Proper heartburn eating: what to look for
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Heartburn can be very uncomfortable. With the right food, however, they can prevent acid from escalating into the esophagus. There are many causes of heartburn, but they often vary from person to person.
Heartburn After Eating: Find Your Personal Triggers
There are many foods that can cause heartburn. However, every body reacts differently to different ingredients. Find the foods and diets that personally trigger heartburn. In this way, you can specifically do without meals and continue to consume other foods. A healthy diet and lifestyle also reduce acid regurgitation.
- Keep a daily food diary for at least two weeks. In this, you record what they ate and whether and to what extent these foods triggered heartburn. This is how you can expose your personal triggers.
- Even small habits can help prevent heartburn. Do not eat too late in the evening, several smaller portions throughout the day and light instead of sumptuous food.
If you have heartburn, pay attention to low-fat and low-acid food
A cause of heartburn can be fatty food. To digest this, your body produces more stomach acid. If this rises in the esophagus, you feel pain behind the breastbone. But especially acidic foods can also lead to heartburn.
- Mayonnaise is very fat and should therefore be avoided. Keep trying to use as little fat as possible for cooking.
- Choose lean fish and meat products. It is also worth buying the low-fat variant for dairy products.
- Carbonated water contains a lot of acid. Instead, drink still water or unsweetened herbal tea.
- Citrus fruits and some types of fruit such as kiwi, mandarin or sour cherry also contain a lot of acid. Bananas, grapes and strawberries, for example, are harmless.
Luxury foods can also trigger heartburn
Luxury foods such as coffee, alcohol or cigarettes are delicious and once used to it, it is difficult to separate them. Nevertheless, it can be worthwhile to do without. Because exactly these can be the reason for your complaint!
- Coffee promotes acid production in the stomach. But not everyone is equally sensitive to the drink, and another type of coffee can make your heartburn go away. A small meal before the caffeinated hot drink in the morning can help and prevent the unpleasant burning sensation.
- Alcohol relaxes your muscles - including the lower esophageal sphincter. This prevents an escalation of acid in the esophagus and can no longer reliably perform this task by consuming alcohol. This can lead to heartburn. Alcohol is also acidic - it irritates the esophagus and increases the formation of stomach acid.
- Cigarette smoke is also irritating to your esophagus. Smoking also reduces the production of saliva and makes it less basic. So your esophagus is much less protected, more sensitive and more prone to heartburn.
Help against acute heartburn
Heartburn cannot always be prevented. But even if the pain has already occurred, there are ways to reduce it. In addition to medication, various foods can help:
- A well-known home remedy for heartburn is baking soda. Dissolve a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of still water and drink this mixture. The basic sodium hydrogen carbonate helps to neutralize the stomach acid and so reduce the pain. However, you should not use this home remedy for a long period of time.
- Chewing gum can also help. Because chewing stimulates the production of saliva, which dilutes the acid and takes it back to the stomach. In addition, the slightly basic saliva can neutralize stomach acid.
- Lukewarm water or low-acid tea, such as chamomile tea, also help to dilute the stomach acid and flush it back into the stomach.