly occurring medical state that can be in either mild or severe form. Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a decisive stage that needs urgent medical help to treat. In both conditions, heartburn is the common discomforting sign.
Will losing weight help in acid reflux?
Gaining extra pounds in your abdominal region can make you more susceptible to the possibilities of acidity. Acidity happens because a lot of accumulation of fat around your belly region puts pressure on the abdomen. This pressure can increase to the extent that the lower end of the esophageal sphincter is pushed in the upward direction.
Due to this shifting from the position, it lacks the support of the diaphragm. This condition is referred to as a hiatus hernia. It is considered the most common reason why pregnant women and obese people are at a high risk of heartburn and acid reflux. Acid Reflux makes it quite clear that losing excess weight will help reduce the bouts of acidity.
