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if you are trying to stop reflux get
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control of your symptoms and find
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long-term relief and you only learn one
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thing from my channel Let It Be The Meal
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Time hygiene Tools in this video if
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you're new here my name is Molly I'm a
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registered dietitian specializing in
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acid reflux gird in LPR I struggled with
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chronic gird for over 10 years and I
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started this YouTube channel to share
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evidence-based strategies to help you
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overcome reflux and get back to living a
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life you love so when I was struggling
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with reflux I would get reflux so
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inconsistently sometimes I would get
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reflux after oatmeal and cantaloupe
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really alkaline soothing foods that I
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typically tolerated well and then I
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could have like a slice of pizza and be
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totally fine and I was so frustrated as
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to why my symptoms were so inconsistent
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eventually I started to use a food log
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to track my symptoms and what I noticed
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is that the days I was busier the days I
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was really back to back I was seeing a
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higher rate of reflux symptoms on those
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busy days Foods I was eating actually
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really wasn't changing very much because
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I was thinking to those same safe foods
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all the time and eventually I realized
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that it wasn't actually the foods I was
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eating that was giving me reflux but the
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way I was eating that was giving me
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reflux and this is the case for so many
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of our one-onone clients that come to us
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and are like why am I getting reflux
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after these very alkaline safe foods
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that I usually tolerate very well and
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after doing some investigation and some
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food logging sometimes we see that it
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wasn't actually the actual food but it
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was the way that they were eating what I
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mean by the way you eat is something I
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call mealtime hygiene and mealtime
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hygiene is one of those strategies that
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can be absolutely transformative if you
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are someone with reflux and I feel like
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it's a strategy that not a lot of people
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are talking about I have so much respect
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for Dr Riv and Dr Kaufman I admire them
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so much but this is so critical for
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people with reflux and I wish more
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people were spreading Awareness on the
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tools of Meal Time hygiene Meal Time
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hygiene is a pillar of the Flora reflux
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relief method that we help walk people
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through in our one-on-one clients and in
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our course especially esally if you have
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motility issues esophageal motility or
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slow motility or a hiatal hernia this is
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something that you're going to want to
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take notes on on those extremely busy
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days when I was getting reflux I would
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eat my meal extremely fast I would
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barely even chew my food and what
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happens when you don't chew your food is
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all of the food kind of lands in the
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fundus the fundus is the top part of the
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stomach and all your food lands here and
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your stomach contracts in three places
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when it contracts in this upper portion
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and all the food is really right here it
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really doesn't have enough space to move
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downwards it can move upwards and so by
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slowing down my meal speed by chewing my
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food well to Apples sauce consistency
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and slowing my speed this was absolutely
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critical for me and so my fundus the top
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of my stomach had time to accept the
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food contract and move the food downward
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now I also mentioned in addition to meal
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speed that chewing my food to applesauce
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consistency it was key and this is
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something that a lot of our clients
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actually struggle with it's a simple
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strategy but not not as easy to
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implement especially when you're busy
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especially when you're hungry and
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remember the hunger part cuz we're going
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to circle back to that later when you
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chew your food well this allows your
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stomach to easily process the food your
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stomach doesn't have teeth remember that
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and so we have to start this digestion
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process in the mouth there actually are
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digestive enzymes in your mouth that are
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produced when you start to chew and this
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really eases the burden on your stomach
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and allows food to move through the
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stomach easier reducing the risk that it
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comes back up which is reflux this key
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part of digestion chewing is actually
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called the calic phase of digestion and
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not only does it stimulate digestive
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enzymes in the mouth but it also sends a
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signal to produce stomach acid which is
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what you want if you are someone with
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lower stomach acid and that is your root
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cause of reflux also if you've had
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reflux for a long time and you have
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esophageal dismotility your esophagus is
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not Contracting well because of
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prolonged reflux you're going to really
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want to make sure you're chewing well to
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allow food to move through easily now
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here's the thing this can be really hard
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to remember at the moment especially if
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you're hungry so this is why you're
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going to really want to get in tune with
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your hunger and fullness cues hunger and
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fullness is another key pillar that we
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incorporate through the Flora acid
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reflex relief method that has helped
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thousands of people and if you're
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struggling and you need more
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step-by-step support with this we have a
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course down below so definitely check
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that out you don't want to wait until
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you're ravenous to eat you really want
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to eat when you're starting to feel
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hungry so that you can slow down chew
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well decrease that meal speed and
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optimize your digestion I.E preventing
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reflux one other key thing especially if
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you have a high highle hernia is posture
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during a meal so what can happen
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sometimes is we can slouch during a meal
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and really kind of crumple our digestive
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system maybe you're eating on the couch
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or maybe you are eating at your desk and
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this is not helpful for reflux you
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really want to try to maintain good
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posture when you're eating so things can
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flow downward your your digestive system
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is not compressed and also think about
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maintaining good posture for about an
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hour after your meal so maybe put a
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pillow behind you to support yourself
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here so that you can stay nice and
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upright and food can move downwards this
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strategy has been so helpful for a lot
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of my clients that want to reintroduce
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certain reflex triggers I had a client
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who her favorite food was a burger she
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just wanted to have a burger and this
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had been a trigger for her in the past
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because of the high fat content and so
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the next time she tried to have a
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hamburger what she did is she chewed
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really well she took her time she
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savored each bite ate really mindfully
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and she noticed her fullness cue as well
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so when she was starting to feel full
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she didn't feel like she had to push
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past fullness and she didn't get any
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reflex symptoms after that meal and that
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is because of her commitment to her meal
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time hygiene and all the other work we
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were doing of course to address her
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reflux but it went so much better when
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she really focused on decreasing her
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meal speed chewing well good posture and
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not eating past fullness if you're
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struggling with reflux and you're
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looking for more support I have a free
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reflx friendly meal plan down below in
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the description you don't want to miss
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that so click below to grab that make
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sure that you like this video And
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subscribe to my channel so that you get
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weekly reflux support videos designed to
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help you overcome reflux and optimize
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your gut health I hope these strategies
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help you keep going in your reflex
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relief journey and I will see you in the
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next video