Tips for a successful heartburn diet
Posted on September 28th, 2007 by Beth Goodwill under Heartburn and Acid RefluxHeartburn is one of the most common afflictions touching people all over the world, being first and foremost rooted in incorrect or even harmful eating habits. As a temporary crisis, heartburn is usually overcome by eliminating the stimuli that contribute to acid reflux, but when someone is facing a chronic situation, then a heartburn diet needs to be followed.
It is very important that you have a medical exam and professional assistance in order to prevent any aggravation of your condition. Before actually starting a diet for heartburn it is good to take a week or even two and analyze your eating patterns carefully, and see which food makes you feel fine and which causes heartburn.
Among the safe foods of a heartburn diet we should begin by eating fruits and vegetables, with the mention that sometimes a heartburn and a weight loss diet overlap and even complete each other. Apples, lemons and bananas are excellent for a balanced, acid-friendly meal. Bananas however are not good for overweight people, due to their high calorie content.
If you have broccoli, fresh cabbage, baked potatoes, green beans or peas, you don’t run any risk of getting a fit of acid reflux. For the rest of your meals keep in mind that low fat meat is best for you, and dairy products such as milk, curd or low fat yogurt are highly recommended.
A big part of a heartburn diet revolves around what people should eat at dinner. Many think that they can tuck in and have a glass of warm milk at the end to solve the heartburn problem. Unfortunately, this is not how things work as a full stomach will be troublesome regardless of whether you drink milk or not.
The idea is to have light meals throughout the whole day, not just in the evening. Then you can end it with a glass of milk and some crackers, and the chances of getting an overnight heartburn are quiet low. You could also include cereals within the heartburn diet since the fibers they contain absorb the acid excess in the stomach thus preventing regurgitation or acid reflux.
Studies have pointed out that the correct diet for heartburn must include not only low-acid food, but be rid of fat and maintain a minimum protein level. Experiments performed on groups of volunteers suffering from acid reflux have shown that those with a healthy rich-in-fiber heartburn diet recovered better than those who continued to use fat meat for instance. This clearly shows that the lesions created on the esophagus membrane can be healed without repercussions and recurrences of acid reflux, if a proper and strict heartburn diet is followed. People should see this as a healthier way of life, not as a simple eating restriction!

October 31st, 2007 at 5:24 am
I didn’t know that apples, lemons and bananas were good for neutralizing acid. Thanks for that information!
You are right about milk not fixing heartburn, I tried it with no luck.
Great article!
February 9th, 2008 at 2:32 am
Lemons really do work!
Great info!! Thank you.