The world is going mad over Gaviscon during lockdown
Since lockdown people have gained weight due to less exercise and the temptation of grabbing an alcohol beverage as a copying mechanism to staying at home these past 7 months.
The BBC reported a spike in alcohol with sales in the UK up to 22% in March. Not only that, Reckitt Benckiser, the providers of Gaviscon, can’t keep up with the demand of people’s eating and drinking habits during lockdown; so there is a shortage of Gaviscon due to over snacking, over-drinking, and eating along with that element of stress due to uncertainty.
Stress is one of the main reasons you may be heading out to the pharmacy to buy your bottle of Gaviscon, because you may be suffering from acid reflux and generally feeling unwell.
Now is the best time to focus on making sure you’re looking after your health and wellbeing. Dealing with the underlining cause of why you may be getting acid reflux is something you need to address. It’s always easy to go out and grab a bottle whenever you feel acidy, but in all honesty, your acid reflux would disappear by:
- Dealing with the stress
- Not overeating, and going for short walk to help digestion, and get fresh air after lunch
- Eating healthy snack, like nuts and seeds, hummus with carrot sticks. You can snack on healthy foods while you work. Snacking like this also helps boredom eating.
Your stomach acid pH should be between 1.5 to 2.5 and if you are taking things such as Gaviscon, all this will do is lower your pH. We need stomach acid for the absorption of minerals and to protect us against food poisoning, parasites, gut infections, and H. Pylori.
Now with Covid lowering stomach acid will leave you open to decreased immune resistance.
Symptoms of low stomach acid
When you have little stomach acid you may suffer from bloating, belching and flatulence after mealtimes. Here are some examples of things that can happen with low stomach acid but there is a whole list of other symptoms you could be experiencing. Here are but a few:
- Indigestion, diarrhoea, or constipation
- Itching around the rectum
- Acne
- Upper digestive tract gasses
- Iron deficiency
Additionally, there are other diseases associated with low stomach acid such as Sjogren’s, lupus, celiac disease, and psoriasis as examples.
Here are some tips you can implement:
- Try not to overeat and eat only when you are hungry. Don’t wait an hour or two after you feel hunger pains as this will only promote bad eating habits (Junk food).
- If you’re a fast eater and don’t chew your food properly, consider taking a digestive enzyme this will help break down the food you don’t digest properly.
- Apple cider vinegar acts as a digestive enzyme and may help alleviate discomfort after food. You can use it as a vinaigrette salad dressing. I have a recipe below.
- Give yourself a window of 4-5 hours after you eat lunch, to introduce dinner.
- Drink enough water, this will also help with cravings.
- Drink camomile tea (loaded with antioxidants) an hour before you eat, it helps digestion and de-stresses the stomach.
- Keeping weight down will also help with acid reflux.
Apple Cider Vinaigrette Recipe
- 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
- 2tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tsp of honey
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- Pinch of salt
Mix all ingredients together to make the vinaigrette
Eat good food and your stomach and immune system will thank you for it
Doing things to support your immune system and digestive system will help you cope better with colds, flu and Covid. Here are some suggestions for you which don’t take up a lot of your time in the kitchen and provides a great nutritious end result.
Try making soup, broth, or a stew by using a pressure cooker or slow cooker to create good lunches and dinners. It’s so easy to throw all the ingredients into the pot and let it simmer for 3-5 hours.
Gut repair program starting January 2021
I will be offering a 6-week gut repair program starting the 6th of January 2021. If you’ve been suffering with stomach discomfort during Covid, please join a wonderful community of people doing the program with you.
For more information on the program as soon as it is released, please register your interest HERE.