Foods to Eat
Eat lean, non-fatty meats. Red, dark, or processed meats are high in saturated fat, which can make heartburn worse. Instead, get your animal protein from lean meats like white meat chicken, turkey, and fish. These are much easier to digest and shouldn’t trigger your symptoms. If you eat poultry, remove the skin. This reduces the amount of saturated fat you’ll eat. Frying reduces the health benefits of lean meats. Fried chicken, for example, is much more likely to cause heartburn than grilled chicken.
Prevent overeating with high-fiber foods. Overeating is a common trigger for heartburn because it pushes stomach acids back into your esophagus. Fiber fills you up faster, so you’re less likely to overeat. Good sources of fiber include beans, legumes, whole grains, leafy green vegetables, oatmeal, and nuts. Getting enough fiber is also important for your overall digestive health, so try to consume 25-30 grams each day from your diet.
Include more alkaline foods like bananas to neutralize acid. Alkaline foods are higher on the pH scale, meaning they can cancel out acids in your stomach. Some good alkaline foods include bananas, nuts, fennel, cauliflower, and melon.
Mix in watery foods to weaken acids. Foods with a high water content can dilute and weaken stomach acids and reduce the pain or burning sensation. Good choices include melon, celery, cucumbers, soup or broth, and lettuce. You can have these items as side dishes or snacks in between meals.
Add fresh herbs and spices instead of dried or powdered types. Powdered spices and herbs tend to be more concentrated, and these stronger flavors could trigger heartburn. Opt for fresh varieties instead to reduce your risk for heartburn. Fresh parsley, basil, and oregano tend to soothe the stomach better than other herbs.
Roast your food to make it more flavorful. Since you might have to avoid spices and strong flavorings, you might be wondering how you can avoid bland food. Roasting is a good option. This brings out more flavor and caramelizes the natural sugars in food. Try this cooking style if you want more flavorful meals. Roasting is similar to baking, but it's usually done at temperatures over 400 °F (204 °C) with the food uncovered.
Consume vegetables raw if cooked types bother your stomach. Some people find that raw vegetables soothe their stomach better than cooked types. Try keeping your vegetables raw to see if this helps you. Always make sure you wash your vegetables carefully, since bacteria won’t die if you don’t cook them first. If you also have irritable bowel syndrome, raw vegetables might aggravate your symptoms. You might want to continue cooking your vegetables in this case.
Drink plenty of water to dilute stomach acids. Plain water is the best thing to drink with meals because it naturally dilutes your stomach acids, which can prevent heartburn. Some proponents claim that bottled alkaline water, which has a higher pH than tap water, is better for neutralizing stomach acids. However, there isn’t much evidence that this works better than plain water.
Foods to Avoid
Avoid fatty, fried, and processed meals. These foods digest more slowly and trigger more acid production. Reduce your intake of fried or processed foods, or items high in saturated fats like red meat. Try other cooking methods instead of frying. Grilling, broiling, or baking all reduce the saturated fat content in foods.
Consume fewer acidic fruits and vegetables. In particular, citrus fruits like lemons and oranges and tomatoes can increase your stomach acid. Try to limit the number of these items in your diet. Products that use these ingredients, like tomato sauce or orange juice, could also bother you, so try to avoid these. Some people tolerate raw tomatoes better than cooked ones, so try eating tomatoes raw to see if this helps you.
Limit your intake of chocolate and mints. Chocolate, spearmint, and peppermint tend to trigger acid pain. Avoid these items altogether if they bother you.
Add mild spices to your foods. Spicy foods are a common heartburn trigger, especially ingredients like cayenne or red pepper. Flavor your food with milder spices like sweet chili powder or black pepper instead. You might be able to tolerate small amounts of spice, so add some little by little if you like spicy food. This way, you can discover your tolerance limit.
Use less garlic on your food. Garlic is a common heartburn trigger, including fresh and powdered varieties. If you notice heartburn after eating foods with garlic, then try reducing the amount of garlic you use or eliminating it altogether. If you're at a restaurant, you could tell the server that you're sensitive to garlic and need the chef to use less in your dish.
Drink uncarbonated beverages. Even sugar-free seltzer could trigger acid reflux by pushing acids into your esophagus. It’s best to avoid all carbonated beverages while you’re eating so you can digest your meal without any problems. You might be able to drink carbonated beverages in between meals, since there will be less acid in your stomach when you aren’t eating.
Reduce your intake of caffeine and alcohol. Both of these items can trigger acid reflux, so control the amount that you drink. Limit your caffeine consumption to 2-3 drinks per day, and don’t have more than 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day. If either of these items triggers your symptoms, you might want to cut them out altogether.
Keep track of foods that trigger your symptoms. While some foods commonly trigger acid reflux symptoms, the condition is still personal to each person. Some foods might bother you and some might not. The best thing to do is make a list of the foods that make your symptoms worse and avoid them.
Lifestyle Remedies
Eat slowly to avoid overeating. Eating too fast is a common way that people end up overeating, so slow down during your meals. Take a bite and chew it completely before swallowing. Don’t lift up another bite until you’ve swallowed the previous one. A common trick for making yourself eat slowly is counting the number of times you chew each bite. Try this if you have trouble slowing down while you eat.
Stop eating when you feel full. Don’t force yourself to continue eating when you start feeling full. Otherwise, you’ll end up overeating and triggering heartburn. If you’re at a restaurant, ask for a box to take your food home. This way, you’ll avoid overeating and have a snack for later.
Have more small meals instead of larger ones. Larger meals put more pressure on your stomach and can trigger heartburn. Instead of 3 large meals each day, try having 5 smaller ones. This prevents you from getting too full during your meals. An ideal meal size is about 400-500 calories. This would keep your daily caloric intake around 2,000-2,500 calories.
Stand or sit upright for 2 hours after you eat. Laying backwards pushes acid into your esophagus and can trigger heartburn. Rather than laying back, sit or stand upright so gravity pulls the acids downward instead.
Wait 2-3 hours to exercise after you eat. Exercising too soon after eating can upset your stomach. Allow a few hours before exercising to make sure you’ve digested the meal enough. The exact amount of time to wait depends on the exercise you’re doing. Your stomach should be empty for endurance exercises like running. However, if you’re lifting weights, there won’t be as much up and down motion, so you don’t have to wait as long.
Wear loose-fitting clothes so you don't compress your stomach. Tight clothing can press down on your stomach and force acid into your esophagus. Wear clothing that doesn't press down on your stomach or abdomen to avoid acid pains.
Sleep on an incline to prevent nighttime reflux. Sleeping flat could cause acid to flow backwards. If you regularly suffer from nighttime heartburn, try placing an extra pillow under your shoulders so your body tilts upward instead. You could also get an adjustable bed that tilts upward to make sleeping on an angle easier.
Maintain a healthy bodyweight. Being overweight puts more pressure on your stomach, so talk to your doctor to find out if you should lose weight. If so, then design a diet and exercise regimen to reach and maintain a healthy bodyweight.
Quit smoking or avoid starting altogether. Smoking significantly increases your risk of developing acid reflux or GERD. It’s best to quit as soon as possible or avoid starting altogether. Secondhand smoke can also cause problems like these, so don’t let anyone smoke in your home.
Natural Home Remedies
Sip ginger tea when you feel heartburn coming on. Ginger naturally soothes the stomach, so some ginger tea could help relieve GERD symptoms. Brew a cup and sip it if you feel some acid pains starting. Ginger tea comes in teabags, or you could brew your own by boiling a small piece of fresh ginger and straining it out.
Drink baking soda and water to neutralize acid. Baking soda, also called sodium bicarbonate, is alkaline and can neutralize stomach acids. This is why it’s used in many antacid medications. Stir 1/2 teaspoon into a glass of water and drink the whole thing. You can repeat this 3-4 times per day if you need to. You should check with your doctor before using this treatment to make sure it’s safe for you.
Try honey and lemon water to soothe your stomach. This could also neutralize stomach acids. Squeeze a spoonful of fresh lemon juice into a glass of water and dissolve a spoonful of honey into it. Sip on this mixture to see if it improves your symptoms. You could also mix honey and lemon into ginger tea for a combined treatment.
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