Solutions for Everyday Overindulging

Sundaes, sunshine, sangria? Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

Your Overindulgence: Food

What you did: You can’t believe you ate that whole thing. Now you’re paying for it with a burning sensation in your chest and a bitter taste in the back of your throat.

Now what? You’ll have to wait for your stomach to empty to get complete relief, says Patricia Raymond, a gastroenterologist in Chesapeake, Virginia. Meanwhile…

• Don’t lie down. Eating more than your stomach can comfortably hold means there’s nowhere for gastric acids to go but up, into the esophagus. Reclining will only exacerbate this problem. You should stay upright for three to four hours after overeating.
   
• Take a brisk 30-minute walk to help speed digestion along. Don’t do anything more energetic, however. Bouncing around could cause gastric acids to slosh up into the throat.
   
• Avoid most antacids. By neutralizing existing stomach acids, they prompt the stomach to produce more of them. The exception is Gaviscon, available in drugstores as chewable tablets or in liquid form. It contains an ingredient that forms a barrier between the acids and the esophagus.
   
• Loosen your belt. “The pressure can worsen heartburn,” says Raymond.