Changing your diet is perhaps the single most important thing you can do to cure your acid reflux. The foods you consume can positively or negatively impact your esophageal health, acid levels, stress management, and other health issues.
However, you have probably cooked the same way and eaten the same foods for years. This may leave you more than a little hesitant about the changes you need to make.
You probably think that changing to a diet for acid reflux to stop acid reflux is going to leaving you craving more taste. You hear that spices and deep fried foods are a strict no-no if you want to get rid of your condition.
While this is true, you may be surprised that you can still enjoy rich, flavorful foods. With some slight modifications to your same old routine, you will start feeling better and may find that you enjoy food more than ever before.
Important Words: Baked Not Fried
These are some of the most important words you will ever hear. Fried food is a key ingredient in the standard Western diet, as is acid reflux disease. Despite knowing that, many people still risk recurring acid reflux because they mistakenly believe the alternative to be too bland.
The fact is baked foods can be far more appealing and satisfying. The slower, less intense cooking preserves the flavor of food.
It also protects the nutrients in food, leaving you with all of the healthy benefits unlike fried foods which strip away nourishment and leave only toxins. The trick is to learn to adjust the way you cook.
The Magic of Olive Oil
The Mediterranean region of the globe has the lowest mortality rate in the world. Despite rich diets, Greeks and Italians live well into their 80s and 90s. Scientists have studied this phenomenon and know now that the Mediterranean miracle drug is olive oil.
Olive oil has a whole host of health benefits because of its rich anti-oxidants and other nutrients. It helps skin stay conditioned and blood sugar levels stay normal. It also known to relieve muscle pain and inflammation.
These benefits may not seem like much to the average heartburn and acid reflux sufferer, but you should also know these benefits spread to the rest of the body, including the stomach.
Simply ingesting 1 tablespoon of olive oil can significantly reduce the swelling and irritation in the stomach lining, soothing and stopping acid reflux. It can also help the esophagus heal from the constant damage done by the recurring acid.
Olive oil is a great additive to baked foods. For example, coating diced potatoes in olive oil before baking with give them a crisp texture to rival any fried version.
Also, it helps other spices and herbs cling on to the potato, enriching the flavor and aroma. In another example, a dash of olive oil on a roasted pepper can actually bring out more of the flavor by trapping the moisture and nutrients within the vegetable while roasting the outside.
Be Adventurous With New Herbs and Spices
The word spicy has received an unfair reputation lately, especially with regard to the Western diet. People expect “spicy” food to be hot. They believe if they eat spicy food they will get heartburn or worse.
Most of all, they believe spicy foods must be absolutely avoided in acid reflux diets.
For thousands of years, spicy was another term used to mean flavorful, robust, and tasty. If you remember your grade school history, it was spices that motivated ancient merchants to sail around the world.
This quest was not for spices that would burn your tongue, but for flavor. It is time you learned to get back to those roots. You can begin to adventure with new, and even exotic, spices.
Cumin
The cumin seed is the heart of many of the best dishes the world has to offer. It is the flavor that gives Hispanic foods their “warmth” and Middle Eastern dishes their “flair”.
You would be surprised how many of the world’s most favorite dishes would be bland and simply normal without cumin. Cumin is exactly the thing to make your acid reflux diet outstanding.
In addition to its flavor, cumin has great health benefits. First and foremost, it is known to help resolve digestive problems. It is a natural treatment for all kinds of stomach disorders, including heartburn, nausea, and morning sickness.
In laboratory tests, it has even shown to help combat the effects of stomach tumors and cancers.
Cumin is easy to use. You can include it in most recipes. Adding a tablespoon to your whole grain rice or potatoes will change the flavor from bland to extraordinary.
Soaking beans overnight in cumin water will help remove the acid producing toxins in the beans while enhancing the natural, sprouted flavor.
Parsley
This herb is very often taken for granted. It is often a table garnish or an afterthought in pasta dishes. When used correctly, just a little of this fantastic herb can greatly enhance the flavor of vegetables, pasta, potatoes, meats, and most other foods.
With regard to health, parsley is an important part of a acid reflux diet because of the way it can cleanse and settle the stomach. Often, ingesting parsley can very quickly calm an upset stomach and its antioxidants will help heal the damage done to your esophageal sphincter during bouts of reflux.
A dash of parsley can go a long way. However, you should not worry about using it liberally. The more parsley you use, the greater the benefits you will receive. Parsley is a great addition to most meals, essentially anything but fruit.
Cardamom
This spice is a member of the ginger family, but not as well known or used as ginger. It is known to increase digestion. This is important because the faster your food is digested, the less it will reflux and burn your esophagus.
However, it has been an important spice included in many Asian dishes, like curries and tandoori. It has an unusually potent taste that is the definition of exotic.
If you are feeling bold, you can use it to liven up many of your meals. Add it to your main entrée, to “spice” things up. You can put a dash in your herbal tea, to produce a “chai” flavor.
Sweets are often forbidden in no-reflux diet. This is because processed sugars and flours are high in toxins. However, you can use cardamom to add an unusually high boost of sweetness to whole grains and fruit, giving you a most tantalizing dessert.
More Diet Tips
As you have learned, “spicy” does not have to mean food that is a sure bet to cause heartburn. You can use the same spices people have used for centuries to make their food exceptional. If you can become slightly more adventurous in the kitchen, it will pay off.
However, experimenting with spices is only one of the ways you can change your cooking methods to both cure your acid reflux and make good nutrition more appealing.
In the e-book, Heartburn No More you will learn many changes you can make in the kitchen to cure your acid reflux.
You will learn the importance of food in causing and preventing your acid reflux. You will learn what foods to get plenty of and which to ignore.
This fantastic e-book offers more than just cooking and food solutions. Additionally, you will learn the other essentials to stopping heartburn and acid reflux.
Heartburn No More will teach you to holistically heal your body and solve your problem.
Do not be intimidated by the dietary changes needed to stop your heartburn. Do not feel like you are dooming yourself to bland meals.
If you are willing to open your mind in your kitchen, you will soon be whipping up gourmet, delectable, and reflux free meals.
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