14 DAY TRIAL // As most holidays are usually associated with fatty food feasts, medical experts recommend that people should take care of their stomachs and try to prevent posterior stomach and esophagus acidity caused by high-in-fat meals. Due to increased intake of fatty or sugary servings which are a real 'burden' for the stomach, many people experience a painful, burning sensation in the chest which is triggered by the acid produced by food in the stomach and further transmitted into the esophagus. The acid reflux causes an uncomfortable sensation which is felt by the eater behind the breast bone. The burning feeling is called heartburn.
Dr. Stuart Spechler, Professor of Internal medicine in Digestive and Liver Diseases at UT Southwestern Medical Center said: "Most of the time heartburn is a nuisance, not a tremendous threat to your health. I tell most of my patients that it's going to be a tradeoff - is the food going to taste good enough to suffer through the heartburn? If you know you're going to eat something that ordinarily gives you heartburn, there are medications that you can take before eating that food that might help." Dr. Spechler also advised: "Most people suffering from heartburn get it every now and then. Those are the people who really benefit from this on-demand therapy. If you're going to eat something you know is going to give you heartburn, you can take one of those pills a half hour before your meal, and you may be able to prevent the heartburn."
However, if you forget to take pills which are going to prevent the formation of excessive gastro-esophageal acidity, there are also other methods to help you have a peaceful day or evening without burnings in the chest. For instance, having one such fatty serving may lead to gastroesophageal acidity that must be treated, as it is extremely annoying and stands in one's way of rejoicing and enjoying relatives' and friends' company at Christmas or New Year's Eve.
If the same person who has already developed stomach and esophagus acidity eats a pizza shortly after eating a fatty stake, for instance, or another food as 'heavy' on the stomach, he will not put an end to the 'misery' of the chest burning discomfort. Instead, he should take antacids which 'soak up' all the extra acid in the stomach and impede the formation of the acidic flux.
But antacids are not going to help if the individual intends to further eat more fatty meals, as these particular drugs only soak up excessive gastric acid, they do not prevent acid from forming in the stomach later. Therefore, a person who wants all his acidity problems to be over should take antacids and then a drug which blocks the H2 receptor.
Dr. Spechler concluded that people who want to enjoy a fatty meal around winter holidays should not forget about pills which will 'ease' his stomach's protest against all food rich in fats or sugar: "As a general rule of thumb anything that tastes really good is likely to give you heartburn. And the reason is the fat content. Fat does a lot of things that promote heartburn. It stops the stomach from emptying well, so now you have more material in the stomach that's ready to reflux. It also further weakens that leaky valve. As a group, anything fatty and anything chocolate is likely to be causing a problem."
