Do you know more than 60 million people in America are suffering with heart burn and acid reflux? The pain isn’t just a small inconvenience, but it gives us discomfort in all the things we do, like it gives us sleepless nights, hot burning in the chest, unpleasant and bitter taste in mouth and severe bloating in the stomach.
Acid reflux generally happens, when our stomach produces little amount of acid for digestion process. If the stomach acid escapes into esophagus, a tube that delivers the food and beverages to your stomach, this causes acid reflux. The people with acid reflux have very weak muscles and that’s the reason they tend to experience heartburn too.
As we already know that food plays a major role in maintaining healthy body, there are certain foods which should be avoided in your diet to reduce acid reflux and heart burn in your body.
Here are those 10 foods to avoid in your diet.
10 Foods To Avoid In Your Diet
1. Meat
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If you are experiencing acid reflux then it is compulsory to avoid meat in your diet. Chicken, beef, fish and other foods are detrimental to acid reflux and contain high amount of fat.
Replace them with healthy foods like soy foods and sprouts. If you want to eat meat, then stick to low fat meat and chew your meat really well because it is harder to digest. You can also have fresh water fish which is less acidic when compared with ocean fish.
2. High Fat Foods And Dairy Products
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According to several studies, it has been found that high fatty foods are the major contributors to obesity and unsurprisingly the primary antagonist of acid reflux symptoms.
Even dairy products like cheese, butter contains high amount of fat that results in increasing the symptoms of acid reflux.
3. Avocadoes
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Surprised? you might have heard this is one of the best and healthy foods that should be included in your diet. Apart from that, avocadoes are high in natural fats that may help you if you have mild reflux. But this becomes dangerous to your health if you have severe acid reflux.
4. Chocolate
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If you love to eat chocolates then it’s time to avoid them if you have acid reflux. Because chocolate contain high amount of caffeine and other compounds called theobromine that will keep the esophageal sphincter muscle from tightening and increases the chances of severe acid reflux.
Even the cocoa in chocolates cause the intestinal cells to relax esophageal sphincter and allows stomach acid to creep up.
5. Coffee
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Many people cannot start a day without their bed coffee, here is the bad news for those people who love coffee. The caffeine in coffee is bad for the people who are suffering with heart burn.
Coffee also reduces the pressure in lower esophageal sphincter that increases the heartburn and speedup process of gastric emptying. You need to avoid all drinks and sodas that contain caffeine.
6. Citrus Fruits
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Citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, will worsen the symptoms of acid reflux as well as heartburn. So it’s better to avoid them in your day routine.
Citrus fruits contain high acidic content that irritate your digestive track and results in causing some more damage by increasing the extra acid in your stomach. Include fruits that are less acidic to satisfy your daily fruit requirements.
7. Spicy Foods
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Spicy foods also work same like high fat foods. Lower the intake of chili powder in your diet and replace it with other spicy ingredients like cinnamon, sea salt and ginger that are beneficial for your health.
8. Tomatoes
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Tomatoes contain high levels of acid that relax the lower esophageal sphincter and increase the symptoms of heart burn and acid reflux in the same way chocolate does. So try to avoid the foods like ketchup, sauces of tomatoes.
9. Large Meals
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Eating large meals, especially 2-3 hours before bed time increases the pressure of lower esophageal sphincter muscles and results in increasing the chance for food to end up in esophagus.
Try to avoid large meals before your bed time and replace them with smaller meals because it takes time for the brain to register that your stomach is full.
10. Alcohol
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Consumption of alcohol generally relaxes the muscles in your body including your lower esophageal sphincter. This allows more stomach acid in esophagus and increases the acid reflux.
According to a study in 2004, consumption of alcohol in excess amounts increases the risk of gastro esophageal reflux disease. Limit the consumption of alcohol or completely avoiding it helps in preventing the risk of acid reflux.
