It isn't easy to give up foods you love and you may resent having to do so just to get your heartburn under control, but it may be necessary for the sake of your health. You might be able to keep your heartburn in check with over the counter or prescription medications but why would you want to if you can control your heartburn naturally with a diet change?

Most chronic heartburn suffers already know exactly which foods trigger a heartburn flare up. It can actually vary from person to person. Many commonly assume it is spicy foods which are the trigger, and from some it is. It may take a little sleuthing to determine the exact cause however. Instead of spicy food, it might be that your heartburn is triggered by tomato products which are usually found in your spicy foods like pizza and hot sauces. Other people may have no difficulty at all with spicy food but get heartburn from acidic foods like orange juice, or maybe iced tea is the trigger.

If you are not sure what the exact cause of your heartburn is, the first step is to start a food diary and record everything you and the time you eat it. Also enter the time your heartburn starts. Before long you will see a pattern emerge and you can test it out by trying the offending food and see what happens.

The whole point of determining what causes your heartburn is so that you can avoid that food in the future. At the very least you should reduce the amount of your exposure.

Heartburn is more than an uncomfortable feeling. The acid can damage your esophagus and abusing your body by feeding it food which causes frequent heartburn can have serious consequences to the health of your esophagus and stomach.

If your heartburn is frequent or severe, you should discuss your options with your physician. It is important to find a way, even if it is prescription medication, to stop your heartburn.