Heartburn Food - The Natural Way

The Good And The Bad of Heartburn Food

Eating should be an enjoyable experience. You may have that heartburn thought in the back of your mind at mealtime but it doesn't have to be that way - not if you know what the triggers are and how to prepare for them. A good place to start looking for heartburn relief and preventing it is by identifying these foods that can cause heartburn.

With a paper and pencil make note of these heartburn patterns so you can work on a solution. Food can be a cure as well as as a troublemaker. Take the time to learn how to make healthy eating work for you rather than relying on antacids as the answer. There are three types of foods that can determine whether you will have heartburn or not.

When looking for answers, it is these three categories; 1) The ones you eat the most of: acidic foods, 2) Foods you should eat more of: alkaline foods and 3) Convertibles acids - these are foods that are nutritionally important but whether the body accepts them as acid or alkaline depends on how your body metabolizes them.

Metabolism varies by individual; what may trigger one person's pain will do nothing to another. Unfortunately, there is no across the board answer.

Your answer can only come from self observation and pH testing. You just have to be observant and write down the details of every episode. By trial and error you can find the problem foods.

Foods by category

Short-term
Acidic irritants - citric fruits
Relax the esophageal sphincter - caffeine, nicotine and alcohol
Hard to digest - protein
High acid foods - fat, protein, sodas and packaged foods
High alkali foods - dairy, most vegetables and fruits.

Long-term
Acidic foods
Alkaline foods
Unpredictable foods
Foods and plants with curative and preventative powers

Looking for heartburn foods

When it comes to things like coffee and tea, many people have two or more drinks a day. The coffee or the tea may be the problem to begin with. Try cutting back to see what happens. Those foods that are high in acid like tomatoes or oranges could be possible troublemakers. You may also want to avoid the sweets for your own health and it could help your pain be less severe.

You can get a list of foods from your doctor or various health sources.

If you are used to eating big meals you may see merit in eating several smaller meals, as a way to decrease the chance of food and acid spilling out of the esophageal sphincter. Poor posture can also have this effect.

Be aware that hard to digest foods like beef, chicken and pork can cause heartburn. This likelihood increases with age. Protein is a very acidic and is usually over consumed at mealtime. Carbonated sodas, many snacks and packaged foods are also acid loaded, together these add up to overly acidic meals, hard for the stomach to process.

Here is a short list of foods that cause heartburn for some:
Fatty meats
Ice cream
Chocolate
Fried foods
Potato chips
Pastries
French fries
Coffee
Soft drinks

Take heart, there is a substantial list of heartburn foods that are healthy. Apples and bananas, carrots, and baked potatoes, are but a few foods you can enjoy, along with breads, cereals, sour cream and feta cheese.

To avoid gastric reflux is to have a diet heavy with calcium containing foods, this includes most vegetables, but there are other sources that will give you a well rounded diet. Milk, cheese, fortified cereals, sardines, cold water fish and most fruits are prime sources of calcium.

Another Heartburn Issue

Foods associated with heartburn are a real issue because of the pain. Closely related and playing a significant role are over eating and being overweight . A pattern of constant overeating weakens the digestive system, adding stress to the digestive organs. The extra pounds forces stomach acid back into your esophagus. This produces heartburn, while over eating causes too much digestive juice to be created. Loosing 10-20 pounds can, for some, reduce gastric reflux significantly.

The benefits of staying away from such heartburn foods that you might feel drawn to far outweigh the disadvantages of actually giving in to your cravings. If it's difficult to make diet changes see your health care provider. A health care provider, dietitian or weight loss program can be very useful in showing you how a special diet can help you use food as heartburn cure rather than living with aggravation.

This will be a good start towards learning what you need to know to face the challenge of regaining better health. Higher energy levels, better sleep and improve concentration are some of the side effects that your doctor will point out to you. So take advantage of eating healthy and chances are that you will be heartburn free.