Understanding Acid Reflux

Silent acid reflux is basically what it sounds like … a situation where a person has acid reflux but is unaware of it. This is often why people have difficulty sleeping at night. The rise of stomach acid into the esophagus causes periods of coming awake, then falling back to sleep, coming awake, then falling back to sleep again, quite similar to sleep apnea. In fact, snoring may even be attributable to this condition.

So how do you know if you’ve got silent acid reflux? Well, although the cause is the same as regular heartburn or acid reflux (a rise of stomach acid), the symptoms are less obvious. You may not experience the burning sensation in your chest. However, you may find that you wake up hoarse in the morning or have trouble talking or often have a morning cough. These can be indications that the stomach acid has reached your voice cords during the night while you were sleeping. Which may also be why you’re so exhausted in the morning. You’ve been slipping in and out of sleep all night.

The treatment for silent acid reflux is the same as it is for acid reflux. The challenge is recognizing that you have the condition. So if you find yourself struggling with persistent hoarseness or a cough in the morning or endless nights of restless sleep, it’s probably worth a visit to your physician for a diagnosis. Once acid reflux is diagnosed, your doctor can prescribe a course of action to get you feeling better.

If you’ve been dealing with acid reflux, you’re probably wondering what caused it?

Believe it or not, tomatoes and tomato-based foods are prime offenders. Not only do these cause the esophageal sphincter to weaken, they’re acidic.

You might also be surprised to find out that caffeine is high on the list of heartburn causes. This means coffee, tea, and carbonated beverages are all potential triggers of your acid reflux.

Other common foods to watch include fried foods, fatty foods, and even chocolate. Fried and fatty foods take longer to digest than other foods, causing them to sit in the stomach longer. This puts added pressure on the stomach and in turn puts pressure on the esophageal sphincter.

There are also situations that tend to cause acid reflux. For example, eating too much. When the stomach is too full, it puts pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter. Finally, if you tend to lie down shortly after eating a meal, this can cause acid reflux.  This allows the contents of the stomach to rise up. These to situations can be easily avoided.

Now, this will probably sound odd to you, because they’re often mistaken for the same thing, but the most common symptom for acid reflux is actually heartburn. This is a burning sensation in your chest that occurs after eating. It can last a number of hours and become worse if you lie down after a meal. The burning can also move up into the throat area, and can be accompanied by a sour taste in the mouth, as if food was rising from the stomach back to the throat.

Other acid reflux symptoms can include a dry, lingering cough; getting up in the morning with hoarseness; and the feeling that food is not properly going all the way down. These symptoms can become severe enough in some cases to cause vomiting.

If the disease progresses without treatment to the point of damage to the larynx, respiratory problems can develop and medical intervention becomes necessary. In addition, if scar tissue builds up in the esophagus, swallowing can become difficult.

If there’s an alternative to taking medications, most doctors will prefer to explore the alternative first. This is true for acid reflux, too. Most doctors will suggest that you first try to make some minor lifestyle changes. Adopting a diet for acid reflux is a useful and simple change you can try first.

Here are some diet tips that make a big difference in how often you experience acid reflux and the severity of your episodes.

Drop Some of Those Extra Pounds

If you’re overweight, you’re much more vulnerable to acid reflux. If you reduce your weight as little as 10%, you may very well noticeably improve your symptoms. Reducing your caloric intake and adding a little exercise to your daily routine should quickly get your weight under control.

Avoid Large Meals

Most acid reflux diets call for eating several small meals a day instead of three big ones. In addition, you want to avoid eating shortly before bed. The reason for this is simple … your stomach will immediately begin producing acid to help digest the food. When you lie prone in bed, this acid is far more likely to flow up into the esophagus and trigger another acid reflux episode.

Eat Complex Carbohydrates

After years of being told to avoid carbs, you may be surprised to learn that this is one case where a diet rich in complex carbohydrates can actually help you. Breads and pastas can bind with the acid in your stomach.

Avoid Fast Foods

Most fast foods are high in fat and will encourage acid production.

Limit Or Abstain From Alcohol

Alcohol also increases the production of stomach acid. It may also inhibit the effectiveness of the esophageal sphincter, which is supposed to seal the stomach contents and prevent them from rising back into the esophagus.

Avoid Foods That Stimulate Acid Production

Coffee, tomatoes, citrus fruits, spicy foods, chocolate, and alcohol all stimulate acid production.

If you’re looking for an all natural, fast and effective solution to your acid reflux, this is an excellent resource: Hearburn & Acid Reflux Remedy

One of the side effects of acid reflux that often isn’t discussed is bad breath. Of course, this may result from eating the same foods that are triggering your acid reflux. For example, when you eat hot and spicy foods, the nutrients enter your blood stream. As blood passes through your lungs and is exchanged for oxygenated air, these nutrients created by the hot and spicy foods can create a foul odor in your breath. But more often, if you’re suffering from heartburn or acid reflux, your bad breath is the natural result of the stomach acid backing up into your esophagus or even into you throat.

This is why you might find that brushing and flossing don’t seem to help as much as you would think. Every night, as you sleep and the stomach acids escape the esophagus sphincter and rise into the esophagus, another round of bad breath is triggered. After awhile, it can become as chronic as your acid reflux.

If you’ve been suffering from reflux disease but aren’t sure if you have bad breath, there’s any easy way to find out.  Simply lick the inside of your wrist and allow it to dry for a few seconds. Once the spot dries, if it has an odor, then bad breath is present.