It’s easy to understand how after the COVID-19 pandemic rattled the globe, more people began taking their health and wellness seriously. And proof of this can be seen in the upsurge of gym memberships and increased sales in sports equipment across the country since 2020.

But being healthy takes much more than simply exercising a few times a week. In fact, without a balanced diet and a balanced lifestyle, exercising only makes a minor impact on your overall health.

Many personal trainers will tell you that you can work out 7 days a week, but if your lifestyle and your diet isn’t balanced, you’ll fail to reap the benefits of any amount of exercise. But the good news is that with only a few minor changes, you can get healthy and deter health problems from arising such as heartburn or acid reflux.

Nobody likes to wake up in the middle of the night with heartburn symptoms. So if you’re ready to adjust your lifestyle and begin living heartburn free, the following will explore a few ways to meet this goal.

Changing Your Diet

One of the most fundamental building blocks to having good health is your diet. And without proper nutrition, you could find yourself developing problems far beyond heartburn and acid reflux.

Stomach acid is what causes heartburn. And if you’re not eating the right foods, or if you’re eating too much of the wrong foods, your stomach acid production can increase and eventually cause you pain.

This is actually the main reason why heartburn sufferers take medications such as Zantac for heartburn relief because it can neutralize stomach acid. But unfortunately, Zantac and ranitidine medications can produce NDMA when they break down, and this is a known carcinogen. In fact, if you or anyone you know has developed cancer from taking Zantac, you should contact rosenfeldinjurylawyers.com to receive a consultation.

But What are the types of foods that you can eat that will keep you from suffering from heartburn? The good news is, there are still many foods that you can enjoy. However, there are a few that you should also avoid, especially if you suffer from chronic heartburn.

A few foods to avoid are as follows:

• Chocolate
• Potato chips
• Butter cookies
• Oily salad dressings
• Citrus fruits
• Acidic vegetables
• Alcohol
• Raw onions
• Caffeine

Incorporating a balanced diet of whole grains, leafy greens, and dairy products can greatly reduce the occurrence of heartburn. And at the same time, the times that you eat between activities such as exercise and sleep should also be adjusted to help avoid heartburn as well.

Changing Your Lifestyle

Though diet may be one of the main culprits for causing heartburn, the way you live your life can also have a huge impact on heartburn and acid reflux as well. And often by changing your lifestyle in the right areas, you’ll be able to help mitigate heartburn.

For example, if you live a predominantly sedentary lifestyle, you run the risk of having poor digestion or developing problems with digestion. And this is because activity helps with metabolism, and having a more active lifestyle can also help your digestive process as well.

Simply exercising a few days a week, even if it’s only 30 minutes per day can work wonders for your health and get your digestive process back in check. Additionally, those who don’t exercise are also prone to obesity. And extra weight on your stomach can also help to manifest heartburn and acid reflux.

Sleeping Habits

Most people who suffer from heartburn find that they wake up in the middle of the night with a burning sensation in their chest and throat. And this is because stomach acid is moving up into the esophagus.

If you eat meals late at night and go to bed shortly after, you run the risk of developing heartburn while you’re asleep. So as a rule of thumb, allowing at least 4 hours to pass after eating before you go to bed can greatly reduce the occurrence of heartburn.

Additionally, laying on your back (in the supine position) can actually help to promote heartburn as well. As such, laying on your side is a much better option if you suffer from chronic heartburn.

Staying heartburn free is all about making healthy diet and lifestyle choices. And unless you want to depend on medications and deal with painful heartburn or acid reflux, adjusting your diet and your lifestyle will prove to be the wisest decision you can make.