GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease) is a form of acid reflux, and a lot of times involves a breakdown of your esophagus where it connects to your stomach. When you experience acid reflux after a meal, GERD could be what you’re experiencing.
5 Natural Ways to Reduce GERD or Acid Reflux
If you are experiencing GERD or acid reflux, I’m going to go over 5 natural things you can do to reduce symptoms and prevent it altogether.
1. Stop Taking Pain Medications
Over-the-counter medications or NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) are something I would stop taking immediately.
Some common examples of these that you may be taking now include:
- Aspirin
- Motrin
- Advil
These medications are super hard on your stomach and gut, and If you have GERD or acid reflux, it’s just going to make it worse. They poke holes in the gut, and cause ulcers and bleeding in the stomach.
As an alternative to these medications, I recommend using turmeric and omega. Studies show that if you take the omega we already have in the body and double it, it’s equally effective at reducing pain as aspirin, Advil, or Motrin.
Removing NSAIDs, stopping your smoking habit, and following a gut-friendly nutritional approach are going to reduce your symptoms of acid reflux greatly.
2. Eliminate Bad Foods
Acid reflux and GERD can also be caused by the food you’re eating. If you want to reduce the level of acid in your stomach, cut back on the following foods:
- Dairy
- Spicy foods
- Gluten
- Sugars
- Caffeine
- Alcohol
3. Do A Gut Reset
Doing a gut reset is a good way to find out what specific foods are causing you to experience acid reflux, and to help eliminate those foods.
We have a basic and advanced version of the Livingood Lifestyle. Both can help walk you through exactly what to eat and what not to.
We are going to eliminate all irritating foods, flush the gut, build it back up, and then reintroduce those foods to see which one you’re sensitive to.
4. Proper Nutrition
I suggest trying collagen to seal the gut back up because the leakiness of the gut can create acid reflux. We have some best-selling collagen products in our store that come in vanilla and chocolate.
I also like to put digestive enzymes into the body, which help break down foods that could be causing some irritation in the gut.
Prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics are very important for building good bacteria back up in your gut.
If you suffer from GERD or acid reflux, I would also recommend GI support, which includes both enzymes, and probiotics.
5. Proper Breathing
We teach proper breathing in week two of our challenges in the Livingood Daily Lifestyle. Paced breathing stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system, the system that helps control digestion in the body.
As a bonus, the Livingood Daily Lifestyle can also help you lose weight, and weight is a factor that can cause acid reflux issues.
Summary
If you suffer from GERD or acid reflux, stop taking pain medications, stop eating bad foods, start taking GI support and omega/turmeric, and follow the Livingood Daily Lifestyle, especially the gut reset exercise. These steps can help you reduce and control your acid reflux issues.
