The new year is here! For most, this is considered a new decade. (If you aren’t sure what you believe, Forbes.com published a fun scientific perspective on the topic.)
Now that we are almost a week in, how are those resolutions going? Where is reflux on the list, and what have you resolved to do about it? As we know from personal experience, anecdotal evidence, and published medical research, many times reflux is a disease of lifestyle choices, or behavior. Once the behavior is corrected, so is the reflux. (Of course this isn’t always the case, so keep reading and we’ll get to that).
Here are our top 3 reflux resolutions, which happen to be the most common behaviors to cause reflux: diet, exercise, and sleep.
Eating too much often leads to discomfort, as your stomach is distended and your digestive system cannot cope with the large intake of food. The sheer amount of food eaten is often enough to sacrifice the integrity of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and leads to reflux.
Historically, there have been some foods blacklisted for those who experience reflux, but trigger foods can be vastly different from one person to the next. Furthermore, new research is showing reflux has little to do with what you’re eating and more to do with how you’re eating it! Some of the most common reflux-triggering foods are chocolate, alcohol, coffee, fried or fatty foods, peppermint, spicy foods, and carbonated beverages.
If you’re looking for a more direct answer on what to eat, recent research suggests a Mediterranean diet might be the best option for controlling reflux. The study looked at 184 patients and found no significant difference in reflux symptom index reduction between patients treated with alkaline water, a plant-based, Mediterranean-style diet, and standard reflux precautions vs those treated with proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and standard reflux precautions.
Diet changes can be extremely difficult to initiate and maintain, so if you’re not ready to make a change in what you eat, another thing to try is practicing mindfulness when eating. By simply paying attention to every bite you eat and thoroughly chewing your food, you (should) end up eating less, and keeping your body more calm while eating. Give it a try and see if your reflux improves!
Exercise can be a double edged sword, when it comes to reflux. If you have reflux and aren’t already exercising, rushing straight into a vigorous exercise program, possibly triggering reflux (and possibly dangerous, so please, talk to your doctor first). Low to moderate impact exercise, such as walking, yoga, and swimming, can all be beneficial in helping you lose weight, improve digestion, and reduce reflux.
Together, diet and exercise help reduce excess weight, reducing pressure on the stomach, which lowers the likelihood of reflux events.
Proper sleep is critical to so many areas of health, and its relationship to reflux is multi-faceted. Lack of sleep is linked to overeating, and it’s usually not vegetables. Less sleep means more wake time, more wake time means more eating opportunities. When you aren’t getting the sleep you need, your appetite regulating hormones, ghrelin and leptin, get completely out of balance. Sleep deprivation drives ghrelin, which sends you straight to the kitchen, or worse, the drive-through.
Weight regulation aside, many reflux-sufferers experience more nocturnal episodes, which affects sleep quality. When the body is flat, we lose the magic of gravity keeping stomach contents in their place. If the LES isn’t fully functional (or just having a bad night), one is more prone to reflux. If you experience reflux at night, try sleeping upright in a recliner or elevating the head of the bed, and always try sleeping on your left side.
Good sleep has plenty of other benefits too, including brain health! Get those zzzz’s and you’ll see yourself start to shed some pounds, reduce reflux, and think a little more clearly.
If you have successfully implemented and sustained the common reflux behavior changes and are still experiencing reflux, several medical interventions exist. Starting with a pH test will provide objective data about your condition, helping arrive at an effect treatment plan sooner. More on that here and here. Sometimes lifestyle changes are simply not enough and you may need prescription therapy or other intervention. Stretta Therapy is an effective, non-ablative radio frequency treatment for reflux that falls between drug therapy and surgical intervention. Talk to your doctor to determine what is the best course of treatment for you.
Good luck and happy new year!
SOURCES + SUGGESTED READING
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gerd/symptoms-causes/syc-20361940
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/what-to-eat-when-you-have-chronic-heartburn
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/connection-between-sleep-and-overeating
Bree has been an integral part of Restech from the very beginning. She holds a Masters in Public Health from George Washington University, a BFA from The University of Kansas in Visual Communications, and is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach. Her command of marketing, public health/health delivery systems, and human health behavior change gives her a unique perspective in developing effective marketing strategies for the company.
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Thomas previously worked as a polysomnographic technologist in the Virginia Mason system, before moving into sales with Restech in 2007. After spending 9 years working with distributors across Europe, he was moved into an organizational role at the head office in Houston. In this capacity he works closely with sales and marketing to provide clinical support, manages clinical studies, and provides clinical perspectives on business development. In his spare time Thomas plays rugby for Houston Athletic Rugby Club.
Jeff has over 30 years of experience in the medical device industry and previously worked in sales at companies such as Encision Inc., Interventional Therapies, LLC, Boston Scientific, and United States Surgical Corporation. He has been working as the VP of Sales for Mederi Therapeutics since 2009 and now brings his extensive expertise to Restech. Jeff was part of the team that bridged the Mederi asset sale to Restech. His clinical knowledge of the Stretta and Secca technologies is invaluable. Jeff has three decades of physician relations experience that he brings to Restech as part of the leadership team.
Ray joined Restech in May 2018 as the Vice President for Sales. He has been in the medical device, and specifically in the GERD space for more than 18 years. Starting in sales at Sandhill Scientific pH diagnostics, he moved on to Curon Medical when Stretta and Secca were first introduced to the market. He then worked for Given Imaging when Curon closed operations. When Stretta was relaunced he joined Mederi as VP of Sales. Ray was instrumental in keeping Stretta alive and the customer based informed when Mederi ceased operation and assets were purchased by Restech. He is part of the leadership team directing all product sales for Restech. Ray graduated from Old Dominion University in Norfolk with a BS in Marketing and Business Administration.
Mark is a seasoned professional and Certified Public Accountant in Texas who brings a unique blend of creative vision and financial expertise to any leadership team. He worked as a Senior Executive for 15 years on a leadership team which grew a private equity backed cash logistics company performing at negative EBITDA on $100 million revenue into an international industry leader with superior profitability on revenue exceeding $1.5 billion. In addition, he spent 10 years as a Senior Manager at Price Waterhouse delivering results-oriented merger & acquisition, audit and strategic consulting services to middle market clientele including over 40 manufacturing, distribution, service, nonprofit and technology clients. Mark currently serves as a Chief Financial Officer and consulting CFO (seven years) providing in-house and outsourced CFO and transactional services to the middle market.
Larry is the CTO for Restech and holds a B.S. in Computer Science. He is a software architect specializing in remote patient monitoring, medical sensors, and clinical trial software. Larry holds a patent on massively distributed computing and has worked for a number of major software startup companies including Sybase, Oracle, and Teradata. Larry was also the co-founder of a startup to deliver advanced clinical pathways to patients using mobile devices and medical sensors. Larry is truly a pioneer and now a veteran in the deployment.
Jeff has a breadth of experience with over 25 years in engineering and executive positions within major fortune 100 healthcare companies. He also has proven success in startup medical technology companies. Jeff provides leadership in securing and managing Restech’s patent portfolio. He also built Restech’s compliance platform that established regulatory acceptance in 25+ countries worldwide. Jeff’s scientific support and in-depth understanding of the device industry set the foundation for current and future commercial innovations at Restech.
With nearly 30 years of working with physician thought leaders developing novel and emerging technologies, Leo has played a key role in the development and evolution of balloon angioplasty and stent technologies that revolutionized the therapy of cardiac disease. His experience was instrumental in the development of the patented platform technology which drives the Restech sensor. Leo provides a vision and passion for effecting change in the diagnosis and management of atypical reflux.
With over 20 years of executive experience in both the private and public sector, Debra brings a broad understanding of healthcare delivery system. With experience managing products aimed at wide scale disease and population management for 20 million subscribers, Debra has extensive experience in effectively and efficiently developing models of delivery that address specific health issues. Debra has also been involved in the legislative process and served as the elected President of the Independent Physician Association of California. Debra is dedicated to bringing tools to the healthcare market that improve and support the clinical process.