What Is Acidity?
Acidity is a medical disorder caused by excessive acid production. The stomach's glands are responsible for producing this acid. Acidity produces symptoms such as stomach ulcers, gastric inflammation, heartburn, and dyspepsia. It is typically brought on by a number of things, including bad eating habits, inconsistent eating patterns, a lack of physical activity or sports, alcohol use, smoking, stress, and fad diets. Acidity is more common in areas where people eat more non-vegetarian, spicy, and oily foods. Acidity is characterized by a deep burning sensation after eating a large meal. Constipation and indigestion are also frequent among those with acidity.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Acidity?
Acidity symptoms develop when some of the stomach's acidic substance leaks back up into the esophagus or the food pipe, which joins the mouth to the stomach. The lower esophageal sphincter (LES), a ring of muscle, typically serves as a barrier that allows food to enter the stomach but prevents it from coming back up into the esophagus. When this valve fails to operate correctly, stomach acids can reflux into the esophagus and cause the following acidity symptoms:
1. Heartburn:
Heartburn, despite its name, has nothing to do with the heart. A burning feeling in the chest is a typical sign of acidity and is brought on when extra stomach acid leaks into the esophagus. This sensation may last for a short while or for a long time.
2. Regurgitation:
Some individuals who have acidity may regurgitate. It is a sensation in which the individual may sense bile, stomach acid, or liquid, undigested food moving up and down in the throat. This experience, which is comparable to the feeling of being sick, typically appears after eating, while exercising, or shortly after bending over.
3. Sour Taste in the Mouth:
A sour flavor in the mouth, another typical sign of stomach problems and acidity. Bitter flavor results from food rising to the back of the throat along with stomach acid and bile. This typically occurs in conjunction with regurgitation.
4. Swallowing Problems:
Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, occurs when excess acid in the stomach causes a sensation of fullness. Additionally, it hinders digestion and delays the passage of food through the food tract.
5. Sore Throat:
The vocal cords or voice box may become irritated by stomach acid when it rises to the lips, causing sore throat or hoarseness.
6. Indigestion:
Dyspepsia, another name for indigestion, is frequently a symptom of acidity and other digestive issues. It can cause discomfort and a feeling of burning in the upper middle portion of the stomach.
What Are the Causes of Acidity?
Gastric acids are produced in the gut and aid in food digestion. However, occasionally excessive amounts of gastric acid are created for unknown reasons, which results in acidity. Acid reflux is also brought on by elements that interfere with the lower esophageal sphincter's (LES) normal operation.
The following are a few typical reasons for acidity:
1. Dietary and Food Factors:
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Consuming meals that are too spicy or contain a lot of pepper, vinegar, or paprika.
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Fried and oily dishes.
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Excessive consumption of cocoa, coffee, tea, and other sources of caffeine.
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High sodium consumption.
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Low-fiber diet.
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Overeating or eating infrequently.
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Unhealthy routines, such as lying down immediately after consuming food.
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Eating right before doing an intense activity.
2. Lifestyle Elements:
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Smoking frequently.
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Excessive alcohol, soda, or carbonated beverage consumption.
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Sleep deprivation.
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Lack of exercise.
3. Illnesses and Treatments:
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Excessive worry, depression, or stress.
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Stomach illnesses such as peptic ulcer, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and stomach cancer.
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Drugs such as analgesics, antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, and stimulants.
What Are the Risk Factors For Acidity?
The following circumstances increase the risk of acidity:
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Asthma, diabetes, celiac illness, and connective tissue disorders such as scleroderma.
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Hiatal hernia.
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Overweight or obese.
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Women who will soon enter menopause.
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Women undergoing hormone replacement treatment.
How to Avoid Gastric Disturbances?
When it is still a functional disturbance, there are chances that it can be controlled or cured by some lifestyle modifications and some home remedies. The most important thing is to reduce stress to a minimum. Some minor lifestyle changes can reduce stress like doing work on time, avoiding procrastination, setting a timetable and following it strictly, and avoiding bad habits like alcohol and smoking.
Just a simple change of chewing the food properly can solve half of the gastric problems. It improves digestion, reduces the difficulty for the stomach and intestine to do digestion, and to some extent, reduces food quantity. Walking for 15 minutes to 20 minutes after a heavy meal, eating dinner before eight PM (post meridiem), and sleeping on time can remove significant irregularities.
Here are a few tips to avoid acidity:
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Avoid foods and beverages that cause acidity (spicy foods, coffee, carbonated beverages, acidic and fatty foods).
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Do not eat for at least two hours before bedtime.
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Raise the head of the bed.
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Change eating and sleeping habits.
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Avoid lying down for two hours after eating.
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Avoid tight clothing and wear loose clothes around the waist and stomach region to reduce the pressure in those areas.
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Split the meal into five smaller portions to avoid pressure and reflux.
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Avoid certain medicines like Ibuprofen and Paracetamol that may induce acidity, and other prescription medicines such as Dopamine-like drugs, anticholinergics, sedatives, Theophylline, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers do create acidity.
What Are the Side Effects of Antacids on the Body?
Most of the patients suffering from acidity resort to the regular use of antacids and soda, which are very harmful to the body. There are many side effects to those who take them blindly without knowing their cons. The more an individual takes it, the body tries to compensate with more acid secretion, and then it becomes almost impossible to manage it without taking pills daily.
What Are the Homeopathic Remedies for Acidity?
The best suggestion is to either try to manage it with the above-suggested modification or, if it does not help, take homeopathic treatment, which has no side effects and gives long-lasting relief.
Homeopathy is a natural way of curing acidity with zero side effects. Long-standing acidity can be problematic for people who are experiencing it. Homeopathy has an answer for all patients suffering from chronic acidity. Along with lifestyle modifications and homeopathic medicines, it is possible to treat acidity successfully.
Medicines like Nux Vomica, Robinia, Iris, and Argentum Nitricum have become very famous for relieving complaints.
In a few people, even the slightest amount of eating causes fullness and a distended abdomen in a bloated stomach. Lycopodium is very useful for acidity with a much-bloated abdomen.
List of homeopathic medicines for acidity:
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China Officinalis.
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Lycopodium.
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Carbo Vegetabilis.
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Kali Carbonicum.
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Kali Bichromicum.
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Ammonium Carbonicum.
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Anacardium.
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Asafoetida.
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Chionanthus.
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Raphanus.
Conclusion:
The proper selection of homeopathic medicine can only be made after a thorough examination of the patient. Seek professional homeopathic doctors to achieve the best homeopathic remedy for acidity. It may seem more costly initially than OTC (over-the-counter) medicines, but ultimately, the overall cost is much less. Avoid alcohol and smoking as much as one can. Better keep it to the occasion and also keep it in limited quantities to improve the quality of life.
