What are the best ways to reduce acid reflux without medication? Here are 9 proven strategies to ease your acid reflux symptoms naturally.

Understanding Acid Reflux and GERD

Acid reflux occurs when stomach acid flows back into the esophagus, often causing a burning sensation in the chest or throat. When acid reflux becomes a chronic condition, it is known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). GERD can lead to more serious health problems if left untreated, so it’s important to address the underlying causes.

9 Effective Ways to Reduce Acid Reflux Naturally

1. Eat Smaller, Slower Meals

Overeating can put too much pressure on the stomach, causing acid to back up into the esophagus. Try eating smaller, more frequent meals and take your time while eating to aid digestion.

2. Avoid Trigger Foods

Certain foods and beverages can relax the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), allowing acid to escape. Common triggers include mint, fatty foods, spicy dishes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, coffee, tea, and alcohol. Experiment with eliminating these foods to see if it provides relief.

3. Skip the Carbonated Drinks

Carbonated beverages can cause burping, which can push stomach acid back up into the esophagus. Stick to flat water instead.

4. Wait to Lie Down After Eating

Gravity helps keep acid in the stomach when you’re upright. Finish eating at least 3 hours before bedtime to allow your stomach to empty before lying down.

5. Limit Strenuous Exercise

Vigorous exercise, especially bending over, can trigger reflux. Opt for a gentle post-meal stroll instead.

6. Sleep on an Incline

Elevating the head of your bed 6-8 inches can help prevent acid from flowing back into the esophagus while you sleep. You can use bed risers or a foam wedge for support.

7. Lose Extra Weight

Excess weight can put pressure on the abdomen, weakening the lower esophageal sphincter and contributing to reflux. Losing even a few pounds can provide relief.

8. Quit Smoking

Nicotine can relax the lower esophageal sphincter, allowing acid to escape. Quitting smoking may help improve your reflux symptoms.

9. Review Your Medications

Certain prescription and over-the-counter drugs can actually worsen reflux. Speak to your doctor about adjusting your medication regimen if needed.

Recap: Key Strategies for Reducing Acid Reflux

In summary, the best ways to ease acid reflux without medication include:

• Eating smaller, slower meals
• Avoiding reflux-triggering foods and beverages
• Refraining from lying down after eating
• Elevating the head of your bed
• Losing any excess weight
• Quitting smoking
• Reviewing your medications with your doctor

By making these simple lifestyle adjustments, many people are able to effectively manage their acid reflux symptoms and avoid the need for prescription drugs. However, if these measures don’t provide sufficient relief, it’s important to consult your healthcare provider for personalized medical treatment.

When to Seek Medical Attention for Acid Reflux

While mild, occasional acid reflux can often be managed through diet and lifestyle changes, more severe or persistent GERD symptoms may require medical intervention. Signs that it’s time to see a doctor include:

• Frequent or severe heartburn
• Difficulty swallowing
• Persistent cough or hoarseness
• Unexplained weight loss
• Symptoms that interfere with sleep or daily activities

Your doctor can evaluate the underlying cause of your acid reflux and recommend appropriate treatment, which may include medication or even surgery in some cases. Don’t hesitate to seek professional help if your symptoms are severe or aren’t responding to self-care measures.

Conclusion

Acid reflux and GERD can be uncomfortable and disruptive, but there are many effective ways to find relief without relying on medications. By making simple lifestyle changes, such as eating smaller meals, avoiding trigger foods, and sleeping on an incline, most people are able to successfully manage their acid reflux symptoms. However, persistent or severe cases may require medical treatment, so be sure to consult your healthcare provider if your symptoms don’t improve with self-care.

9 ways to relieve acid reflux without medication

If you are sounding a little hoarse and have a sore throat, you may be bracing for a cold or a bout of the flu. But if you’ve had these symptoms for a while, they might be caused not by a virus but by a valve — your lower esophageal sphincter.

That’s the muscle that controls the passage between the esophagus and stomach, and when it doesn’t close completely, stomach acid and food flow back into the esophagus. The medical term for this process is gastroesophageal reflux; the backward flow of acid is called acid reflux. Acid reflux can cause sore throats and hoarseness, and may literally leave a bad taste in your mouth.

What is GERD?

When acid reflux produces chronic symptoms, it is known as gastroesophageal reflux disorder, or GERD. Symptoms of GERD can include:

• heartburn — pain in the upper abdomen and chest — is the most common symptom of GERD
• regurgitation, or stomach contents coming back up through your esophagus and into your throat or mouth, which may cause you to taste food or stomach acid
• chest pain
• nausea
• problems swallowing or pain while swallowing
• symptoms of complications in the mouth, throat, or lungs, such as chronic cough or hoarseness.

Three conditions — poor clearance of food or acid from the esophagus, too much acid in the stomach, and delayed stomach emptying — contribute to acid reflux.

If not treated, GERD can lead to more serious health problems. In some cases, you might need medicines or surgery. However, many people can improve their symptoms of GERD through self-care and lifestyle changes.

How to get rid of acid reflux

If you’ve been having repeated episodes of heartburn — or any other symptoms of acid reflux — you might try the following:

1. Eat sparingly and slowly

When the stomach is very full, there can be more reflux into the esophagus. If it fits into your schedule, you may want to try what is sometimes called “grazing” — eating small meals more frequently rather than three large meals daily.

2. Avoid certain foods

People with acid reflux were once instructed to eliminate all but the blandest foods from their diets. But that’s no longer the case. We’ve evolved from the days when you couldn’t eat anything.

But there are still some foods that are more likely than others to trigger reflux, including:

• mint
• fatty foods
• spicy food
• tomatoes
• onions
• garlic
• coffee
• tea
• chocolate
• alcohol.

If you eat any of these foods regularly, you might try eliminating them to see if doing so controls your reflux, and then try adding them back one by one. The Foodicine Health website at www.foodicinehealth.org has diet tips for people with acid reflux and GERD, as well as for other gastrointestinal disorders.

3. Don’t drink carbonated beverages

They make you burp, which sends acid into the esophagus. Drink flat water instead of sparkling water.

4. Stay up after eating

When you’re standing, or even sitting, gravity alone helps keeps acid in the stomach, where it belongs. Finish eating three hours before you go to bed. This means no naps right after lunch, and no late suppers or midnight snacks.

5. Don’t move too fast

Avoid vigorous exercise for a couple of hours after eating. An after-dinner stroll is fine, but a more strenuous workout, especially if it involves bending over, can send acid into your esophagus.

6. Sleep on an incline

Ideally, your head should be six to eight inches higher than your feet. You can achieve this by using extra-tall bed risers on the legs supporting the head of your bed. If your sleeping partner objects to this change, try using a foam wedge support for your upper body. Don’t try to create a wedge by stacking pillows. They won’t provide the uniform support you need.

7. Lose weight if it’s advised

Increased weight spreads the muscular structure that supports the lower esophageal sphincter, decreasing the pressure that holds the sphincter closed. This leads to reflux and heartburn.

8.

If you smoke, quit

Nicotine may relax the lower esophageal sphincter.

9. Check your medications

Some — including postmenopausal estrogen, tricyclic antidepressants, and anti-inflammatory painkillers — can relax the sphincter, while others — particularly bisphosphonates like alendronate (Fosamax), ibandronate (Boniva), or risedronate (Actonel), which are taken to increase bone density — can irritate the esophagus.

Cooling Heartburn – Harvard Health

You enjoyed the meal, but now you’re paying for it, big time. You’ve got heartburn — an uncomfortable burning sensation radiating up the middle of your chest. Heartburn, the most common gastrointestinal malady, can hit after you eat spicy foods, when you lie down to take a nap, or perhaps at bedtime. Many women experience this sensation during pregnancy. 

About one-third of Americans have heartburn at least once a month, with 10% experiencing it nearly every day. One survey revealed that 65% of people with heartburn may have symptoms both during the day and at night, with 75% of the nighttime heartburn patients saying that the problem keeps them from sleeping, and 40% reporting that nighttime heartburn affects their job performance the following day. This epidemic leads people to spend nearly $2 billion a year on over-the-counter antacids alone. Clearly, it’s a major problem.

Heartburn is an expression of a condition known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), often called “reflux,” in which acid and pepsin rise from the stomach into the esophagus, much like water bubbling into a sink from a plugged drain.

While GERD — and its symptom, heartburn — can be difficult to cope with, many people manage them quite well. However, other people spend countless hours and untold sums of money looking for a way to spell relief.

This Harvard Medical School Guide explains the causes of GERD, and what you can do to prevent and treat it.

Prepared by the editors of Harvard Health Publishing in consultation with Lawrence S. Friedman, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chair of the Department of Medicine at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, along with Howard E. LeWine, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine

Harvard Medical School. 22 pages. (2017)

Harvard Medical School Guides delivers compact, practical information on important health concerns. These publications are smaller in scope than our Special Health Reports, but they are written in the same clear, easy-to-understand language, and they provide the authoritative health advice you expect from Harvard Health Publishing.

Diagnosing GERD

Many people can manage heartburn without seeking medical care, through dietary changes, over-the-counter medications, and relaxation therapy. A doctor may be helpful if your symptoms don’t respond to self-help techniques and if they interfere with sleep or daily life.

If you do seek your physician’s advice, he or she will review your medical history and ask detailed questions about the nature of the pain and its pattern of onset. For example, your doctor may ask whether symptoms are worse after you eat a heavy meal or known dietary troublemakers such as high-fat foods or dairy products. Your doctor will want to know if bending over to tie your shoelaces or lying down aggravates the symptoms and whether the pain seems linked to anxiety or stress.

For typical reflux symptoms, doctors usually forgo diagnostic tests and proceed straight to treatment. A common starting place is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) such as omeprazole or lansoprazole. If this provides relief, the odds are that the diagnosis of GERD was correct. Once the symptoms are under control, you may continue with the PPI or switch to a less powerful medication. That could be an h3-receptor antagonist (h3 blocker) such as cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac), or famotidine (Pepcid), or an antacid.

Your doctor will be alert for other symptoms, such as frequent nonburning chest pain, bleeding into the GI tract, dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing), hoarseness, or constant coughing and wheezing. Such symptoms may be associated with GERD, but could have other causes and might warrant tests to gain more information.

GERD  sometimes causes respiratory problems such as asthmatic wheezing, coughing, or hoarseness. When these symptoms occur in adult nonsmokers with no history of lung disease, asthma, or allergies, GERD maybe the culprit.

The Germans were angered by the idea to lower the heating temperature due to lack of gas

https://ria.ru/20220618/teplo-1796375048.html gas shortages – RIA Novosti, 06/18/2022

The Germans were angered by the idea to lower the heating temperature due to gas shortages0003

2022-06-18T06:17

2022-06-18T06:17

2022-06-18T15:12

robert habeck

germany 900 03

Russia

Natural gas

Worldwide

21.img.ria.ru/images/07e4/09/19/1577745985_0:278:3076:2008_1920x0_80_0_0_c0ab9cbac3151c8ca730e17fcaee18dc.jpg

MOSCOW, June 18 – RIA Novosti. Readers of the German publication Die Welt reacted to the initiative at the legislative level to reduce the minimum temperature in apartments due to the reduction in gas supplies from Russia to Germany. They expressed their opinion in the comments to the relevant article. Earlier, the head of the German Union of Cities and Communities, Gerd Landsberg, proposed to reduce the permissible temperature in the homes of German residents due to the need to save gas. Wolfgang Steiger, general secretary of the economic council of the Christian Democratic Union, expressed a similar opinion, calling a temperature of 20-22 degrees “luxury”. The proposal was supported by the head of the Federal Network Agency Klaus Müller, noting that discussions are underway with the government on this issue. German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Green Party) did not rule out such a scenario, noting that the government has not yet dealt with this issue in an “intensive” format. – Nicola H was indignant. “What normal taxpayer and pensioner does not already refuse heating for reasons of economy?” asked Gernot B. “We in Germany bear the heaviest burden of taxes and duties, work the longest and continue to live the myth of a rich country, and forced austerity laws are already being prepared,” Ingo G stated. “I thought sanctions would hit Russia hard,” siegfried E was surprised. sanctions deprive the population of the economic basis for a prosperous life,” Ulf K said. “You (the country’s authorities. – Ed.) are standing in front of the ruins of your policy,” summed up klaus K. Germany, like other Western countries, is faced with rising energy prices and a surge in inflation due to the imposition of sanctions against Russia after the start of a special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. At the same time, Berlin, according to its leading politicians, is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has repeatedly noted that Moscow has never used gas supplies to punish anyone, but sells fuel solely in its own interests, to increase the welfare of Russians and on a commercial basis.

https://ria.ru/20220618/gaz-1796368694.html

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russia, natural gas, in the world

Robert Habek, Germany, Russia, natural gas, in the world

MOSCOW, June 18 – RIA Novosti. Readers of the German edition Die Welt reacted to the initiative at the legislative level to reduce the minimum temperature in apartments due to the reduction in gas supplies from Russia to Germany. They expressed their opinion in the comments to the relevant article.

Earlier, Gerd Landsberg, head of the German Association of Cities and Communities, suggested lowering the permissible temperature in the homes of German residents due to the need to save gas. Wolfgang Steiger, general secretary of the economic council of the Christian Democratic Union, expressed a similar opinion, calling a temperature of 20-22 degrees “luxury”. The proposal was supported by the head of the Federal Network Agency Klaus Müller, noting that discussions are underway with the government on this issue. German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Green Party) did not rule out such a scenario, noting that the government has not yet dealt with this issue in an “intensive” format.

“Now we are supposed to be cold by order of the state – and nothing else, the norm is 16 degrees at night and 18 degrees during the day! Did they think about my children?” — Nicola H. was indignant.

“What normal taxpayer and pensioner refuses heating for reasons of economy?” asked Gernot B.

“We in Germany bear the heaviest burden of taxes and duties, we work the longest and continue to live the myth of a rich country, and the forced austerity laws are already being prepared,” stated Ingo G.

“I thought the sanctions would hit Russia hard,” said siegfried E.

“The climate policy of the Greens has failed, and it’s only summer! Dreams collide with harsh reality, and (anti-Russian. – Note ed.) sanctions deprive the population of the economic basis for a prosperous life,” said Ulf K.

” You (the authorities of the country. – Ed.) are standing in front of the ruins of your policy,” summed up klaus K.

0002 June 18, 2022, 01:59

Germany, like other Western countries, faced rising energy prices and a surge in inflation due to the imposition of sanctions against Russia after the start of a special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. At the same time, Berlin, according to its leading politicians, is trying to reduce dependence on Russian gas.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov has repeatedly noted that Moscow has never used gas supplies to punish anyone, but sells fuel solely in its own interests, to increase the welfare of Russians and on a commercial basis.

Gerd Butzek: “If Americans are not captivated by handball, it may be eliminated from the Olympic program” – Handball. Quick Center – Blogs

This post was written by Sports.ru user, every fan can start writing (you can do it here).

This is the second part of an interview with Gerd Butzek, a member of the EHF executive committee, who began his extraordinary career as a sports manager in the 1980s as a guide-interpreter for the USSR national team.

Gerd Butzek. endure until the finish line when it hurts like hell

– Please explain the essence of your current status – the head of the EHF Professional Handball Council. And at the same time, a long-standing position – managing director of the Forum of Handball Clubs of Europe.

— Once I realized that I would not work as a sports agent for the rest of my life, but I want to stay in handball. This is probably why in 2002 I ran for the post of general director of the Bundesliga – the German handball federation was looking for a suitable candidate. There were two of them: one – Frank Bomann – did not understand handball at all, because he had previously worked in the field hockey federation, and the other understood it too well.

And that’s why they took the first one – the then president of the federation did not need an influential person like him nearby. And I really knew many, and many knew me.

Then, in 2006, I was invited to be a manager at Berlin. The club played then in the second league, but had a good prospect. And I was leaning towards this option. The newspapers have already written: Butzek is coming to Berlin. But literally the day before the signing of the contract, I gave potential employers a turn from the gate.

— Was there a good reason?

— At that time, Magdeburg and Flensburg met in the semi-final of the European Cup. I worked at that match as an EHF delegate. And the head of “Magdeburg” and at the same time the president of the Bundesliga was the legendary East German handball figure Bernd-Uwe Hildebrandt. We talked at the banquet about my Berlin plans, and he advised me not to hurry. He said that Bomann would soon be fired, and in his place he sees me: “We just have to wait a bit.” And agreed. Went to risk.

In “Berlin” they were upset, but I offered another person instead of me. And he waited for the call. And he was not. Then he called himself. I was told to wait a little more. And I realized that nothing works.

– It’s a shame. “Be able to stake everything that you have accumulated with difficulty in a bright hope. Lose everything and become a beggar, as before, and never regret later.” It looks like Kipling.

– This is definitely not about me. By that time he was already well provided for. I just wanted a job where I could show my abilities to the maximum.

And fate soon gave me this chance. I once spoke with the general manager of Kiel. And he said that European handball would do well to create an organization modeled on the football G14, which brought together the best clubs on the continent.

Indeed, in European handball at that time there was a growing murmur against the policy of the EHF. She replaced the European Cup stages of the playoffs with group tournaments, inflated the calendar of the national teams. All this hit the interests of the clubs, which were forced to release the collections more and more often, without receiving any compensation in case of their injuries.

But the man from Kiel did not want the initiative to come from him, so he spoke to the President of the Bundesliga. The seeds fell on fertile soil. Firstly, Hildebrand also did not like the reforms in European competition. And secondly, he felt guilty towards me. So when he called, I was ready to talk.

Bernd-Uwe Hildebrand

I was given six months to prepare the project – during this time I had to talk with a pool of leading clubs, outline a strategy and development plan for our G14. We decided to collect the same number of clubs as the players.

Frankly, they helped me a lot. The football G14 was managed by Thomas Curth. Its headquarters were in Brussels. We borrowed the entire structure from there. I traveled to all the big clubs in Europe, talked to their general managers.

How did we identify the members of the group? Eleven clubs co-opted into this number by themselves – these were the winners of European cup tournaments held in the 21st century. Zagreb, Veszprem and Kolding were added to them.

And then they called the founding conference in Düsseldorf on November 24, 2006. At first, clubs in the Champions League paid an annual fee of 26,000 euros, clubs from other European competitions (and they quickly began to join us) – 13,000 each.

– I guess that the bulk of these funds went to litigation with the European and international federations.

— Yes, exactly. The appearance of the Forum of European Handball Clubs was an unpleasant surprise for them. For example, we laid claim to the money that the EHF earned in European competitions. She was sued twice. Once again – with the IHF. They sought to reduce the terms that players are required to spend in teams.

Everywhere we won victories. Now the term of training in national teams is limited to 60 days a year. The European Federation pays insurance to the clubs in our organization if players get injured in the national teams.

Previously, clubs did not receive anything for participating in European competitions, now it is five million euros a year – minus 360 thousand, which go to the maintenance and operation of a very tiny apparatus of our forum.

The organization has grown. It is clear that membership is no longer paid. Only when voting we do not have the principle of “one club – one vote.” The one who plays in the Champions League has three votes, in the EHF Cup – two, and the rest – one each. I think it’s fair. We took into account the negative experience of the same football, where small clubs sometimes manage large ones.

Now our group consists of all the Champions League participants – there are 28 of them, 32 clubs from the EHF Cup and 16 from the Challenge Cup.

Another positive result of the emergence of our forum is a fundamental change in the situation in European handball from the 2020/21 season. The EHF signed a contract with two powerful media structures – the Swiss group “Infront” and the British “Perform Group”, owned by one of the richest people on the planet, Leonid Blavatnik. Under the terms of the agreement, the European Handball Federation will receive 520 million euros over ten years.

Our partners will sell handball around the world so that almost any match of European cups or European championships can be seen on the Internet, social networks and other media.

I am doubly pleased that my efforts were not in vain. If earlier the members of the EHF executive committee, for obvious reasons, refused to sit down with me at the negotiating table, now I myself am a member of this executive committee, I head the Professional Handball Council, without the knowledge of which not a single decision of the EHF will pass.

— I was surprised to learn that in addition to everything else, you have been training children for ten years…

— This is a normal practice for Germany. There is no profession of a children’s coach in your understanding. It is more of a hobby for PE teachers, parents and those adults who are interested in handball.

How did I start coaching children? I brought my child to class and found that the guy who called himself a coach put my right-handed son on the right edge. He didn’t even understand why it was wrong. When I expressed bewilderment, he was very happy that there was a person who could understand something in the game. “So, maybe you yourself will train them?” I agreed.

Gerd Butzek with Spartak Mironovich

Our system is designed so that children play handball for pleasure and for health. Those who show their abilities in the game end up in sports boarding schools, which, as a rule, are at the leading clubs. In Germany, there are no more than a dozen.

And now ask why both the men’s and women’s teams show such impressive results in France.

— Why?

— Because there are 28 such boarding schools, and the state invests a lot of money in handball. Although there children’s trainers work for free.

Philip Bana

But in France there is Philippe Bana, the technical director of the handball federation there. The miracle that happened in the country is entirely the work of his hands. Not an oligarch, not an outstanding politician – just an intelligent functionary. Very intelligent, talented and creative. And that’s why handball in France is so good. There are over half a million registered players. This is a very good figure for a country where, thirty years ago, very little was known about handball.

— Where is handball in Germany in terms of popularity?

– On the second. In terms of the number of registered players, we are second only to football. There are 6 and a half million, and we have 800 thousand, of which about five percent play for money. The rest either study for free or pay for the training themselves.

Volleyball players – 400 thousand, basketball players – 200, and ice hockey players – 40. Next come water polo players and field hockey – I think 20 thousand each.

— Why is handball a village sport in Germany?

— Frankly, I myself do not know the answer to this question. My work in Munich also showed that for some reason it does not really take root in large cities. Only Berlin is an exception – perhaps the only one.

– Football lives on a planet inaccessible to other species – primarily in the size of club budgets. Moreover, there are always people with money who dream of world fame, pump a lot of money into it, but do not even get into the preliminary stages of European cups…

— And it’s a mystery to me what these sponsors are guided by. That’s how much money you need to qualify for victory in the handball Champions League?

The budget of the richest club in the world PSG is 15-16 million euros per year. The budgets of the best German clubs, permanent favorites of the Champions League, 11-12 million. The Polish “Vive” won this tournament with much less money.

If you have a friend who wants to make a great football club, but he has only 10-15 million euros, then I will take him to Cologne for the “final four” of the men’s handball Champions League or to Budapest for the women’s final. He will see how much excitement these matches cause, how many fans come to them, and I think he will like the idea of ​​investing in handball.

— Do you plan to raise the popularity of handball in the world at all?

— We need to conquer the USA and China. You need to be able to analyze the situation – if everything goes on like this, then handball can easily fly out of the Olympics program. Simply because two-thirds of the sponsors of the IOC are American companies. So we need the American market and American clubs. While there is practically no handball there.

It really consoles me that the former President of the European Federation, Jean Briaud, is dealing with this issue at the IHF. He is really a very intelligent and proactive person who can captivate and lead.

China, of course, is also a very promising platform.

– But they have their own mentality. And many sports are breaking through with the goal of becoming popular in the world’s fastest growing market.

– This factor must also be taken into account. I was at a meeting at IHF headquarters with the president of the China Handball Federation. She is a former national handball player, which is good.

But, on the other hand, at the same time the lady appears as the general secretary of the federation of snooker and darts. Perhaps this is a normal situation in China. But she seems strange to me. It would probably be better if she only played handball.

We have big plans for this country. I would like to see a strong team there, which would consistently show results, so that the structure of children’s and youth handball would be formed there. For our part, we are ready to facilitate the training of young Chinese players in European clubs: in Minsk, Zaporozhye, Stockholm, Paris, and anywhere.

Attendance at handball tournaments at the Olympics is second only to football. But if we take the number of viewers who watched our view on television, then we are already in second place from the bottom.

Croatia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Slovenia, Iceland, Hungary – this list of countries that dominate the world of handball can probably be continued. But there is a population of up to 10 million everywhere. And even if 80 percent of the spectators watch handball, it will still be less than one percent of the Chinese population.

– So we decided that handball is a village sport.

– This species has many prospects. Do you know which event was the most popular at last year’s Youth Olympics in Argentina? Beach Handball! People stood in line for three hours, just to get to the decisive matches.

By the way, the first European and world champions in “beach” were Belarusians. And now the teams from the former USSR have unanimously surrendered their positions. Why?

— The federations do not have a comprehensive program for the development of the species. First of all, because beach handball is not an Olympic sport.

– Aren’t you afraid that when he becomes one, you will have to go too far to get other teams?

— Will he definitely become?

– The probability is high. To play classic handball, you need playgrounds, sneakers and a fairly large number of people. For the “beach” does not require anything but sand. And it is in almost every part of the world. When volleyball began to develop its beach variant, this too was viewed with skepticism. And now the amount of advertising money there is not inferior to the amounts that are spinning in the classics. I’m sure someday this will happen in handball.

— It’s a pity that summer in European countries is not all year round…

— But there are indoor complexes for beach sports. In Germany, they are in almost every city. Even in the middle of winter you can play beach soccer, handball, volleyball, tennis and other sports. The people are packed. The vast majority are ordinary amateurs who do not want to wind circles on a treadmill or on a frozen street.

And here is the warm sand and the game. In it, it is almost impossible to get injured, damage the ligaments, knees or spine.