Don't Eat Pizza Before Bed, and Other Advice for Acid-Free Slumber

It’s 9:30 on a typical weekday night. Maybe you’ve just rolled in from work, or maybe a workout (damn you). Maybe you’re already sprawled out on the couch, remote in-hand, Netflix streaming. Suddenly it hits you — you haven’t eaten since lunch, and you’re starving. You reach into the freezer, grab a frozen pizza or a leftover slice and chow down. Bad idea. You've just created the perfect environment for disrupted sleep, owing to our stomach's skilled ability to pump out acid at the first sign of food. Fact is, whether we’re home or out to dinner, plenty of us end up eating late at night. But if you’re prone to heartburn, a symptom of acid reflux, chowing down too close to bedtime is the worst thing for you. Considering acid reflux affects an estimated 30 percent of the population, this may be you. What exactly is acid reflux? Once considered a side effect of being an overweight, middle-aged white man, reflux now cuts across generations, class and gender. Today, more young adults are being diagnosed with the condition, and the medical community has deemed it an epidemic. “Acid reflux describes what happens when the contents from your stomach flows backward up towards the esophagus and throat,” explains Jonathan Aviv, MD, clinical director of the Voice and Swallowing Center for ENT and Allergy Associates in New York, and author of Killing Me Softly From Inside: The Mysteries & Dangers of Acid Reflux ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news