Raise your bed with bricks, quit smoking and lose weight: Top 10 ways to avoid heartburn
HEARTBURN or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is extremely painful and can have a negative impact on quality of life, but there are ways to prevent it. Here a health expert gives you 10 simple tips to avoid the burn.
A staggering one in three British adults suffer with heartburn
One in three UK adults experience heartburn and a whopping one in six experience frequent heartburn (occurring twice a week or more).
It can have a significant impact on people’s quality of life - from limiting a person’s food and drink choices through to sleep disruption, anxiety from frequent heartburn pain and a general feeling of being unwell.
Helen Boardman, a pharmacist and lecturer in Pharmacy Practice at Nottingham University, said: “Frequent heartburn sufferers experience symptoms twice a week or more, which can not only affect their day to day quality of life but also leave them feeling like they have no control over their heartburn; finding a way to manage their symptoms can make a real difference.”
Here, Helen has come up with some easy ways to help prevent heartburn.
1. Know your triggers and steer clear
Triggers are different for everyone, but if you don’t know what yours are, start by avoiding common causes such as citrus drinks, high-fat foods, onions and chocolate.
It is also worth cutting down on alcohol, coffee and fizzy drinks to see if your symptoms improve.
2. Avoid having a lie down after heavy meals
After eating, it is best to give it two or three hours before going to sleep.
This will give your stomach a chance to move the meal through your digestive system, leaving itself empty and less likely to reflux when you lie down.
If you don’t fancy a long wait before bedtime, keep your dinner light to speed things along.
Smoking can make the symptoms of heartburn more painful
3. Don’t rush
Wolfing your food won’t help, as it leads to overeating which will cause your stomach to overfill and trigger heartburn.
Rushing, or feeling stressed will also cause the stomach to produce more acid, so take your time over your meal and enjoy the benefits.
4. Keep a heartburn diary
Try keeping note of when each bout of heartburn hits.
When you look over this afterwards, it will become more clear as to what the causes are, allowing you make heartburn-free plans in the future.
5. Quit smoking
Cigarettes will make heartburn more painful, by irritating the throat. On top of this, however, they cause the oesophageal muscles to relax, allowing stomach acid to seep out and cause heartburn.
Keeping active and watching your weight can help reduce your risk of heartburn
6. Work out
Taking regular exercise can often help, although it is best to give abdominal crunches a wide berth to avoid pushing acid out of the stomach.
Always try to wait at least two hours after a meal before exercising.
7. Control your portions
Switch your dinner plate for a smaller side plate, to keep portion sizes down. Eating too much is a common heartburn trigger.
8. Watch your weight
If you are overweight, you are more likely to suffer from heartburn.
Tight waistbands won’t help, as they will put pressure on your stomach, which will cause it to reflux. Losing excess pounds can help relieve your symptoms, as well as avoiding snug clothes.
9. Raise the head of your bed with bricks
Really. Lying flat increases the chance of acid entering the oesophagus so many people find their heartburn is worse at night.
Try raising the head of your bed approximately 15 cm (6 inches) with some bricks or books. You can also try a wedge pillow.
10. Try a PPI medicine
There are a broad range of over the counter treatment options available. Antacids and alginates offer temporary relief from symptoms.
Sarah Jarvis, GP and medical broadcaster said: "PPIs (proton pump inhibitors) are an effective short-term treatment for people to help keep their heartburn under control and help maintain a good quality of life.
"It will act to target heartburn at its source by blocking acid production in the stomach and so can provide relief of symptoms through the day and night."
Nexium Control, a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), targets heartburn at the source by blocking acid production in the stomach.
It gives continuous 24-hour protection with just one tablet a day and can provide the sustained relief that some frequent sufferers need and want to keep their symptoms under control.
Nexium Control is available boots.com