The holidays are when we celebrate the season through a bounty of foods and rich desserts to serve our family and friends. With all the tempting choices before us and holiday overindulging, it can also be a time when some of us will suffer from heartburn. Fortunately, there are some ways to neutralize reflux naturally with these heartburn relief strategies for holiday overindulging.
You first thought when you see a platter of appetizers is avoiding the deep-fried cheese balls or overly hot and spicy foods like Swedish meatballs that could remain in your stomach far longer than it should. This extra burden causes the stomach more pressure, pushing acid from the stomach upward to the esophagus from how its muscles are squeezed. Instead, you gravitate toward the simpler appetizers such as a cheese or dips on crackers, thinking it is a safer choice. Yet, according to one study, the total amount of fat from the food has more to do with that reflux problem than just the grease.
Trying to cut the fat that you consume during that occasion as much as possible can help. Keep a mental tab of how much you are eating. Your best defense is sticking to less than 500 calories total for snacking and the meal was their recommendation. To make this preventive measure for heartburn relief easier, nibble, chew and eat each bite slowly and thoroughly before swallowing.
Holidays and serving alcohol are customary in most homes. However, if you are prone to heartburn, any alcoholic drinks could cause suffering. Therefore, you may want to pass that type of beverage up, and especially red wines in favor of a non-alcoholic sparkling cider drink. It also will help your cause to avoid carbonated beverages that can bloat your stomach to activate that acid reflux. Your better option is herbal teas or decaffeinated coffee and tea to skim milk or water.
Something else that can help curb a potential holiday heartburn episode is chewing gum. A stick of sugar-free chewing gum helps neutralize your saliva and the cavity forming acids in your mouth while the chewing and swallowing aids the digestion process in how it calms the stomach.
Peppermints are popular on candy dishes or appearing in cookies, cakes or pastries that may tantalize your sweet tooth. For the most part, a peppermint can soothe a troubled stomach except for heartburn sufferers. On the contrary, it can stimulate reflux.
Another preventive tip for holiday heartburn relief for those likely to experience it later at bedtime is changing how you sleep. Try sleeping on your left side can make a big difference. The reason this simple change is important is because the valve that regulates the flow of stomach contents is reversed away from the potential release.
For more heartburn relief tips and home remedies to causes of this particular health problem, you might also care to read my earlier post.
