Acid reflux can be frustrating, especially in public and it makes some patients anxious about attending holiday events. Nobody would love the experience of attending an event and not enjoying nice food or partaking in family traditions for the fear of getting an acid reflux attack.
Therefore, if you suffer from this problem, indigestion, or dyspepsia in general, the following ideas can help you this Thanksgiving.
1. Do Not Skip Breakfast
Some people like to skip breakfast on Thanksgiving Day to save room for the big day’s delicious meals. However, this strategy may not work for acid reflux patients. An empty or over-hungry stomach is prone to acid, when you introduce food to such an environment, it creates a holocaust of gas and bloating. Moreover, arriving at the Thanksgiving table starving makes you prone to eating too fast and in excess, which might trigger post-meal reflux.
2. Let the Thanksgiving Meal be Lunch
Scheduling a thanksgiving meal somewhere in the afternoon, around 3 pm, has its advantages. Most importantly, it gives your stomach time to digest the food before bedtime, as opposed to eating at 6 or 7 pm. Furthermore, it gives you some time to relax before taking dessert later in the evening.
The few hours between the main meal and dessert allow your stomach and brain to send signals on the stomach is full. You can easily exceed your stomach limit if you pile food without a break, which is dangerous to acid reflux patients.
3. Consider an Upright Breather before Dessert
If you finish the Thanksgiving meal in the early afternoon like between 1 and 4 pm, you have enough time for a break before dessert. Spend the break in an upright position; you can stand and help clear the table, clean the dishes, interact with people outside, or take a short walk.
If you cannot stand up, you may consider an upright chair rather than reclining your back, and let the food move in one direction by gravity.
4. Avoid More Food after Dessert
You may want to take your final bite, dessert around 6 to 8 pm, then call it a quit after that. Spacing your meals like this allows ample time for your stomach to empty before dessert and before bedtime. To stay away from acid reflux, stay away from any food or drink except water after dessert.
5. Take Non-Alcoholic Beverages after the Main Meal
While bear and other alcoholic drinks are a significant parcel of many Thanksgiving traditions, avoid such once you are full. Drinking too much alcohol after a high-fat is a sure recipe for acid reflux. You can get away with a few drinks before the fatty meal, or in between, if you stop early enough. Sitting around and taking alcohol after a heavy meal is inviting overnight acid reflux.
6. Always Have a Plan B
Even if you do not take antacids regularly, but you are prone to acid reflux, you can have some just for emergencies on this day. It is possible that you may fail to adhere to dietary regulations, putting yourself at risk of reflux. In this case, having a backup will save you a long night of turmoil.