Cut out the Caffeine

I have some bad news for you coffee and tea lovers. Caffeine is one of the primary aggregation agents of Acid Reflux onset. Like nicotine, it relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter to the point where it lets back up partially digested food along with stomach acid to produce that burning pain we all know so well. Unfortunately, there really are no two ways about this. If you continue to drink coffee, tea, soda, you will continue to suffer from GERD. It's your choice.

Old habits are hard to break. I know. I've been drinking coffee since I was 8 years old (thanks Grandma). Without that caffeine boost in the morning and in the afternoon, I would feel sluggish all day, and barely able to perform mentally or physically. I know that many people are in the same boat I was. Giving up caffeine is not easy, nut let me give you a few suggestions about how I managed to do it.


First, start by just cutting back a bit on how much caffeine you take in. If you're drinking 5 cups a day, try cutting back to 3. If you're at 3, bring it back to 1.5. You can put a little less coffee into the machine, or maybe not soak the tea bag for quite so long. Give it a shot. After a week or so, you're body and mind will adapt.


Next, replace the caffeine with something more natural, that  will not cause Acid Reflux. You can try those 5 hour energy drinks, though they are expensive. For something that's much more affordable, I would suggest investing in monthly supplies of high quality multi-vitamins. Not the ones you see in the super market. Those unfortunately are filled with ineffective garbage. Its ridiculous how those companies get away with selling garbage through marketing alone.


No, you need to do a little research yourself, and find some good multi-vitamins that contain only active ingredients, and in all the correct proportions and quantities. This should cost you around $30 for a one month supply. A bargain considering the immense health benefits you will get, as well as the extra boost in energy that will hopefully keep you away from the caffeine.




If you find that the multi-vitamins are not enough to keep you coffee free, and you still need that push at certain times of the day (I know I did), then perhaps you should think about investing in a B-vitamin complex supplement also. Although there are plenty of B-vitamins present in the multi-vitamin formula, a mega-dosing as found in the B-complex will send massive amounts of energy continuously through you for hours on end.

Give it a shot. I think you will be very pleasantly surprised at how amazingly effective a good multi-vitamin formula, coupled with a B-complex supplement for energy can be for not only giving you fantastic amounts of energy while making you feel great, and keeping Acid Reflux at bay. You really owe it to yourself to try this lifestyle change and see how beneficial it will be to you.


Oh, and on a side note, don't be fooled into thinking that you can just switch over to caffeine free tea and coffee to try to make the behavioral change a little easier. Both of those drinks still contain more than enough caffeine to start an onset of Acid Reflux, so please try to stay away all together.


http://www.health.com/health/
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/index.html