Heartburn is a burning feeling in the chest caused by stomach acid travelling up towards the throat (acid reflux). If it keeps happening, it’s called gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). It is kind of a strange name for a problem that can occur with digestion, but since many people experience it as a burning sensation in their chest, the name “heartburn” was coined.
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A number of different foods can cause heartburn in people, and it likely varies a bit from one person to another. Fortunately, there are also foods that help to reduce your chances of experiencing heartburn, and some that may even help to calm it down when you are feeling it.
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The following foods should be placed at the top of your list if you want to cut down your risk of dealing with the pain and discomfort associated with heartburn.
1 OATMEAL
Oatmeal has a lot going for it, and all of it is good. Known mostly as a breakfast staple, oatmeal can be worked into a number of other things including cookies. Oatmeal has the ability to help soak up excess acid in the stomach, and make heartburn less likely. Oatmeal is also very filling, and is something that will stick with you and help keep you feeling full for hours.
2 GINGER
It’s quite unlikely that you’ll want to pick up a piece of raw ginger and start chomping on it, but it can be used to prepare many dishes and give them that unique and distinctive flavor. It’s been used for centuries to help ease digestive problems and for good reason. In addition to using it while cooking, it can also be added to smoothies to provide a little heartburn-busting goodness to an already-healhty drink.
3 SALADS
Salad provides a host of benefits beyond just helping to cut down on your chances of experiencing heartburn, so there is more than one good reason to make it a regular part of your diet. Although most ingredients in a salad are great for reducing heartburn, it should be noted that things like onions and tomatoes might be best left out of the mix since they do contain higher levels of acid. Dressings should also be kept to a minimum, since they often contain fat, and can also have acid in them.
4 BANANAS
Here’s a case that’s a little unusual since most people find that bananas help reduce their acid reflux, while a small minority – around 1 percent – say that they actually cause more digestive problems than they help. Bananas have a pH of around 5.6, which makes them a logical choice for most people who suffer from heartburn. The ways bananas can be worked into the diet are almost endless, and of course they can also be peeled and eaten just as they naturally are.
5 MELONS
Scoring a bit higher on the alkaline scale than bananas, melons, with a pH of about 6.1, are also an excellent choice for breakfast or a snack any time of the day. When they are at their best, they are very sweet and juciy, especially watermelon. Both honeydew and cantaloupe are good choices as well, but like bananas, a small percentage of people report that their problems related to digestion are worsened by eating any type of melon.
6 FENNEL
Most of us are probably most familiar with this as a seed that can be found in many spice cabinets. But it’s not just the seed that’s useful in the kitchen. As a vegetable, it has a mild flavor that’s reminiscent of licorice, just like the seeds. It’s high on the alkaline end of the pH scale at 6.9 and it can be used in salads, as well as when cooking things like chicken. For those that really take a liking to it, it can be eaten raw as well.
7 POULTRY
Everyone that’s not vegetarian of vegan can probably work chicken or turkey into their diet one way or another. Not only can you make one of a what must be millions of poultry dishes at home, just about any restaurant or fast food establishment will have something that features chicken or turkey. The skin tends to be quite high in fat, so it’s always best to remove that to get the most benefit.
8 GREENS AND ROOTS
This covers a lot of territory, so there are numerous options with this group that will likely fit well into anyone’s diet. Some of the better-known foods in this collection include asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans. In fact, just about any of green vegetable or root vegetable are recommended for those who suffer from heartburn, with the exception of onion, which may contain a little too much acid to be helpful.
9 CELERY
This uniquely-shaped vegetable is a good one to add to your diet for more reasons than just helping keep heartburn under control. It has a very high water content and has virtually no calories. Those attributes, combined with the generous amount of fiber celery provides, is great for those trying to lose weight, because it is also an appetite suppressant.
10 RICE AND COUSCOUS
These complex carbohydrates are both excellent weapons in the fight against heartburn, and are often quite easy to include in many meals. Rice is often used in combination with poultry in a prepared dish, and can deliver a kind of one-two punch that will help keep heartburn at bay.
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