To mark World Digestive Health Day on Wednesday, 29th of May, Gaviscon has shared its top tips to relieve heartburn and indigestion Symptoms, conditions that affect over 1 in 10 Irish people every day (11%).
This year’s World Digestive Health Day theme is Your Digestive Health: Make It A Priority, and with research revealing heartburn and indigestion symptoms negatively affects more than one third of Irish people’s lives (36%), it is important to be able to identify the common seven symptoms of heartburn and indigestion to empower consumers to prevent and treat the symptoms.
The Seven symptoms to recognise are chest burning, stomach discomfort, throat burning, acid reflux, bad breath as a result of reflux, stomach burning, and sour taste.Research commissioned by Gaviscon found that spicy foods, eating late at night and eating too fast were the main culprits for digestive discomfort. While tight clothing around the waist was also a trigger for 1 in 10 women (9%).
The same study found that those who suffer from heartburn and indigestion claimed the condition impacts the following areas of their lives the most; limits food choice (59%), disturbs sleep (58%) and affects their social life (36%). Over one quarter of adults (26%) have had to leave a social event early due to their symptoms.The research indicates that perhaps people are suffering in silence with almost two-thirds of respondents (62%) having not discussed heartburn and indigestion treatment with a medical professional.
Below are some simple suggestions to help identify symptoms and potentially reduce the occurrence and severity of heartburn and indigestion:
Be drink aware – Cut down on your tea, coffee and alcohol
Change your sleeping position – Place a wooden block under the head of your bed to raise it up as this can help keep stomach acid down while you sleep. Try and avoid using extra pillows as this can increase the pressure on your stomach
Avoid food before bedtime – Stop eating 3–4 hours before you try to get to sleep
Change how you eat – Instead of having three large meals a day, eat smaller meals more often
Cut down on certain foods – Reduce rich, spicy or fatty foods in your diet or foods like tomatoes and citrus fruits that you know trigger your heartburn
Stop smoking – Aside from easing heartburn, this has many other health benefits
Weight control – Lose any excess weight and try to do more exercise.
Dr. Kay Edokpayi, Medical Affairs Lead for Gaviscon said:“Prioritising your digestive health is important to feel your best. Your digestive system is crucial for absorbing important nutrients that keep your body functioning well and promote good health. By making digestive health a priority, you take charge of your well-being, reducing the risk of stomach issues and related problems. We wanted to share useful tips and small lifestyle changes that can be made daily to help prevent heartburn and indigestion symptoms.”
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Slán go fóill.