Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a condition of the esophagus that allows reflux from the stomach to enter it. GERD can cause heartburn, nausea, coughing and other symptoms for its sufferers. The reflux is often caused by the inadequacy of the lower esophageal sphincter from properly closing after a meal to prevent the acid from going back up to the esophagus. Many adults experience this but there are some who experience it more than others. Gastroesophageal reflux disease can be uncomfortable for most people and there are many factors to it. One factor of gastroesphageal reflux disease is the food we eat. If you are diagnosed with GERD, most likely the internist who is taking care of you will recommend a GERD diet to minimize it and also to ease the symptoms.
Foods Included In A GERD Diet
A good GERD diet consists of foods which are not uncommon to us and are included in the nutritional chart recommended for everybody. The GERD diet limitations for those who have gastroesophageal reflux disease are not as bad as some people might imagine. Foods for a GERD diet include low fat meats such as choice parts of chicken, turkey and fish along with almost all vegetables. The breads that a person on a GERD diet may consume are only those made from non fat or low fat milk and other non fat or low fat ingredients.
Some kinds of spicy or hot foods like curry, peppers etc may not be well tolerated by most of the people suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease which is why it is best to avoid them and keep them off your GERD diet even if you can tolerate the since you will never know when the GERD might act up and you get heartburn or other symptoms.
It is also better to avoid getting too full while eating. A distended stomach may encourage stomach acids to act up and even affect how your lower esophageal sphincter closes therefore giving you heartburn or GERD. After a full meal, it is discouraged that the individual suffering from GERD lie down or bend down since the stomach acids might be put closer to the opening of your lower esophageal sphincter and some may escape and aggravate your GERD condition or your inflamed esophagus.
Following a GERD diet can help control and manage your condition. The GERD diet helps to lessen stomach acids production and e3ncourages proper digestion of the foods you have ingested.
