Acid Reflux Diet

Acid reflux disease is not something that you have when we are born. This is a condition that very often occurs because of life style. You just cannot live with elevated stress levels, 10 hours sitting at a desk and then no exercise or physical activity, and poor diet and eating habits – that just happen to include many of the problem acid reflux trigger foods. You want to focus on a remedy through an acid reflux diet.

Diet is a primary reason for acid reflux. And it does make sense that since this is the case, than you might very well be able to control this through an acid reflux diet that is designed around eliminating or avoiding the most problematic foods. Ultimately, with an acid reflux diet, you are going to have 2 objectives: (1) not eating foods that have additional secretion of acid (2) not eating foods that need more enzymes to digest it.

To begin with, you are going to want to stay away from the most acidic foods, as well as foods with high fat content, as these are foods that will increase acid when the food is being digested. Some of the foods with the highest acid content will be citrus fruits and juices like oranges, grapefruits, and lemons. And tomatoes have a lot of acid, and are one of the major acid reflux trigger foods since they are used in so many common things like soups and sauces.

Foods with a lot of fat have the effect of relaxing the LES [lower esophageal sphincter] muscle, so instead of staying closed while digesting the food, the stomach acid is able to get back through into your esophagus. As well, these foods digest more slowly. This means that besides fatty foods increasing stomach acid, the acid is going to also stay in there longer.

What foods have a lot of fat in them? You can pretty well figure that the more you like eating it, then the more fat it will contain; remember that this is going to include fried foods too. My favorite dinner of a chicken wing appetizer, salad with 1000 island dressing, steak, baked potato with butter and sour cream, and of course ice cream pie to push it all down – is long a thing of the past.

This brings up another point about acid reflux disease and an acid reflux diet – it is going to seem to be highly restrictive. To an extent it is, but it’s not like there aren’t lots of great foods out there to eat. And you have to make a choice, additionally keeping in mind that many of these acid reflux trigger foods have other health issues as well. Do you want to get rid of the horrible heartburn and acid reflux problems, or do you want to keep eating the same way, along with turning into bad health problems requiring medicines and even surgery?

Now back to the acid reflux diet.

Besides the foods with high fat content and the highly acidic fruits, there are other acid reflux trigger foods. You will want to stay away from highly spicy foods or sauces in general, which would include hot chilies and peppers, onions and garlic, and no more hot wings. Also, eliminate highly processed foods with lots of sugar and white floor, as these are known to cause an acidic reaction.

A large number of the foods to avoid on an acid reflux diet are actually liquids. Alcoholic drinks can burn the lining of the esophagus, and the fermented drinks like beer or wine are also shown to increase stomach acid – beer is possibly the worst, and has been shown to as much as double the acid in your stomach in an hour..

Any caffeinated drink like soft drinks, or coffee and tea, may be a problem. And do note that coffee is acidic in general, so decaf wouldn’t be a substitute. Also, drinking non-caffeinated or sugar free soda can still be a problem because of the carbonation.

And then there is milk. This has long been thought of as something that will calm the stomach after eating too much, and for a short period of time it might be. But later on, like while you are sleeping, milk has a tendency to cause to cause stomach acid secretion, which in turn will lead to more acid reflux.

Ok, so what can you eat?

Before considering the foods, do consider some eating habits. For instance, don’t eat so much at a time, especially at dinner. Regardless of the food type, smaller amounts of food at a time will need less acid to digest, and thus lessen the chance of acid reflux. Also, don’t lie down right after you eat, because this promotes acid reflux; stay upright for an hour or more.

And now let’s eat. If you will think nutrition and heart healthy, you will find that you have a very wide variety of foods available. The key is to stay away from the acid reflux trigger foods, and get your acid reflux and heartburn under control, if possible from a dietary change. Once that is accomplished, try some of those foods that you like and miss. Just eat small amounts at a time and write down what you are eating – if you find that that you can tolerate something, great, and if you find that you can’t, then you will know to avoid it.

Acid Reflux Diet And Remedies

Here is a very good book for acid reflux and diet. Besides being an acid reflux guide, it is also a cookbook with over 100 recipes that are both low fat and low acid, even including some substitutes for some of the trigger foods like salad dressings and deserts.

Eating for Acid Reflux: A Handbook and Cookbook for Those with Heartburn

And for more information on acid reflux diets and natural remedies and treatments, you can also take a look at these two highly regarded resources:

Heartburn No More

Stop Acid Reflux Now