Dealing with Acidity at 28: An IT Consultant Seeks Relief

Ans:

Isn’t it what we all dream of?

Unfortunately, bakery products are a combination of the three prohibited whites for our digestive system -- sugar, salt and refined flour, topped with lots of baking soda, artificial stimulants, colours and so on…

When we are younger, our body is able to process these and get rid of the toxins but, as we grow old, our physical routine is reduced and our system becomes more sluggish.

On top of it, binge-eating creates a backlog of food in the intestines that leads to acidity problems.

If you still crave for baked products, only go for good quality -- try whole wheat bakery products in moderation, but only once in a couple of weeks.

The best option will always be to bake them yourself – using yeast, whole wheat, healthy sweeteners, etc.

Bon Appetit!

Ans: Avoid high fat and sugar foods, fries, spices, chocolates, garlic, raw onions, coffee (caffeine) as these are triggers for acidity. Restrain from soft drinks, fruit juices, alcohol which would add to your fat percentage and act as triggers for acidity. Reduce the total consumption of fat in the diet. Lack of sleep does cause gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). As non veg food contains high fat levels, it may cause heart burn especially if consumed in large quantities.

Ans: - Eat mindfully - chew ur food thoroughly
- Avoid using refined oil for cooking - instead use cold pressed oil or home made ghee
- small frequent meals
- Avoid refined flour products like bread, biscuit, khari rusk
- Drink enough water
- Maintain a food log to understand the triggers better
- Quality sleep of 7hrs
- 5 deep breaths prior to every meal
- Relaxed walk 15-20 min post meal
- Foods that help managing acidity - cumin powder, Ajwain powder, sabja seeds, buttermilk

Ans: - Eat more simple home cooked meals
- shift from Refined oil to Cold-pressed oil/ghee
- Eat small meals.
- include curd& buttermilk in ur meals
- Early dinner, a gap of 2-3hrs between dinner and bed time
- Avoid raw foods
- Deep breath prior to ur meal
- chew ur food thoroughly
- eat slowly
- Avoid green chillies

Ans: What you are indicating seems to be a sign of insulin resistance where in response to meal, insulin levels rise and then you start feeling hungry. These are indications of early stage of diabetes development.
The first thing you need to get done is blood sugar levels: fasting, 2 hr after breakfast and HbA1c. You also need to have your lipid, and liver function tests done. Essentially, you can get your blood marker profile done. Discuss that with a physician and he or she would be in better position to advise.

Regarding second question, it may not be related to early dinner but overall gastric emptying. Please increase fruits and vegetables in your diet. You need to have some gastric motility enhancing medicines before breakfast . Esomeprazole and Domperidon combination are very effective.

It might benefit to increase the number of meals and snacks in total to 5 From current (Three meals and two snacks) but reduce the quantity and portion sizes in snacks.

Dr Chandrakant Lahariya
Centre for Health: The Specialty Practice
Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi