Acid Reflux Food to Avoid - What to Remove From Your Diet

Here, you will learn about some acid reflux food to avoid.

If you have acid reflux disease, then oftentimes, simple adjustments to your diet can be a natural yet effective way to help alleviate the symptoms that the disease can bring.

Most individuals with acid reflux disease discover that there are certain foods that can cause their symptoms to flare up more than others. For that reason, knowing what foods to avoid can help reduce your risk of acid reflux symptoms.

Keeping a Food Diary

Below, we have listed down some commonly consumed foods that have a tendency to trigger or aggravate symptoms in acid reflux sufferers.

But of course, you might find that not all of the foods that we've listed necessarily trigger heartburn in you.For that reason, we suggest that you consider keeping a Food Diary.

With the Food Diary, it means that for at least two weeks, you need to write down everything you eat and any symptoms that you might experience while or after eating all the foods you ate. This will help you figure out the specific foods that are actually acid-reflux triggers for you, and hence need to be avoided.

Avoiding foods that commonly trigger acid reflux

Here are some foods that are commonly found to trigger acid reflux symptoms in sufferers. Using your Food Diary, observe if they actually worsen acid-reflux symptoms in you. If they do, it is best to keep them out of your daily diet.

Dairy products are sometimes cited as a trigger of acid reflux in some people. 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 [1].

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.

It is also best to avoid foods that are high in fat, since they remain in the stomach longer and can be more difficult to digest properly. The same is true with fried foods that include fried meats and vegetables.

Spicy foods are also important acid reflux food to avoid, because they can cause stomach upset. These include chili peppers, black peppers, and fresh onions. However, some spicy foods might cause more discomfort than others, so you might only need to limit your intake of them instead of avoiding them altogether.

Other foods that might cause discomfort are tomatoes and tomato-based foods, as well as citrus fruits and their juices. Citrus fruits and tomatoes have acidic bases and can trigger acid reflux disease symptoms when they mix with the acid that is already in your stomach. Some juices that might cause discomfort are orange juice, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice.

Remember - heavy sauces, gravies or salad dressings can prolong the digestive process. Similarly, mixing starchy foods (e.g. pasta or potatoes) with red meats or dairy products can increase the demand on your digestive system. This is because your body needs to work hard producing several types of digestive enzymes to help break the mixture of foods. This process would take several hours to accomplish.

All this while, the digestive juices (acidic in nature) would be stirring in your stomach,increasing the chances of acid reflux. So if you are suffering from acid reflux symptoms, it is best that you avoid such situations.

Spearmint and peppermint,as well as chocolate can relax the sphincter muscle and allow stomach acid to flow back into the esophagus, as such causing the intense feelings of heartburn. As such, these foods are best avoided.

Tea and coffee (both caffeinated and decaffeinated ones), alcohol (e.g. liquor and wine) as well as carbonated drinks (e.g. cola and beer) are also beverages that you should avoid if you have acid reflux problems.

Beyond the foods to avoid

In addition to keeping the acid reflux food to avoid out of your reflux-free diets, the other important thing you need to do about your daily diet is adding foods that help alleviate the reflux symptoms. Read more about what these beneficial foods are.

In addition, there are also some healthy eating habits that can help with your acid reflux problem.

For example, it helps to eat many small meals throughout the day instead of a few large meals. It is also important to eat slowly and to maintain good posture when eating.

In addition, it can help to avoid eating too close to bedtime. You should aim to finish your last meal at least two hours before bedtime. This is because acid reflux symptoms tend to worsen when you are lying down, so making sure that your food is properly digested before going to bed might help improve your condition.

But if these dietary changes do not help, you can consider other lifestyle changes to deal with your condition. 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. [2, 3]

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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.

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References

[1] 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.

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

[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.

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