If you’ve ever had to deal with heartburn, then you don’t need us to tell you just how painful it can be. Normal symptoms include a tight and quite painful feeling in the chest, as well as a bitter and acidic taste in the throat, nausea, vomiting, and difficulty swallowing, just to name a few. Heartburn can be caused by acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease, otherwise known as GERD.
Acid reflux is when the contents of the stomach, such as food or acid, regurgitates from the stomach through the esophagus and into the throat, leaving a sour or acidic taste. When it comes to GERD, it’s a more serious version of acid reflux, where the closure of your lower esophagus weakens, causing heartburn and other adverse side effects, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, dry cough, and regurgitation to occur. Normally, people that experience heart burn more than two times in a week are diagnosed with GERD.
Depending on each person’s case, treatments may also vary. But heartburn, acid reflux and GERD tend to be affected by people’s lifestyle and overall health. Moreover, there are also heartburn trigger foods that should be avoided to better control heartburn and acid reflux symptoms.
Many doctors suggest cutting out particular types of food and drinks from your diet, while eating in smaller portions of these foods as well. And while your health practitioner may also suggest eating smaller portions, they may suggest eating them in four to six meals within the day to lessen the chances of an acid reflux attack.
Here are 15 trigger foods to either lessen or avoid completely to help control acid reflux.
1. Fried Food
Ask any health expert and they will tell you that fried food should only be eaten in moderation due to it being high in fat, sodium, and calories. But for someone suffering from acid reflux, fried food is considered a no-no due to the fact that they take longer to digest, which puts extra pressure on the stomach and esophagus. When this happens, your stomach stays full longer, increasing the risk of acid reflux. Rather than eating fried foods, choose to grill or poach your meals instead. Not only is that a better choice when it comes to less calories, it can also better protect you from getting heartburn in the first place.
