Anti Acid Reflux Diets - Foods to Eat and Avoid

Natural remedies can be very effective when it comes to treating acid reflux. And opting for anti acid reflux diets in your daily life is one such remedy that you can consider, since it is easy to implement and yet can be very effective.

What you eat has a very large impact on how your body feels after a meal, so by choosing your foods wisely, you can often avoid acid reflux altogether.

Knowing your triggers

One of the important parts of a diet for coping with acid reflux would be to eliminate foods that tend to trigger the acid reflux symptoms. But since different foods trigger heartburns in different individuals, it is important to identify the specific foods that do not work well for you.

To find out what these "reflux-triggering" foods are, it would be useful for you to keep a detailed record of the foods you consume for a week, and note your body's response to them.

Include the following points in your record: what you ate and when, as well as the symptoms (if any) that you experience afterwards. Identifying the foods that your body does not tolerate well will help you in coming up with a dietary plan for dealing with your acid reflux.

Important aspects of acid-reflux-free diets

The following are some important aspects of anti acid reflux diets.

Your Carbohydrates

Whole grains are some of the best types of energy foods for those suffering from acid reflux (as long as you can keep the acid-based sauces or condiments away) because of their high fiber content.

According to a study in the journal, Gut [1], high fiber foods can help protect against acid reflux. In addition, they can also help to keep your intestinal flora balanced and your bowels moving smoothly.

Good options include multi-grain bread, oatmeal or bran cereal, corn bread, graham crackers, pretzels, or rice or rice cakes.

Your fruits and vegetables

It is important to consume lots of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet, as they are important sources of essential vitamins and minerals that our bodies need. Also, they provide the fiber needed by our body for healthy bowel movement.

However, you will need to select your fruits and vegetables with care. Avoid acidic fruits and vegetables (and of course their juices) like oranges, lemons, grapefruits, tomatoes. [2]

Instead, go for other more pH-neutral fruits and vegetables, like bananas, papayas, carrots, cabbage, green peas.

In fact, eating fresh papaya could help with your acid reflux. This is because acid reflux could be a result of poor digestion, and fresh papaya actually aids in digestion [3].

Also, seek to include more raw vegetables in your meals. [3].

Read more about the foods that can help bring relief to acid reflux.

Your proteins and fats

Proteins and essential amino acids are important aspects of a balanced and healthy diet, and such should be sufficiently consumed in your daily diet.

Nonetheless, some studies suggest that foods high in fat content (e.g. deep fried foods, poultry skin, full cream milk) can weaken the esophageal value, as such promoting symptoms of acid reflux [4]. As such, keep a check on the fatty foods that you consume in your meals.

Reducing your intake of high-fats food (coupled with exercising) can also help you lose weight - another step you can take to reduce your acid reflux symptoms [3, 4].

Sources of healthy protein and fats that you can include in your acid-reflux-free diet may include extra-lean ground beef and steak, skinless chicken breast, egg whites, and low-fat fish.

Dairy products are sometimes cited as a trigger of acid reflux in some people [2]. This is especially the case for infants with acid reflux problems - some studies have found that allergy to cow's milk can account for 20% to 40% of acid reflux issues in infants [5].

Hence, it might be a good ideal to be extra cautious with dairy products, unless you are very sure (from observing your bodily symptoms after consuming the products) that your body is well-tolerate of these foods.

Your beverages

When and what you drink on a daily basis are also important factors when it comes to coping with acid reflux problems.

Fluid intake is important not only for hydration purposes, but also as a means of diluting stomach acids. As such, it is important that you add more water to your diet - it will help to dilute the acids in your stomach and reduce the pain you might suffer from acid reflux.

Nonetheless, be careful about consuming too much fluid during or immediately after a meal (with the exception of the raw apple cider vinegar described below), as excessive fluids at these times can interfere with your digestion and trigger acid reflux symptoms.

While pure distilled water is probably one of the healthiest beverage choice for anyone, in our daily diet, we usually consume other fluids like juices, soups and breakfast beverages to meet our need for fluids.

As a sufferer of acid reflux symptoms, the main beverages that you may need to be cautious about include liquor, wine, coffee and tea (including decaffeinated ones), carbonated beverages (especially cola and beer) and juices of citrus fruits. These beverages tend to give many people problems, so it's best to try and stay away as much as possible. [3, 4]

It is often also suggested that sufferers of acid reflux symptoms avoid herbs that relax the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), such as the spearmint and peppermint. [4, 5].

In turn, beverages that can benefit those suffering from acid reflux problems include [3]:

• raw potato juices (with the peel included, consumed immediately after juicing),
• fresh cabbage or celery juices,
• raw apple cider vinegar (1 tablespoon) mixed with a glass a water (consumed during a meal).

Beyond dietary changes for acid-reflux relief

In addition to opting for anti acid reflux diets to obtain relief and recovery from your acid reflux problem, you may also want to adopt healthy eating habits for easy instant relief.

But if these dietary changes do not help, you can consider other lifestyle changes to deal with your condition.

For example, you should avoid lying down or excessive bending after meals.

You should also try to avoid jumping into anything that might interfere with normal digestion within an hour of completing your meal.

You can also consider taking herbs or natural supplements to deal with your acid reflux.

Usually such gastroesophageal reflux problems respond well to the self-help remedies mentioned above. This means that your symptoms should clear up relatively quickly. However, if they don't, your condition might be rather serious and you might need to seek the help of a qualified practitioner in the holistic and natural healing fields to deal with your problem.

If your heartburn symptoms are accompanied by chest pain (especially pain that radiates to the jaw, neck or arm) as well as symptoms like cold sweat, dizziness, nausea, or shortness of breath, you should see your doctor immediately, to eliminate the possibility that you might just had or are going to have a heart attack. [3, 4]

Read More: More on Acid Reflux | Natural Health Remedies for Various Ailments and Conditions | Home Page | Site Search

Need relief from acid reflux? Read the Reflux Remedy Report, where you can learn to overcome reflux using 3 common grocery items, or get a free acid reflux analysis by a medical doctor. You could also learn about a holistic system for helping you overcome acid reflux, heartburn, chest pain and discomfort, as well as other digestive disorders. You could also use natural, herbal and homeopathic remedies for acid reflux.

	Get Quality Natural Health Supplements at Reasonable Prices. $5 or $10 discount for new customers
Get natural, herbal and homeopathic remedies for hundreds of health conditions and ailments. GO.

New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read. Leave a comment in the box below.

[1] "Acid Reflux Diet And Nutrition Guide", extracted from http://www.healthline.com/health/gerd/diet-nutrition#3,on 28 Sep 2013.

[2] "Heartburn: Foods to Avoid", extracted from http://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/features/heartburn-foods-to-avoid, on 28 Sep 2013.

[3] Balch, Phyllis A., CNC. Prescription for Nutritional Healing: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements. 5th ed. New York, NY: Avery, 2010. Print.

[4] Gottlieb, Bill. Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems. Rodale, 2000. Print.

[5] Gaby, Alan R., MD. The Natural Pharmacy: Complete A-Z Reference to Natural Treatments for Common Health Conditions. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 2006. Print.

Some Related Acid Reflux Pages

Click here for more pages and articles on Acid Reflux.