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Acid Reflux And Eating Out
Generally, junk food items or fast food items are considered as bad choices for heart burn. As such, acid reflux sufferers and eating out should be at logger heads.
Acid reflux or heart burn is a painful condition affecting millions of people from all over the world.
This condition is known to worsen after a very heavy meal. The food items that trigger acid reflux in a person can differ from one person to another. One person’s problem food item need not be a problem food item for another person. Generally, junk food items or fast food items are considered as bad choices for heart burn. As such, acid reflux sufferers and eating out should be at logger heads. Is that assumption correct?
Those who suffer from this painful condition need not be avoiding eating out completely. Once in a while, you can enjoy a fancy dinner or lunch at your favorite restaurant. The only precaution you have to take is to choose the food items that does not worsen your condition and avoid the ones which trigger heart burn for you. In addition to this, the method of food preparation, your choice of beverages, the amount of food you consume etc can help you to stay clear of heart burn.
Italian, Chinese and Mexican restaurants can be tough to negotiate due to the large number of acid reflux causing food items sold there. Even then, you can reduce the risk of acid reflux by staying away from acid reflux causing food items and methods of food preparations.
One of the first steps involved is understanding your trigger food items. In case you are not aware of them already, you can gain an understanding by tracking the food items you eat and writing them down. This way, in a short time, you will have a good idea of acid reflux causing problem food items in your specific case.
Food Items To Be Chosen And Those To Be Left Out
Fried food items, be it meat or fish, are known to cause more heart burn and should be avoided. If you have a choice, get your meat and fish grilled rather than fried. As high fat gravies, sauces etc are known to trigger heart burn, get low fat varieties of these instead. Avoid any of your trigger food items.
Tomato sauce, ketchup, food items containing a lot of fruit ingredients, cheese, butter etc are known to cause heart burn and should be avoided. Onions are also known to affect you adversely. Carbonated beverages, alcoholic beverages, chocolate drinks etc need to be reduced or avoided all together.
White meat is better than red meat. If you insist on red meat, then lean cuts of them would be better. Baked potatoes, steamed vegetables, soups containing broths etc are good. If you use dips or dressing, choose fat free or low fat varieties only.
While in Italian restaurants, avoid the temptation to get your pizza double cheesed. High fat pizza toppings like sausage and pepperoni should be avoided as well. Get your pizza without much tomato sauce in them. This will definitely reduce the taste of your pizza. But it will reduce the chances of you getting acid reflux symptoms later!
How To Distinguish Between Heart Burn And Heart Attack?
If you are at higher risk of having a heart attack, then you should be aware of your risk in the first place. If you are a smoker or if you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol or diabetes, then you are at high risk of a heart attack. If heart attack runs in your family or if you are obese or if you have heart problems, then also you should keep this possibility in your mind. If you are not sure, then it would be always better to check with your doctor than taking chances with your life.
Chest pain associated with a heart attack can some times be mistaken for a common heart burn (acid reflux).
This situation can become lethal if left untreated. In the initial stages of a heart attack, it is quite difficult for a layman to distinguish between a heart attack or heart burn. How do you distinguish between a common heartburn and a serious heart attack?
If you are at higher risk of having a heart attack, then you should be aware of your risk in the first place. If you are a smoker or if you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol or diabetes, then you are at high risk of a heart attack. If heart attack runs in your family or if you are obese or if you have heart problems, then also you should keep this possibility in your mind. If you are not sure, then it would be always better to check with your doctor than taking chances with your life.
Let us go through common symptoms of a heart attack. When you are having a heart attack you may feel general discomfort, pressure or burning sensation in your chest area, throat, neck area or on your arms. The discomfort or pain may start in the chest area and spread to your arms. You may find it hard to breath, may feel like vomiting, may feel dizzy or may start sweating. If you feel these symptoms, then think of the worst and seek medical help immediately.
Acid reflux symptoms can feel like heart attack too. Acid reflux pain does not spread to the arms or throat. Many times acid reflux happens after a heavy meal. Acid reflux pain may be relieved with the use of common antacids in a short time. Even if you think it is a acid reflux and are feeling sweaty or dizzy, then it is more likely to be a heart attack. Even those people who have a long history of heart burn may ind it difficult to distinguish between acid reflux and heart attack. The symptoms can be so similar and the pain and discomfort can seem like originating from the same area.
How is the common man going to distinguish between acid reflux and heart attack? Is it a smart move on his part to undertake self diagnosis? No. Common people should never try to decide whether it is heart attack or heart burn. That decision must be left to the doctors to decide. Only they are in a position to decide for sure whether it is a heart burn or a heart attack. An average Joe should not be the one who distinguishes between these two. If he tries to do that, he may be risking his own life. It is always good to err on the side of caution than risking your life otherwise. In the worst case scenario, if you finds out that all you have is heart burn, you may feel a bit embarrassed. But the chances of you are alive are much better this way.
Heart Burn In Dogs – Diagnosis And Treatment
Dogs suffering from acid reflux may refuse to eat normal amounts of food. As a result, they may start to lose weight and become weak. They may involve in lower level of physical activities than before. After every meal, they may lie down with a tired look for a long time. You have to watch your dog for a period of time and see if these symptoms are continuing. Observation is the most common method for basic diagnosis of canine acid reflux.
Heart burn or acid reflux is a problem faced by millions of people all over the world. Does this condition affect animals too? Yes.
Many animals suffer from this painful condition. As a dog is considered to be the best friend of a man, we are familiar with the acid reflux condition of dogs in particular. In a similar way as humans suffer from acid reflux due to the malfunctioning of their LES (Lower Esophageal Sphincter), some dogs also suffer from this condition for the same reason. In these cases, this valve (LES) does not work properly and is unable to prevent stomach acids from going back up in to the esophagus.
As the stomach is capable of handling stomach acids, the acids won’t cause any damage or pain there. It is not the same case with the soft tissues in the esophagus. The stomach acids are going to burn these soft tissues and cause pain and discomfort.
Causes Of Canine Acid Reflux
This is a biological condition which cannot be prevented or brought under complete control. Some dogs are more susceptible to suffer from this painful condition and some others are not so. Being overweight is known to worsen the condition. Inclusion of too much fat in the dog’s diet is known to cause heart burn. Over eating can also cause acid reflux. In all these cases, added pressure will be exerted on the stomach. The excess fat build up around the stomach area or the excessive amounts of food consumed can cause the stomach acids to reflux up in to the esophagus and thus causing heart burn.
A healthy LES would have kept the stomach acids in its place. But the defective valve function of LES of dogs suffering from acid reflux is not going to prevent stomach acids from going up in to the esophagus completely.
Symptoms Of Canine Acid Reflux
Dogs suffering from acid reflux may refuse to eat normal amounts of food. As a result, they may start to lose weight and become weak. They may involve in lower level of physical activities than before. After every meal, they may lie down with a tired look for a long time. You have to watch your dog for a period of time and see if these symptoms are continuing. Observation is the most common method for basic diagnosis of canine acid reflux.
Treatment For Acid Reflux In Dogs
As this condition is a biological condition which cannot be completely reversed, complete cure of the condition may not be possible. But, you can take preventive measures like feeding a proper diet at appropriate time intervals, preventing your dog from becoming over weight, not providing excessive amounts of food at any given time etc. You must consult with a qualified vet before giving your dog any medicine. Antacids like pepcid are known to provide temporary relief for the condition. But this is not a permanent solution.
Keeping your dog’s food in an elevated position can help in reducing canine acid reflux. This way your pet is not required to eat from floor level and this is known to reduce acid reflux problems for many dogs.
