Home Sitemap

SEARCH

Email to a friend

POLL

How often do you suffer heartburn or indigestions?

• Daily
• 2-3 times a week
• Weekly
• Monthly

Keeping Healthy
Lifestyle Advice

It is widely acknowledged that lifestyle is a key contributor to both heartburn (acid reflux) and indigestion generally. The main factors are:

• Weight - the heavier you are the more pressure your digestive tract is under.
• Meals - the larger and fattier your meals, the more acid your stomach needs to produce.
• Alcohol intake - alcohol tends to increase the level of acidity in your stomach.
• Smoking - this can encourage acid production and causes the ring of muscle (sphincter) at the entrance to the stomach to relax. Smoking can also slow down the production of saliva which helps to protect the oesophagus (food pipe).
• Stress - Over recent years there has been a growing realisation that stress impacts on our digestive health. This is because our natural 'fight or flight' response to stress means that blood is diverted from the intestines to the muscles and the digestive system effectively goes into 'slowdown'.

Unfortunately our hectic, modern lifestyles are not conducive to digestive health. When we are rushing about we tend to eat irregularly and reach for fast, convenient foods such as fatty or spicy take-aways (which may be eaten on the run), stimulants such as caffeine and tobacco, and relaxants like alcohol. Food then speeds through our system too quickly.

What can you do?

• Maintain a healthy weight - eat a sensible, healthy, balanced diet - high in fibre and low in fat. Increase your protein intake, drink eight glasses of water a day and aim for at least five differently coloured fruit and vegetables every day.
• Take gentle exercise - not only will this help keep your weight under control, but it is a great stress reliever too.
• Limit your alcohol intake - Try to moderate what you drink and dilute it if you can. Or alternate one alcoholic one, with one still water (remember citrus juices and fizzy drinks can aggravate too). If you are having wine, opt for white instead of red.
• Don't smoke, or at least try to cut down.
• Relax - often easier said than done, but if you can take ten minutes out of your day to unwind, breathe deeply and try to relieve the stresses of the day, it will help.

Did you know? We each eat about 500kg (1/2 ton) of food per year.
Reference: Sciencepages.co.uk