Develop Your Own Heartburn Diet

For some people, every meal seems to lead to painful heartburn and for others, only certain foods bring the agony. Still others only suffer when they fail to abide by reasonable portion sizes.

There are some foods that are safe for almost everyone and it's a good idea to start with these foods. If you are heartburn-free for a time, you can begin to add foods that are more likely to spark a heartburn attack one at a time. Those that do not cause a problem can stay on your heartburn diet. Those that cause pain will have to go. Combined with good eating habits and careful food preparation, this can help anyone start a successful heartburn diet.

Safe and Not So Safe Foods

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Foods that are fatty, spicy, salty or too dry can kick up a bit of heartburn. Of course, foods that are high in acid can problems for some people, too. Apples and bananas are safe fruits. Some vegetables can be hard to digest; the safest being baked potatoes, cabbage, green beans, peas, broccoli and carrots. Remember to avoid adding fat - just low-fat salad dressing should be okay.

Fat is a problem in the meat category too - lean beef like London broil is good. White meat chicken and fish are also lean. Egg yolks are fatty so stick to egg whites and egg substitutes. Low-fat and fat-free dairy products are a better choice. High fiber grains are the best alternatives for your carbs - multi-grain bread, graham crackers, pretzels, bran cereals, rice and oatmeal should work out well for most people.

Your heartburn diet has to exclude caffeine. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate and colas are out except in decaffeinated forms. Water will help in digestion and should be included in every heartburn diet. Snacks can include low-fat cookies, red licorice, baked potato chips and jelly beans.

The Preparation

Never, never, never fry your food. Until you can determine that fried foods don't trigger your heartburn, avoid them. Even if you are sure that fat isn't bad for your own heartburn, limit it on your heartburn diet. While simple pasta dishes are rarely a heartburn problem, acidic tomato sauce can be. Low-fat cream sauces are safer choices.

Often, cooking takes some of the acid from the tomatoes, but add tomato sauce cautiously back to your diet and eliminate it if it causes a problem. Boiled foods add water to your meal and that's a good thing and to add flavor, use fresh herbs.

Suggested Heartburn Diet

Try these tips for prolonged relief from heartburn. A well planned diet will be more effective for heartburn relief rather than taking over-the-counter antacids for a quick ease.

  • Try to eat small frequent meals instead of 3 large meals a day. Small amounts of food ingested will exert less workload on the stomach, therefore requiring less acid secretion for digestion. Be sure to include foods that are high in complex carbohydrates in each meal. These foods, such as rice, breads and pasta, are able to occupy excess stomach acid and are often easy on the stomach.

  • Avoid high-fat meals such as those from the fast food chains. High fat foods will remain in the stomach longer in which more acid is secreted to digest them.

  • Don't overeat. Eating too much of any foods will stimulate the stomach to secret more acids for digestion.

  • Avoid or limit alcohol, chocolate, foods containing caffeine such as coffee and tea

  • Maintain an upright position during and at least 45 mins after eating.

  • Try elevating the head of your bed 6 - 8 inches when sleeping at night.

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