Don’t let GERD keep you away from your favorite restaurants, use these tips when eating out.

Every once and a while, it feels good to take a break from cooking at home and dine out with friends and family at one of your favorite restaurants. However, if you suffer from severe symptoms of acid reflux or symptoms associated with GERD, dining out may be more trouble than it’s worth. Don’t confine yourself to your kitchen just yet!

Follow these tips on how to eat out while still following Dr. John Bagnato’s dietary guidelines for GERD.

1. Educate Yourself – The most important aspect of dining out with GERD is knowing which foods trigger your symptoms of severe acid reflux. GERD affects everyone differently, so it is impossible to say what your trigger foods are going to be. Begin to keep track of which foods trigger your symptoms so that you will be able to make educated decisions when dining out at your favorite restaurant.
2. Portion Control – Symptoms of severe reflux are often caused by overeating. Many restaurants are notorious for giving you more than your stomach can truly hold, yet we still find a way to put every last bite somewhere. Think twice about cleaning your plate as a full stomach will increase the pressure on your lower esophageal sphincter and quickly incite your symptoms of reflux. Actively controlling how much you eat is difficult, especially when it’s your favorite dish, but it’s important to make wise decisions to avoid overeating. Help keep GERD under control by asking the waiter for only a half portion, sharing your meal with another person or eating very slowly.
3. Menu Management – Dr. Bagnato has probably informed of you certain foods to steer clear of to avoid flare ups when it comes to GERD. If you dare to dine out, make sure you pay close attention to your dietary guidelines if you want to eat in peace.

Just as a reminder, here are some general guidelines for avoiding GERD triggers on the menu:

• Keep away from acidic foods—many condiments such as ketchup, mustard and vinegar have high levels of acidity and may incite your reflux symptoms.
• Avoid citrus fruits—fruits such as limes, lemons, oranges and grapefruits will aggravate your symptoms so try to avoid them.
• Forget about fried foods—it may be hard but avoiding fried favorites such as French fries, onion rings, fried seafood and even foods sautéed in butter will help keep GERD symptoms in check.
• Steer clear of spicy foods—especially if you’re dining at an ethnic restaurant, spicy peppers, hot sauces, wasabi and salsa may stimulate your acid reflux.

Avoiding your favorite foods may seem disappointing at first, but there are still ways to enjoy dining out at your favorite restaurants while keeping GERD under control. Try some of these tips next time you visit your favorite local food spot and always consult Dr. John Bagnato if you have any questions concerning GERD.

Head to the local supermarket and you’re likely to find all sorts of gluten-free products you may not have noticed before. They’re popping up more and more—by 2015, revenue from gluten-free food and beverage sales is expected to reach the $5 billion mark—but do they have any actual benefits for those who aren’t allergic to gluten?

Studies show that eating gluten-free may actually help sufferers of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) to reduce reflux symptoms. Of course, the idea is still contested, and if you’re a sufferer of chronic GERD symptoms, eating gluten-free is no replacement for proven surgical solutions like Nissen Fundoplication.

The GERD-Gluten Connection

Though the link is still unclear, many published studies have shown that reducing the amount of gluten in your diet can help control reflux symptoms and reduce the chances of recurrence. Celiac disease and GERD share some symptoms like vomiting and difficulty in swallowing, leading some experts to suspect that intolerance to gluten could lead to the advancement of GERD. Obviously, this means a gluten-free diet is most important to keep sufferers of celiac disease from also developing GERD, but researchers also concluded that a gluten-free diet may reduce the damaging effects of reflux overall.

Other experts are less convinced, citing the fact that GERD and celiac disease are caused by factors in entirely different areas of the gastrointestinal system. Celiac disease strikes in the small intestine, while GERD is a problem in the stomach and esophagus. Detractors say that any esophageal symptoms for sufferers of gluten intolerance are purely coincidental.

Change Your Diet

If you suffer from chronic GERD symptoms, you’ve likely already eliminated certain foods that cause your GERD symptoms to worsen, like spicy, fatty or acidic foods, alcohol, caffeine and chocolate. Though the gluten-free diet’s effects on reducing GERD’s impact are still up for debate, with so many gluten-free options on the market, giving the gluten-free diet a shot is easier than ever. Of course, you should always consult with Dr. Bagnato before changing your GERD diet, but Gluten-free GERD proponents suggest trying a gluten-free diet for about six weeks in order to effectively determine whether or not gluten is increasing the discomfort of your GERD symptoms.

Using positional therapy to combat the symptoms of GERD

Though Nisssen Fundoplication may be the most surefire way to relieve chronic symptoms from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), there are many things you can do on your own to help keep those symptoms at bay. Dr. Bagnato can provide you with dietary guidelines that will help you avoid foods that exacerbate GERD symptoms, but using other tactics like positional therapy may also help you keep heartburn at bay.

What is positional therapy?

Quite simply, acid has a difficult time climbing up your esophagus if it faces a steeper incline. As most GERD sufferers know, the symptoms can worsen at night, and part of the problem is lying prone in bed. Though bad GERD symptoms can cause you to miss out on a good night’s rest, there’s also evidence that nighttime reflux can be even more damaging than daytime reflux because acid sits in your esophagus longer.

Give GERD an uphill battle while you sleep.

An excellent way to prevent nighttime GERD symptoms is to raise your head about four to eight inches as you sleep. This can be accomplished with the help of a special GERD mattress wedge, which can be placed under your regular mattress, or by raising the legs at the head of your bed with blocks. Just remember that propping your head up on a mountain of pillows won’t do any good—your whole body needs to rest on an incline for this kind of positional therapy to achieve maximum efficacy.

Of course, your spouse or partner may be less than pleased about sleeping at an angle. Though most bed partners will adjust over time, if putting your bed at an angle isn’t a possibility, simply sleeping on your left side may be beneficial as well. This will position your esophagus above your stomach, making it harder for acid to reach your esophagus. Just try to avoid sleeping on your right side, which will have the opposite effect.

Here are a couple other methods of positional therapy you can try during your waking hours to make it more difficult for acid to reflux:

• Don’t lie down right after a meal. After you eat, you need to give your body time to digest to minimize the reflux of stomach acid. Try to eat dinner at least three hours before bed and don’t lay flat after a meal.
• Eat in an upright position. Slouching will give acid a better opportunity to reach your esophagus. Instead, try to sit with your back straight as often as possible.
• Don’t bend at the waist. If you need to pick something up, don’t bend down to grab it. This will compress the acid and push it toward your esophagus, while also giving acid the advantage of gravity. Bend at the knees instead. Squatting to pick things up is also much better for your back.

If you’re one of the many in the United States who suffer from chronic GERD symptoms, positional therapy may be one help in avoiding the misery that reflux can cause. Try some of these tactics, and ask Dr. Bagnato for more suggestions in how to keep GERD symptoms from causing you discomfort.

Getting rid of bad breath, especially when associated with the stomach, is often much more difficult than just popping a breath mint. If you’re considering reflux surgery in Macon, getting rid of the pain alone is worth it, but avoiding the embarrassment of stomach-related bad breath may be just one more benefit to getting rid of GERD.

Bad breath may not always make the list of the worst symptoms caused by GERD, but the connection does make a lot of sense—any time you have stomach acid or bits of food making their way up your esophagus, some unpleasant odors are to be expected. Ever burp and notice how bad your mouth tastes afterwards? You may not be able to smell it on your own breath, but there’s a pretty good chance everyone around you can.

Though the problem may be beginning in your stomach and won’t go away without treatment of the root issue, there are some things you can do to avoid exacerbating stomach-related bad breath and others to help cover it up.

• Change up your diet: Try avoiding spicy or strong-smelling foods and dairy products, anything that may smell especially bad coming back up. Reducing portion sizes may be beneficial as well as the stomach won’t need to produce as much acid to digest smaller meals.
• Brush your teeth: Kind of a no-brainer in reducing bad breath, but brushing your teeth more often could be a tremendous help. Try to brush, or at least swish around a potent mouthwash after each meal you eat.
• Get minty fresh: Breath mints won’t solve the problem, but they can help make it much less noticeable. Try carrying some breath mints or gum with you wherever you go and freshen up when you think it’s necessary.

Like a modernized, spandex version of the corset, undergarments called shaping underwear or control pants work to streamline your physique, squeezing in your gut by fitting tightly over it. Though this may sound like a great idea to make your stomach look firmer than it really is, control pants could have more negative effects for your body than just encouraging you to skip the gym—increased pressure on your torso can lead to heartburn and reflux issues, along with a whole host of other problems. Whether you’re considering reflux surgery in Macon to rid you of reflux symptoms or are simply intent on avoiding them in the first place, the dangers of shape-control underwear far outweigh the benefits.

Esophageal Risks

Control pants may seem like a great way to look thinner without putting in the hard work, but all that increased pressure on your lower stomach can force acid upwards into the gullet, resulting in some serious heartburn. If you spend a lot of time wearing control pants, this could lead to ulcers, inflammation and esophageal damage. Even wearing other kinds of tight clothes, like tight jeans, could contribute to some of these problems. So, if you’re worried about reflux issues, it might be time to slip into something a little more comfortable.

Other Complications

If shaping underwear is starting to sound like less of a good idea, hold on—it only gets worse. Because shape-control underwear holds in your stomach artificially, it prevents your diaphragm from fully descending as you breathe, which can cause panic attacks and hyperventilation. It can also lead to stress incontinence. In other words, if you have pressure on your stomach and cough or sneeze, the pressure is forced down instead of out, which could lead to a humiliating leak.

Everyone wants to look better without really trying, but every shortcut can have its consequences. Wearing shape-control underwear is the wrong way to tighten your gut. Instead, try some toning and core-strengthening exercises to lose that gut for good. Learn the lesson of every 19th century woman: corsets and their like are uncomfortable and just downright unnatural.

Depending on the severity of your discomfort, treatment for chronic heartburn may include medication, lifestyle changes or reflux surgery. Macon is home to many fine restaurants and festivals that are filled with all sorts of spices and delicious foods that you won’t want to miss out on due to your acid reflux. Supplementing your physician’s treatment with physical activity and a healthy diet is one way to get the most out of your reflux therapy plan.

A word to the wise: yoga can be intense

So, take a class first if you have never tried it before, and make sure to get clearance from your doctor. If you have just had reflux surgery, then starting out with an advanced yoga course right away may not be the best idea. Starting out slow with your yoga routine allows you to gradually develop balance. If your goal is to alleviate pain from heartburn through yoga, then injuring yourself isn’t going to do much help.

Here are a few yoga poses that have particularly been shown to help alleviate acid reflux.

• Sukhasana or Easy Pose. With your back straight and your legs crossed in front of you, sit still with your hands resting on your knees. Do not entangle your legs, but instead allow your left ankle to sit atop the right. This is one of the classic meditative poses, helping to straighten the spine, slow down the metabolism and promote inner tranquility.
• Bidalasana or Cat Pose. For this pose, balance yourself on your hands and knees with your toes pointing straight behind you. Distribute your balance evenly across the palms of your hands, applying pressure from the index finger to the base of your wrist. Hunch your shoulders, arching your back to simulate a cat while keeping your gaze downwards towards your fingertips. The cat pose helps initiate movement from your center, helping you to coordinate your movement and breath.
• Virabhadrasana I or Warrior I pose. To begin this pose, stand with your feet together at one end of your mat, and take a large step, placing your left foot three or four feet in front of you. Slowly move into your left leg, gradually straightening out your right leg behind you, keeping your toes on the mat. Your head, knees, hips and shoulders should all be pointing straight forward. Circle your arms above your head and join your hands in the air as you point your head towards the sky. Taking deep breaths, hold this pose for one minute, or as long as you feel comfortable doing so. The warrior I pose helps to relieve acid reflux by lifting the diaphragm and extending the esophagus.

Yoga cannot cure your acid reflux, but when practiced in conjunction with medical attention it may help to alleviate some of your discomfort.

There are a few things to think about before shutting down your oven for good.

One of the leading culprits for acid reflux is highly acidic foods. This includes a number of otherwise healthy produce items, including:

• Grapefruits
• Oranges
• Tomatoes

Other natural foods that are less-acidic, but are still common triggers for GERD include:

• Garlic
• Onions
• Peppers
• Avocadoes

Many people who do not suffer from GERD would consider these produce items to be harmless, but those who experience regular heartburn need to think twice before reaching for that spicy guacamole, even if it is all natural. The high fat content in avocadoes and the hot spices in most peppers make these produce option’s a bad choice for the average GERD patient.

What about a vegetarian diet? Will that help GERD?

Arbitrarily limiting your diet more than is necessary to overcome GERD may be more trouble than it is worth, especially after undergoing reflux surgery in Macon. There are a number of meats and animal by-products that are actually known to help relieve heartburn.

• Poultry is a leading staple of a gastric reflux diet. As long as you stay away from the deep fryer, chicken and turkey can be boiled, sautéed, baked or grilled and be a healthy part of a diet for GERD.
• Seafood is another healthy option for dining with GERD. While it is best to stay away from farm-raised wild fish, shrimp, lobster and other types of shellfish are all typically unproblematic for acid reflux patients.

The raw diet is so popular because it involves eating only unprocessed, unrefined, uncooked foods. This essentially limits the entire diet to fruits and vegetables, which will ensure that you are eating a lot of nutrients and is generally recognized as healthier than eating a lot of high-fat, fried foods. However, when you are struggling with acid reflux the raw diet can be misleading. Instead of cutting out foods that are good for GERD like chicken and fish, focus on decreasing the amount of acid that you are eating. For dietary advice that is tailored to your specific needs make sure you talk with Dr. Bagnato.

Acid reflux isn’t an allergic reaction!

Like a food allergy, acid reflux may cause you to experience unpleasant symptoms after eating. However, many patients will attest that the types of foods that cause acid reflux range, while a food allergy is triggered by a specific ingredient.

The top culprits that often trigger acid reflux include:

• Coffee (and many other forms of caffeinated drinks)
• Red meat
• Chocolate
• Alcohol
• High-fat dairy products
• Fried foods

Living with acid reflux forces you to change the way that you eat.

For many people, these ingredients comprise a predominant portion of their diet. Spicy foods and drive-thru meals become incredibly hard to handle for someone who battles heartburn on a regular basis. This is one reason that so many people attribute their indigestion to a food allergy.

A real food allergy develops as a result of antibodies that are released in your body that interpret a specific food as harmful, and this causes people to break out in a rash or hives when they are exposed to the allergen. More commonly, people experience food intolerances, which many people think of as an allergy but are actually quite different. Food intolerance develops over time and will cause general gastrointestinal discomfort and may even include symptoms similar to acid reflux and heartburn.

What makes acid reflux different?

Unlike a food intolerance or allergy, acid reflux is highly treatable. There are a number of forms of treatment available, including medication, lifestyle changes and reflux surgery. In the case of food intolerance or allergies, there is not much in the way of treatment options. Instead, the best bet is for the patient to avoid eating those foods.

Your reflux surgeon, Dr. Bagnato, can determine if you are experiencing an allergic reaction or intolerance to foods, or if instead you are actually suffering from GERD. Knowing what is causing your discomfort is the first step towards finding relief.

In addition to the well-known symptom of heartburn, one of the most common side effects of GERD is a chronic cough. This type of cough is caused by inflammation that results from the stomach acid climbing back into the esophagus. Such irritation over time causes mucus buildup in the lungs and trachea. The GERD cough is a result of this mucus buildup. Doctors have found that sometimes patients do not have any other symptoms of GERD beyond the cough. This makes it a challenge to diagnose and treat the condition for those patients.

Treatment for the cough caused by GERD typically involves treating the condition as a whole in order to remove the causes of the symptoms. The common avenues of treatment are avoidance of large meals, stopping smoking and alcohol as well as medications that inhibit the acid production. These medications can be found in both over the counter and prescription versions. Once the GERD is identified and treated then the symptoms are often relieved, including the chronic heartburn and cough.

Recent studies have shown some simple breathing exercises can help reduce the symptoms of GERD and improve quality of life. The breathing exercises encouraged during this study are similar to those practiced by singers to maintain their voices in between performances, and include taking deep, rhythmic breaths while seated for up to an hour.

These studies show that actively training the diaphragm through breathing exercises can significantly improve GERD when practiced repetitively over a period of time. Individuals with GERD who participated in the breathing exercises showed improvements in the level of acid present in the esophagus, improved quality of life and diminished need for treatment of GERD through prescription medications.

In addition to providing relief from GERD, these breathing exercises also provided a number of other benefits, including:

• Reduction of stress
• Increased relaxation
• A stronger diaphragm
• Better breathing in general

With these benefits, it may be worth your while to consult your physician about using breathing exercises to help relieve your frequent heartburn pain.