Print Article for : Eat With Acid Reflux

Your Online Guide » Common Illness » Acid Reflux

[E92]Eat With Acid Reflux

by Richal Peyton, Ric

Even when we don't realize this, most of us tend to eat more acid-forming food and much less alkalizing food. We tend to eat more dairy products, meats, and other foods high in fat. As you may notice, even most children do not like vegetables. However, it's never too late to start gaining optimum health. Being on an alkaline diet is highly beneficial, and even more for those of us suffering from acid reflux. This article will talk about what alkaline is, what alkaline food to eat with acid reflux and why it works in treating the condition.

What Does Alkaline Mean?

Any food rich in alkaline has a pH level of over 7.0. On the other hand, anything that is acidic has a pH level of below 7.0. Foods vary in nutritional value, but also vary by pH level. There are many foods that are alkaline as well as acidic. Depending on your specific needs, you may need more alkaline foods in your diet, but generally, everyone needs more alkaline foods for better health.

Why Do We Need More Alkaline Foods?

Since too much acidity can be harmful to our body, we sometimes need something to counteract the excess acids. For those of us who suffer from acid reflux, we are even in a worse situation because we're often already predisposed to having more acid in the stomach than needed.

Aside from certain positions or activities that trigger acid reflux, the food we eat also makes symptoms worse. Since acid reflux mainly involves acid traveling from the stomach to the esophagus, we need to keep acid levels down by eating less acidic or non-acid-forming foods.

Is There An Alkaline Diet?

Alkaline diet recommendations can be found online. An alkaline diet basically means having meal plans that mainly incorporate alkaline food. Often times, alkaline diets will require you to eat lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, vegetable roots, nuts and legumes. Of course, everyone has different tastes in different dishes, so you may benefit from researching on recipes that cater more to your liking. You may also visit a dietician or nutritionist to discuss your preferences in a special diet.

What Are The Alkaline Foods I Can Use?

There are lots of alkaline food to eat with acid reflux. There is a wide range of fruits and vegetables that are alkaline. You may have grapes, bananas, blackberries, apples, strawberries, melons, cauliflower, celery, beets, radishes, eggplants, and spinach in your special diet. As you can see, a lot of these alkaline fruits are delicious and fun to snack on. There is also a myriad of vegetables you can eat as a side dish.

You don't have to be stuck with just fruits and vegetables, alkaline properties can also be found in other foods high in protein. Foods that contain alkalizing protein include fermented tofu, almonds, chestnuts, whey protein powder and tempeh.

You don't have to stay with the diet forever. The alkaline diet is fairly simple to follow once you're used to using alkaline ingredients while cooking.

Perhaps you have been taking far too many antacids these days and you are wondering if there is possibly an alternative to popping the fat little white pills to solve your heartburn problem. Indeed, there is a much more sensible solution to acid reflux/heartburn, and it all starts with what you eat.

People are not born with acid reflux; this condition occurs as a result of lifestyle choices including - diet, exercise, and stress levels. So, it does stand to reason that if diet is one of the causes of acid reflux, then it is more than likely that choosing your foods wisely can also alleviate it as well.

In order to reduce or eliminate acid reflux you are going to want to stay clear of fatty and acidic foods in general, as these tend to increase acid secretion for digestion. For example, you'll want to steer clear of all citrus fruits (and juices) like oranges, lemons, and tomatoes.

In addition, you will want to avoid high fat steaks (where the meat has a marbled appearance), butter, pasta, sour cream, ice cream, mashed potatoes, chicken nuggets, buffalo wings - I think you can see where we are going here. As well, you will need to avoid coffee (decaffeinated or regular), all forms of alcohol (except in very small doses), and all forms of tea. Coffee in particular has been shown to increase activity in the esophagus, with studies showing that it is not caffeine in particular that causes it, but other ingredients found in the beans (no matter which way they are roasted), can be a strong contributor.

Don't fall victim to the old wives tale of milk calming the stomach down after a big meal. While it may help you in the short term for a bit, over the long haul it is going to cause more damage by causing reflux while you are sleeping.

The list of foods that will reduce the occurrence of acid reflux, are not surprisingly, reflective of every nutritionist's guide to sensible eating. Suggestions being; apples, bananas, baked potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, fish, eggs (whites only), goat or feta cheese (you want to avoid all other cheeses), rice cakes, and whole wheat bread.

At the end of the day, what you should be aiming for is to reduce an overabundance of acid secretion, steering clear of foods that require more enzymes to aid in digestion.

Food intake is not about what you eat, however, you will also want to change your eating style or habits as well, as this also contributes to either a regular amount of acid secretion, or an abundance of it, which will result in acid reflux. Eating little but often every two-three hours, rather than purging on big meals is the ideal. Eating a lot of food at one time is tough on your digestion system, so it overcompensates by secreting more acid in an attempt to funnel the food through your body.

I realize it can seem a little restrictive at first making changes to your diet. However you can either continue to make unwise diet choices like steak, potato chips, alcohol and coffee and chug antacids to counteract the acid reflux, or you can change your lifestyle just a bit and reduce the occurrence of heartburn, and likely feel a whole lot better overall.

Once you have your acid reflux symptoms under control you will likely find you can reintroduce some items back into your diet, only in moderation, without experiencing any painful side effects. Keeping a food diary and your reaction to what you consume should give you an idea of which foods are the worst triggers for you.

Article Source : Pg. 2

About Author

Both Richal Peyton & Kathryn Whittaker are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Richal Peyton has sinced written about articles on various topics from Pregnancy Problems, Acid Reflux and Pregnancy Problems. What is the proper and what is the proper. Richal Peyton's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.

Kathryn Whittaker has sinced written about articles on various topics from Acid Reflux, Pregnancy Problems and Acid Reflux. . Kathryn Whittaker's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.