Eating is one of the most enjoyable parts about being human.
Which is why heartburn is one of the most frustrating conditions a man can get.
The medical term for heartburn is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
People with GERD experience stomach acid irritating the lining of their esophagus whenever they swallow food.
The most common treatment option for GERD is proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs.
They work by blocking the pumps that transport acid at the cells near the esophagus.
The reduction in acid prevents them from burning sensitive tissue.
However, PPIs also bind to enzymes needed to produce acetylcholine, a crucial neurotransmitter in the brain.
This reduces the amount of acetylcholine in your body.
A Swedish study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s & Dementia reports that this effect is enough to conclude that PPIs marginally increase the risk of dementia. [R]
Senior researcher, Taher Barreh-Shori, recommends that those with GERD avoid excessive PPI use, whenever possible.
There also seem to be various lifestyle changes and natural solutions to GERD that may reduce or eliminate the dosage of PPIs needed.
Here are 4 strategies that may help:
1 – Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is essentially choosing a certain window of time to eat, usually 8 hours. Outside the 8-hour window? No food.
2 – Exercise
Is it any surprise that moving your body improves its ability to function properly? Pick up some kettlebells, get on that bike, go for a run… Do whatever gets your blood pumping!
3 – Quit coffee & tea
This might be tough, but most coffees and teas are highly acidic and can aggravate those who experience GERD.
Try going at least a weekend without the caffeine rush and see if anything improves.
4 – Quit alcohol
They say the only reason alcohol is legal is because banning it has been proven to backfire. There’s a whole slew of reasons to ease on the alcohol consumption, but many have said that cutting back has helped with GERD.
5- Try D-limonene
D-limonene is a compound extracted from orange peels that’s been shown to provide total heartburn relief in just 20 days.
D-limonene is lighter than water, so it floats to the surface of gastric juices in the
stomach.
When gastric pressure forces stomach acid into the esophagus, the D-limonene coats the esophagus and protects it from the burning acid.
This protection acts like a shield for your through and allows for erosions to heal for long term relief.
D-Limonene is also proven to increase the gastric emptying of food and gastric juices out of the stomach so that these esophageal irritants do not promote as much reflux.
Just one gram of D-limonene every other day for twenty days has been shown to
reduce or eliminate GERD symptoms in most people for six months or longer.
Although there are many more tactics that ex-PPI users swear by, these 5 are a good place to start.