ACID REFLUX AND THROAT BURN

Bananas are especially good for an acidic stomach. Citrus fruits are not advised, however.  Photo © by Ruth Zachary.

Acid Reflux:

One of my friends recently told me she went to the hospital with a sore throat, thinking it was a Strep infection. The diagnosis was Acid Reflux.

Then I heard about Throat Burn… a newly named ailment one step beyond heart burn, or acid reflux.

Apparently when we sleep, extra acidic foods tend to cause the sphincter between the esophagus and stomach to relax. Acid is belched up as far as the throat.

Avoiding some foods are likely to help this condition- the Five C’s.

            caffeine

            chocolate

            cocktails

            carbonated drinks

            citrus fruits.

Foods that help neutralize an acidic stomach:

Eat five servings of raw fruits and vegetables daily. At least start with raw foods,

even if you cook them. It turns out the FDA has required adding acid to canned foods. The reason? I don’t know, unless it preserves the foods longer.

I used to experience hiccups quite often before going to bed. Accidentally I noticed that eating even a quarter of a banana would stop the hiccups. I should have linked that to acid reflux, because I do take a medication to prevent inflammation of the esophagus.

But then I heard that banana is a food that can help Acid reflux.

One over–the-counter remedy is Melatonin. It is inexpensive, also.Taken 2 hours before sleep, melatonin not only helps you go to sleep, but it causes the sphincter above the stomach to remain closed during the night. Inclining your upper body about four inches also can help prevent acid reflux.

 Writing and Photos are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

MOUTHWASH MAELSTROM

Salad Bits. Photograph                                    © by Ruth Zachary

This blog follows on the heels of a problem with plastic microbeads in tooth paste- see the previous post.Tooth paste isn’t the only dental hygiene product we must research to prove it is safe. Mouthwash companies urge you to buy more and to use more of their products.

It turns out that our saliva produces enzymes that eventually end up in the bloodstream, and these enzymes are part of the body chemistry that causes the heart to beat regularly. Mouthwash left in the mouth, throat, and even swallowed can disrupt these important enzymes for hours afterward. How can we be informed enough to protect ourselves?

Use of mouthwash once a day is enough, Dr. Oz said in early May. Once the mouth is thoroughly washed to kill the bacteria causing plaque, the chemicals should be spit out, and one might want to also rinse the residue out with water.

But do we really want to dump yet another chemical or another medicine down the drain, to be recycled through a local waste water treatment plant? How do we avoid contaminating our environment and even our drinking water, since some waste water is not completely filtered, but ends up in reservoirs?. What is the answer?

A faucet filter has been used in my kitchen since November of 2013, after I developed a fourth auto-immune disorder. Even still, I know relatively little about how effective such filters are in removing chemicals from drinking water. 

Even my local health food store sells food in questionable plastic containers.

It is seriously disappointing that the very products we use to be healthy, are ones we cannot rely on not to poison us. Manufacturers certainly should be held accountable in this.


Writing and photos are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

TOXIC TOOTHPASTE?

Cauliflower and Friends. Photograph                                                                 © by Ruth Zachary

This week on the News, (Television)  we were warned that some toothpastes contain micro beads of plastic, put into tooth paste to help clean teeth, with the disclaimer that the beads do not impact your health.  Tests done in the Denver area show the beads are made of the kind of toxic plastic that consumers have been trying to avoid, because they do harm the body. Not only do these plastics harm the user of these products, but then the consumer spits out the toothpaste and the micro beads are discharged into the waste water network.

Water that comes from rainwater and natural sources is filtered, city officials say. Filtering can remove a substantial amount of these plastic contaminants.

However, wastewater from treatment plants is mixed into the water supply of reservoirs and that water is not filtered for chemical problems. That source of water is the most likely place where the plastic micro beads end up. Many of us who live downstream, in the plains areas may be relying on drinking water that may include the micro beads and the chemicals leaching out of them, which end up in the water.

It is not necessary for the plastic micro beads to be in these dental products in the first place. As consumers we can look for products that do not contain the plastic beads, and we can lobby against companies that continue to use them. Some states have required Dental products to be free of these contaminants. 


Writing and images on this blog are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.