If you’re pregnant, you have enough discomfort to worry about without the agonizing symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Unfortunately, up to half of pregnant women do experience the symptoms of GERD, making awareness of the disease and its prevention very important for anyone expecting a child. Though reflux surgery is the most proven and effective way to rid yourself of GERD symptoms for good, there are many lifestyle changes that pregnant women, like all GERD sufferers, can employ to reduce the occurrence of GERD symptoms.

Why are pregnant women more prone to GERD?

Pregnancy changes more than just the shape of your tummy—it can change the levels of many of your body’s hormones as well. Altered levels of estrogen and progesterone reduce the pressure of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), which is a muscular ring that keeps acid in the stomach from refluxing back into the esophagus. Relaxed pressure in the LES, along with increased pressure in the abdomen caused by a growing fetus, often results in the development of GERD in pregnant women.

The unfortunate fact is that pregnant women are often in discomfort, experiencing unusual pains that they haven’t been subjected to before. As a result, many women find it difficult to specifically identify the symptoms of reflux when they appear, meaning they can often go untreated. Your best bet in avoiding the pain and complications of GERD is to consult with Dr. Ihde, who will best be able to identify GERD’s symptoms and offer strategies to combat them. However, here are several things you can do in your everyday life to ensure that GERD doesn’t affect you during pregnancy:

• Change your nightly routine. To avoid reflux, try to avoid eating for three or four hours before bedtime. This may be a challenge with pregnancy’s cravings, but you’ll be sure to thank yourself in the long run. It may also be helpful to elevate your head and shoulders by about four to six inches as you sleep—this will put your body on an incline that will force acid to fight an uphill battle to make it into your esophagus. If you’re uncomfortable in an elevated position, simply sleeping on your left side may give you similarly beneficial results.
• Change your eating habits. Many of the things we put in our bodies like spicy and fatty foods, mint, chocolate and caffeinated beverages increase the symptoms of GERD. Eating smaller meals will help as well, as large meals cause a large amount of acid buildup and increase the chances of reflux. And whether you’re eating or not, you should try to sit in a fully upright position—this will make it harder for acid to travel up the esophagus.
• Try over-the-counter antacids. Always speak with your obstetrician before taking any over the counter medications during pregnancy but antacids may help reduce your symptoms in the short term, though you need to be careful of a couple ingredients that they can contain. Magnesium can spell problems in the last trimester of pregnancy, as it can inhibit uterine contractions, while sodium bicarbonate can lead to a condition called metabolic acidosis, which can cause fluid overload in the mother and fetus.

Discomfort due to GERD doesn’t have to be an everyday part of your pregnant life!

When you are overweight or obese, excess weight causes increased abdominal pressure which can increase your risk of acid reflux disease. Even a small amount of excess weight is proven to increase your risk of acid reflux. However, if you are of average body weight and still suffering from chronic acid reflux, you may want to speak with your doctor about potential ways to treat your GERD such as or prescription medications, lifestyle changes or reflux surgery.

In the meantime, the best possible way to help reduce your risk of GERD or at least help reduce related symptoms is to lose weight. Along with making necessary changes to your dietary and eating habits, losing your excess body weight may help keep your symptoms under control.

Here are some steps to help you lose the weight necessary to improve your GERD symptoms.

1. Speak with a weight loss doctor for recommendations on weight loss goals that take your height, build and age into account.
2. Try and exercise for at least 10 to 15 minutes a day, a couple days a week until you build more strength to work out harder and for longer periods of time.
3. Moderate your food intake by controlling your portions and frequency of meals.
4. Make healthy dietary changes that include eating more fruits, vegetables and foods with high fiber content.
5. Cut down on fried foods and foods with high levels of acidities.
6. Make sure to eat healthy foods rich with essential nutrients and vitamins.
7. If you smoke or drink alcohol consistently, try and cut down on your intake.
8. Don’t fall prey to commercial gimmicky diets and speak with a nutritionist, instead.
9. Pick and choose fitness classes that can help you realistically reach your weight loss goals.
10. Stay focused on the big picture and don’t give up!

These are just a few ways to help you take the initial steps to losing weight if you’re trying to improve symptoms of GERD. However, if you are severely overweight or obese, losing weight is a medical issue, so it’s important to speak with a weight loss physician before making any drastic changes to your diet or level of physical activity. Losing weight is not a cure-all for GERD but it may help improve symptoms often associated with acid reflux disease. If you are still suffering from severe pain associated with your acid reflux, speak with Dr. Ihde.

GERD has the potential to thin, sharpen and pit your teeth.

For most sufferers of GERD, symptoms can be controlled through prescription medications or with reflux surgery for more severe cases, but what about your pearly whites? Chronic heart burn triggered by GERD can produce stomach acids strong enough to soften the surface of teeth, or in some cases even dissolve the surface of teeth altogether and continue to wear them down layers at a time.

The Journal of the American Dental Association published a study that measured chronic heartburn’s effects on the teeth of 12 people suffering from GERD in comparison to six healthy patients without GERD for a period of six months. This study was the first to track GERD’s effects on tooth erosion for a substantial amount of time. The study revealed via optical scanner that nearly half of the GERD participants experienced more tooth erosion than the study’s healthy participants.

Unfortunately, tooth enamel cannot be repaired once it becomes eroded. In order to treat a tooth that has eroded your dentist will need to crown, fill or use a veneer to fix and protect what’s left of the tooth. Luckily for GERD patients there is one natural defense mechanism at work. Saliva acts a natural buffer to neutralize the stomach acids that flow into the mouth as a result of GERD, and also contains minute amounts of phosphate and calcium ions which help minimize tooth damage.

Despite saliva’s limits on enamel protection, there are additional methods patients of GERD can use to protect teeth from further erosion.

Here are a few tips to help keep you out of the dentist’s office outside of your usual cleanings.

1. Do not brush your teeth directly following an acid reflux episode. Instead, use a fluoride rinse.
2. If you tend to have a dry mouth, drink more water during the day to increase saliva production.
3. Chew sugar-free gum with xylitol which helps reduce the acids from your foods and drinks.
4. Ask your dentist about trying prescription toothpaste for acid reflux patients.
5. Talk to your doctor about treatments for your GERD such as prescriptions or reflux surgery.

It is important to protect tooth enamel as much as possible, especially if you suffer from GERD. Talk with your doctor about ways to treat your GERD and help protect your teeth from erosion caused by chronic heart burn.

There are other tricks those suffering from occasional acid reflux can use to help alleviate mild symptoms. Some say practicing yoga on a consistent basis may help with conditions such as acid reflux or heartburn. Here is a great yoga pose to practice to offer a little extra relief for acid reflux or heartburn—but remember to employ a breathing technique first to relax your body and prepare for the pose!

Begin with Breathing

Many yoga poses encompass breathing techniques to focus the mind before engaging in poses. The easiest breathing technique to try out is called Pranayam. This is a controlled breathing technique designed to help reduce toxic buildups that occur in mucus lining of the lungs. A controlled breathing technique such as this one can also increase blood flow in the veins of the body giving you a sense of renewed energy. Use these instructions to practice the technique but make sure to not do so immediately after eating:

1. First, take a comfortable seating position and relax your shoulders and muscles to feel normal
2. Relax your abdomen and inhale, strongly pushing your belly forward
3. When exhaling, tighten your muscles in your belly and slowly push out the air
4. Repeat this several times in order to instill a sense of calm and release daily tension

Master the Pose

Once you have mastered the breathing technique, you will be ready to try out this yoga pose that is great for relief of acidity: Warrior One Pose

1. Stand up straight with your feet and heels together, hands by your side with palms facing forward. While exhaling slowly, step out your feet until they’re about four feet apart. Raise your arms perpendicular to the floor while keeping them parallel to each other and reach toward the ceiling.
2. Now, turn your left foot in towards you 45 degrees until it is 60 degrees to the right and then turn your right foot out 90 degrees to the right while aligning your left heel with the right. While exhaling, rotate your entire torso to the right keeping your legs firmly planted.
3. Make sure your left heel is firmly anchored to the floor. Now, exhale and bend your right knee over the right ankle so the shin is perpendicular to the floor.
4. Reach through your arm and lift your ribcage away from your pelvis. Now, ground down through your back foot until you feel a lift that runs up the back of your leg, across the belly and chest and up into the arms. Keep your head in a neutral position while gazing forward.
5. Stay in this position for 30 seconds to a minute and then rise while exhaling to a normal standing position. Repeat to the opposite side if desired.

Yoga poses such as Warrior One Pose help you lift your diaphragm area and extend the esophagus and top portion of your stomach which offers relief to symptoms of acidity. As a result, the pose reduces the reflux of gastric contents, cools the solar plexus and ultimately stops acidity. Standing poses such as this one also increase the blood supply to the abdominal organs and help tone them at the same time. Yoga can be hazardous for some people so before trying out these techniques speak with your doctor.

Trend: Control Wear

Wearing clothes that are too tight or too small whether you’re male or female just isn’t a good look. Especially, if you are aware of the unpleasant and unexpected side effects they can potentially cause. However, many people today can’t seem to live without their control wear—these garments work wonders by holding in the stomach making waistlines appear much smoother and smaller for many people.

You have probably seen old movies where women faint because of how tight their corsets were. Well, health risks caused by such beauty endeavors are still the same today, especially for those who turn to control wear to fix their beauty blunders. Control wear can increase pressure on the lower stomach which in return can force acid up into the digestive tract and potentially cause heartburn. Research shows that over time, wearing such tight garments could contribute to inflammation, ulcers and in some extreme cases, esophageal cancer. Also, conditions such as reflux and irritable bowel syndrome can worsen due to tight control garments worn on a consistent basis.

Trend: Skinny Pants

I am sure by now you have seen or know someone who has fallen prey to the recent fashion trend of skinny jeans. Although in some cases skinny jeans make the legs and backside look phenomenal on the outside, they could be causing some not so great health risks on the inside. According to the Journal of American Medical Association, 80 percent of patients who presented with heartburn or abdominal pain after meals wore pants at least three inches smaller than their true waist.

Women are not the only ones to blame for trying to wear clothes too small and tight for their bodies. Gastroenterologists have reported overweight men who squeeze into tight pants can in fact potentially aggravate an otherwise silent abdominal hernia. Whether male or female it is important to wear pants in which the waistbands sit above the hips so no unwanted pressure on the abdomen is caused.

It’s hard to not fall in line with the latest fashion trends in order to look great, but when those trends can potentially cause health issues it may be time to be above the latest fashions. If you suffer from gastrointestinal issues, wearing tight pants and control wear could possibly complicate your conditions. It is important to talk with Dr. Ihde about other issues potentially causing your stomach problems. In some cases, reflux surgery or medications may be suggested to treat more serious conditions.

You may have heard of people eating a raw food diet to lose weight, but did you know that a raw diet can also help reduce the symptoms of your gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)? Whether you’re considering reflux surgery or are already a patient of Dr. Ihde, below are some fruits and vegetables that, in raw form, may help alleviate many of your reflux symptoms.

• Antioxidant-rich Fruits: Often hyperbolically referred to as “superfruits,” fruits like pomegranates, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, kiwis, cherries and tomatoes are rich in substances called antioxidants. What makes them super? Antioxidants prevent oxygen from reaching molecules called free radicals, which accumulate from food chemicals, smoke and environmental toxins. Free radicals can damage the lining of your esophagus and digestive tract if allowed to get oxygen, making antioxidants a great tool in preventing free radicals from worsening the burning sensations and pain caused by GERD.
• Pineapple: Rich in an enzyme called bromelain, pineapple may help to improve your overall digestion. Bromelain is believed to reduce the production of stomach acids, so getting more in your diet will reduce your chances of having those acids make their way up to your esophagus. However, canning and freezing can destroy bromelain, so make sure to eat raw, fresh pineapple for the most beneficial results.
• Raw Vegetables: Certain raw vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, spinach leaves, kale and carrots are rich in fiber, which can reduce the severity of GERD attacks by binding to the hydrochloric acid in your stomach and preventing the escape of acid into your esophagus. Eating these vegetables is also a great way to get more vitamin A into your diet, which your body needs to repair esophageal tissues.
• Legumes and Sprout Grains: Legumes and grains like lentils, barley, wheat and chickpeas are rich in B-vitamins, which experts say can help to reduce the symptoms of GERD. Like the raw vegetables above, legumes and sprout grains are also a great source of fiber.

Given the lack of raw food options in most restaurants and the difficulty of planning and preparing raw meals that have full nutritional value, a full raw food diet is not the best option for everyone, but getting more of these raw foods into your diet could be a big help with managing your GERD. Next time you reach for a snack, think about eating some fresh pineapple or antioxidant-rich berries instead of a handful of potato chips. Of course, you should always consult Dr. Ihde before making any changes to your diet—ask about the possible benefits of raw foods in addressing the symptoms of GERD.

Over 30 percent of Americans believe they have food allergies, but many of these adults are mistaking serious gastrointestinal issues for allergic reactions. Many people mistake conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome as symptoms of a food allergy because they experience abdominal pains shortly after eating.

Another condition commonly mistaken for an allergic reaction is eosinophilic esophagitis or inflammation of the esophagus. This can cause symptoms like heartburn, but this heartburn doesn’t respond to antacids or heartburn blockers. More often than not, when patients experience pain, bloating and gastrointestinal discomfort it’s not caused by food allergies.

When people continue to live with these symptoms under the belief that they’re caused by food allergies, they are ignoring signs of what could possibly be a more serious health issue. It is important to know the signs of acid reflux so you can make sure you’re not overlooking what could lead to serious health problems in the future. Acid reflux causes a burning sensation that often starts from the stomach and works its way up towards the chest. Sometimes these sensations can reach as high as the throat. -, Chronic acid reflux is often a sign of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, and not just an allergic reaction.

If these conditions continue to go untreated, chronic acid reflux problems can lead to permanent damage to the lower esophagus. Sometimes this permanent damage is referred to as Barrett’s esophagus. Barrett’s esophagus refers to permanent changes in the cells from the lining of the lower esophagus. If not treated, Barrett’s esophagus can increase the risk of cancer in the esophagus over time.

If you are someone who is unsure of the cause of your symptoms and think you may be mistaking a more serious gastrointestinal problem for a food allergy, contact Dr. Ihde for further evaluation.

Although bad breath is not necessarily directly related to gastrointestinal issues, the causation sure does seem to make sense. Bad breath, whether caused by sinus issues, tonsil issues or anything else, can be a terrible condition to deal with, but there’s something about bad breath caused by stomach issues that makes it a little bit worse. Stomach breath is seemingly worse than other types of bad breath because, truthfully, it stinks—and not in the same way morning breath does.

Potential Causes

There are numerous causes for stomach breath, most of which stem from certain stomach-related disorders. Bad breath might not always be listed as a distinct symptom of these gastrointestinal disorders, but that doesn’t make it any less of an issue. If you think about it, stomach issues usually cause stomach acid and pieces of food to travel up through the throat, so you can logically assume it’s going to carry an odor along with it.

If you put two-and-two together, you might start connecting your own issues, whether they are acid reflux, heartburn, or GERD as possible causes for less than pleasant breath. Think about it—acid reflux occurs when the digestive acids in the stomach leak back into the digestive tract, traveling up the esophagus and eventually, can release foul odor via the mouth.

Sometimes bad breath caused by stomach disorders can be dealt with by simply altering your diet. Drinking plenty of water and avoiding spicy foods, dairy products and red meats can help cut down on bad stomach breath. Also, try reducing portion sizes; this helps because the stomach won’t need to produce as much acid as it does with larger meals.

What You Can Do to Help

When dealing with bad stomach breath, it’s usually more complicated than a simple diet change, so here are a few quick fixes in the meantime:

• Brush your teeth after every meal
• Use a strong mouthwash with bacteria fighting capabilities
• Keep breath mints in your desk and car
• Try chewing a fresh-flavored gum or freshening mouth spray

Bad breath is terrible to deal with no matter what the cause is, but sometimes constant bad breath could be a sign of something more serious going on. Make sure you talk with Dr. Ihde if you think this symptom could be the cause of a more serious gastrointestinal issue.

One symptom that frustrates many GERD patients is bloating. Bloating is caused by a buildup of fluids in the abdomen that causes an individual to carry around excess weight. There are a number of ways to prevent bloating as a result of GERD:

• Create a food diary. Bloating frequently indicates intolerance to certain foods. Use a food diary to keep track of the times you feel bloated, including what you ate.

• Take digestive enzymes. By taking digestive enzymes approximately 30 minutes before eating you can help your stomach digest food more easily by reducing gas in your digestive tract.

• Avoid gas-producing foods. Foods, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and beans produce gas, which may lead to excessive stomach bloating, particularly in people who have Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).

• Chew slowly. Eating slowly will prevent you from inhaling excess air when swallowing your food.

• Avoid carbonated beverages. Instead, drink water alone or with your meals. Further, do not drink through a straw, which can cause you to swallow air as you drink.

• Take an over-the-counter (OTC) anti-bloating medication. Some OTC medications are specifically designed to reduce gas and bloating. Speak with your acid reflux physician about medications for your bloating that will not interfere with your acid reflux treatment plan.

Your lower esophageal sphincter regulates the flow of acid from your stomach into your esophagus, the tube that leads from your mouth to your stomach. For patients that have GERD, the LES malfunctions, permitting digestive juices to wash up out of the stomach and irritate the esophagus and throat.

Breathing exercises my help to strengthen the muscles surrounding your sphincter. Researchers who hypothesized that breathing exercises might improve symptoms in patients with GERD trained 19 volunteers in the same kind of exercises that professional singers use. These abdominal breathing exercises strengthened the diaphragm, the muscle that separates your lungs from your stomach, which can assist the sphincter in keeping the flow of acid where it belongs— outside your esophagus. The best results were seen in the volunteers who were motivated to continue the breathing exercises over the long haul.

These exercises help you train the way your lungs and abdomen work together to regulate your breath. Deep, controlled breathing may be more beneficial in the long run than shallow, chest breathing in helping to improve your quality of life with GERD.

So, even if you’re not invited to sing the national anthem at the next baseball game, you can benefit from breathing exercises that strengthen your internal muscles, sphincters and other digestive components.