Bid Good Bye To Chronic Acidity With These 10 Home Remedies Suggested By Our Expert

Acidity is a symptom of indigestion. It is referred to the burning pain or heart burn you experience shortly after eating food. Acidity occurs when the stomach acid flows back up into the food pipe. Regular acidity must not be taken lightly. No matter how convenient it is, popping up antacids every time you get acidic is not healthy. Taking antacids whenever you get acidity may offer you temporary relief, but in the long run, they can harm your health, says lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho in one of his recent posts on Instagram.

Why does acidity need to be taken seriously?

Getting acidity regularly can lead to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This can make you have bad breath, burning sensation in chest, sore throat, difficulty in swallowing and other serious complications if it is left untreated for a long time.

Acidity is a by-product of poor digestive health. Following are the reasons why you get acidity:

1. Keeping huge gaps between meals

To avoid constant acidity, try to avoid keeping long gaps between meals in an irregular fashion. Try to have your breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time every day. Keeping long gaps in between meals makes your body go into stress mode and increases acid production.

2. Avoid late night meals

Pancreas is not designed to digest food late at night. And whenever you do that, it leads to acidity and indigestion, says Luke in the video.

Also read: Home Remedies For Stomach Acidity: There Herbal Teas Might Help

3. Overeating

Avoid overeating as much as you can in order to prevent chronic acidity.

4. Not chewing your food properly

Eating food at a fast pace does not give enough time for food to break down properly. This leads to larger chunks of food getting into stomach, which increases acid production for breaking down the food. Thus, always chew your food properly in order to keep acidity at bay.

5. Drinking tea and coffee in excess

Excessive intake of tea and coffee can also be a reason why you are excessively acidic. Having tea or coffee on an empty stomach is another reason why you may get acidity.

6. Smoking and alcohol

If you smoke and drink alcohol regularly, then it is quite likely for you to be acidic.

7. Keeping no gap between dinner and bed time

Sleeping immediately after eating can be very harmful for your body. A gap of 2 hours is essential between your dinner and bed time.

8. Spicy food

Spicy food may not be suitable for people who get regularly acidic. Cut down on it till the time you experience lesser acidity.

Also read: Top 5 Perks Of Eating Spicy Food

9. Imbalanced meal

Taking up fad diets that restrict you from eating certain food groups. Some of these foods are alkaline in nature and help in preventing acidity. Make sure you consume a balanced diet in order to prevent getting acidic every now and then. Fad diets can be the reason for your constant acidity.

10. Stress and anxiety

If you feel stressed and anxious all the time, then it may also be the reason why you are getting acidity.

Acidity: Some home remedies that are better than popping antacids

• Fennel seeds: Chew less than a tsp of fennel seeds after having your lunch and it can help in reducing acidity and improving digestion. Fennel seeds secrete digestive enzymes that can offer relief from acidity.
• Basil leaves: You can chew basil leaves or infuse them to form a tea and drink it to get relief from acidity.
• Buttermilk: Ayurveda recognises buttermilk as a remedy for acidity. Have homemade buttermilk preferably.
• Cinnamon: Add a pinch of cinnamon in your water and drink it after your meals to get relief from acidity. This can also be helpful in reducing your blood sugar levels.

Also read: 4 Amazing Benefits Of Cinnamon For Skin You Cannot Miss

• Jaggery: Jaggery helps in secreting digestive enzymes and balances out acidity.
• Cloves, cardamom, cumin, ginger: All these spices are together known to be good remedies for reducing acidity.
• Apple cider vinegar: This can be helpful for people who produce less acid than required. You can have one tbsp of ACV with water, half an hour before lunch and dinner to balance acidity.

• Banana: Banana can be your SOS food to get relief from acidity.
• Lemon water: This can be a great remedy for acidity as far as it suits you.
• Cucumbers/Carrots/Beetroots: Munching on raw vegetables before your meal or along with it can stimulate digestive enzymes for breaking down food. Raw vegetables are alkaline in nature and can prevent incidence of acidity.

Also read: Effects Of Beetroot Juice On High Blood Pressure And Other Benefits You Can Count On

Exercise regularly and sleep well to keep digestion issues at bay. The idea is to live a healthy lifestyle in order to be healthy and prevent indigestion and its symptoms like acidity, bloating and constipation.

(Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach - Integrative Medicine)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.