What are the foods we must avoid to control acidity? Is lack of sleep one of the big reasons for acidity? Does non veg food cause more acidity than veg? Thank you

Ans:

Acidity is quite a common disorder these days, and we have learnt to live with it and usually find cures rather than precautions.

There are multiple reasons for acidity, sometimes so severe that it leads to heart burn. It is named so, as the oesophagus, where the burning sensation is felt, lies just behind the heart.

The first step is to better understand your body type -- what agrees with your digestive system and what doesn’t.

Secondly, it’s the quantity. Always eat so your stomach is half full. And it is about timing -- heavy meals during the day and light or no food after sunset.

Once you understand these principles, you will be able to balance the acid refluxes and avoid severe acidity or heartburn.

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: Some common triggers for acidity - -Caffeine
- Refined oil(preferably use cold pressed oil or home made ghee)
- Too much of carbs in the diet
- Irregular sleep pattern
- If u chew/eat too fast
- High stress levels
- No physical activity

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