Did you know that if you are regularly taking antacids to control your acid reflux symptoms it is possible that you are actually making your condition worse? The mistake that many people make is assuming that heartburn is a sign that their digestive system is too acid.
This is just not so.
Your body need stomach acids to digest your food, the problem is not too much acid, it is acid escaping and getting to places it should not be.
If you continually neutralise the acid your body will start to produce more.
Think for a moment about the process that your food should pass through so that your body can extract nutrient and get rid of the waste.

1. You cut off small pieces of food and then chew thoroughly so that the food becomes a pulp before you swallow.
   This preparation of food for digestion in your mouth does two things; It increases the surface area of the food and it mixes the food with saliva so that the enzymes can start to break it down.
   
2. When you swallow the food should pass easily down the esophagus and into the stomach.
   
3. Once in the stomach the food comes into contact with a fairly strong acid which can rapidly break it down further
4. In the stomach food also mixes with fibre which creates bulk so that your intestine will pass the food effectively, taking nutrients and passing the waste rapidly out of your system.
   

Unfortunately if we are honest we would all admit to not supporting this process very effectively.
Are you honest enough to admit to the following common mistakes?

• Eating quickly and swallowing large pieces of food
• Eating until you feel over full which means the stomach can't do its job effectively
• Putting a strain on your digestive system by eating large quantities of highly processed food containing high levels of fats and sugars that are difficult to process.
  
• Eating a diet that is low in fibre

Nobody expects their car to run efficiently without the proper fuel and a little care.
Would you buy a car if you knew the previous owner was a young boy-racer who had thrashed the car each day, who had regularly accelerated hard straight from the start, who never checked the oil and coolants or left the car without a service for years? If you want to have a digestive system that runs as smoothly as a well serviced car you need to make some very simple changes to your diet and start eating in a heartburn friendly way.

• Make sure you chew your food so that your stomach has a head start when it starts to digest it
• Eat small meals so that there is room in your stomach for the food to mix with the acid.
  Over fill your stomach and the acid will be forced out and into the esophagus
• Cut back on processed junk foods
• Increase the amount of fruit and vegetables in your diet to increase the fibre
• Drink plenty of water
• Watch for particularly trigger foods so that you can reduce or avoid them

If you make these changes you should be able to reduce taking antacids and eventually manage without them completely.