When it concerns identifying common causes of GERD symptoms alcohol use as well as being overweight and even pregnant and even cigarette smoking are the most likely underlying reasons that you will have to do something about. What’s more, it is also possible that possible causes of GERD symptoms are the foods that you have been eating and among the dangerous foods that you will need to steer clear off you can include citrus fruits, chocolates, drinks that contain caffeine, fatty as well as fried foods, garlic as well as onions. In addition, you can also add mint flavoring and spicy foods as too foods with much tomato content such as spaghettis sauce and pizza and also chili to the list of foods that you have to foreswear eating.
Doctors will however, in most cases inform you that the real cause of GERD symptoms is when acid from your stomach manages to reflux out of the stomach and into your esophagus and then perhaps even into your mouth. The most common reason why such acid reflux takes place is because a ring of muscles known as lower esophageal sphincters become loose and allows the acid to leave the stomach and get into your esophagus.
When your lower esophageal sphincter (LES) relaxes (which happens a few times in a day) it allows acid to leave the stomach and get into the esophagus where it will burn and otherwise cause damage and much discomfort.
Another possible cause for GERD symptoms is suffering from hiatal hernia which can take place when the upper portion of your stomach (above your diaphragm) and the muscle wall that keeps the chest and stomach apart will start to malfunction. The diaphragm helps to keep the LES from allowing acid to enter the esophagus and when you develop hiatal hernia the LES stops working effectively and then acid is able to escape through the LES and get into the esophagus where it can do its damage.
Hiatal hernia can affect people of all ages and if you are in your fifties chances are that you already have a small one that can then become a cause for your GERD symptoms. The treatments for your GERD symptoms will vary according to the intensity of the problem and also according to the root cause of the problem.
When you want to treat your GERD symptoms by natural means one very effective option for you is to switch to taking a GERD diet which must at least include eating low fat foods that in turn help prevent acid reflux. This diet can help you avoid having to deal with the pain of a GERD condition and there are many such diets that have especially been designed with a view to stopping the discomfort and pain that a GERD condition causes.
