11 Foods to Alleviate Heartburn and Acid Reflux

Do you feel that burning pain in the stomach or chest again? It could be heartburn, the primary symptom of one of the most common digestive conditions in the world - acid reflux. Unfortunately, every fifth adult in the US is suffering from this condition, and it comes and goes through the years, usually getting worse with age.

Since acid reflux has the annoying tendency to stick around, those who get it should know how to deal with it. Diet plays a huge role in preventing and speeding up recovery during an acid reflux episode. In this post, we review 11 foods and drinks that will help you keep heartburn and acid reflux at bay.

What is acid reflux?

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), commonly known as acid reflux, is a health condition that occurs when stomach acids spill out upwards into the esophagus, which is the pipe that leads food from your throat to the stomach. Between the esophagus and the stomach, there is a “valve” called the lower esophageal sphincter, which tightens and relaxes to let food into the stomach but prevents stomach acid from splashing out. 

 

When this sphincter malfunctions, you get acid reflux. Unlike the stomach, the esophagus doesn’t have the membrane protecting it from stomach acid, and the lining of the esophagus becomes damaged, causing burning pain in the chest and throat known as heartburn.

 

Even though GERD isn’t considered a life-threatening condition, it could lead to complications and should be addressed by your doctor. Late snacks and meals, alcohol as well as excessively acidic, fatty, or spicy foods are known to aggravate GERD and should be avoided. Other foods can help reduce the symptoms of acid reflux and speed up recovery.  

 

What should you eat when you experience acid reflux?  

 

1. Chamomile tea

When you’re dealing with heartburn and acid reflux, it’s super important to stay hydrated because water can dilute the stomach acid and reduce your symptoms. Herbal teas like chamomile tea are an excellent option since they combine hydration with soothing and antimicrobial properties. 

 

Chamomile tea is made from dried chamomile flowers brewed in hot water, and it has a long history of alleviating digestive issues like indigestion, bloating, nausea, and ulcers in traditional medicine. This herb has a soothing effect, so it will be able to bring relief to that burning sensation you experience with acid reflux. 

 

Chamomile tea has a pleasant, slightly sweet aroma and taste, and it can be easily prepared by brewing 1 tablespoon of dried chamomile in 1 cup (240 ml) of hot water for 10 minutes. 

 

2. Oatmeal

Fried and fatty foods are a common trigger for acid reflux and heartburn. When your symptoms are worse, it’s advised to stay away from them, so fried eggs, melted cheese toast, and even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are off the table. What should you have for breakfast, then? Oatmeal is definitely an option to consider, and here’s why. 

 

First and foremost, whole grains like oatmeal are easy to digest and don’t increase the acidity in your stomach. In fact, oatmeal can help absorb some of the stomach acids, so it may actually improve your symptoms. Oatmeal is also high in fiber and keeps you full for a long time, which will decrease your risk of heartburn by making you less likely to overeat. 

 

Just make sure to opt for less processed oatmeal varieties, such as oat groats, steel-cut oats, or rolled oats; quick oats are much lower in fiber and are a lot less beneficial for your health. Not a fan of oatmeal? Other whole grains, like brown rice, quinoa, and even whole-grain bread have similar properties and reduce your risk of acid reflux as well. 

 

3. Ginger tea

When it comes to an upset stomach, very few natural ingredients can beat ginger. Why is ginger beneficial for heartburn specifically? 

 

First and foremost, ginger is alkaline, so it will be able to lower stomach acidity. Second, ginger has ample anti-inflammatory benefits, so a few sips of ginger tea will help relieve irritation and inflammation in the stomach and esophagus. Last but not least, ginger has the proven benefit of reducing nausea, so if your stomach is feeling especially vulnerable, brew some strong ginger tea. 

 

If you’re using dried ginger, add ¼ - ½ teaspoon of the powder to prepare 1 cup of ginger tea. Steep the hot water and ginger mixture for 5 minutes. If you’re working with fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon of the finely-sliced root should be enough to make 1 cup of ginger tea, but keep in mind that fresh ginger takes longer to brew - around 10 minutes. 

 

Note that you shouldn’t add lemon to your tea if you’re experiencing heartburn; lemon is very acidic and will exacerbate your symptoms. 

 

4. Root vegetables 

Fibrous veggies as a side dish are also great for reducing and preventing heartburn and acid reflux. Root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, and parsnips are extra filling and full of flavor, which will make your meal more satisfying and keep you from overeating and adding too much fat to your foods. Other high-fiber veggies to consider are asparagus, green beans, and broccoli. One last note regarding the preparation: avoid using too much oil when cooking vegetables if you’re experiencing heartburn. Instead of french fries or mashed potatoes with tons of heavy cream or butter, for example, opt for oven-baked or boiled potatoes. Oven-baking a selection of vegetables from the list above makes a delicious and healthy side dish for practically any meal. 

 

5. Aloe vera Foods

We don’t typically think of aloe vera as something you could take internally. But chances are, you’ve applied an aloe leaf cut in half on a burn and observed its instant calming effect on the skin. Believe it or not, aloe vera juice has an identical soothing effect for heartburn when you drink it. 

 

Even though aloe vera juice is widely available in stores, you can also prepare your own to instantly soothe symptoms of acid reflux if you have an aloe vera plant at home. Here’s how: 

 

1. Start by cutting off a few of the outer leaves of the plant (they’re the oldest and have the highest concentration of antioxidants). 

 

2. Peel the leaf, leaving only the gelatinous part. 

 

3. Rinse the leaf to remove the bitterness. 

 

4. Blend with 1 tablespoon of water or strain through a sieve or clean cloth. 

 

5. Dilute in the following proportions before drinking: 1 teaspoon of aloe vera juice to 1 glass of water. You can also add 1 teaspoon of the aloe vera juice to smoothies. Keep the juice sealed and refrigerated for up to 3-4 days. 

 

6. Lean meat and fish

Do fatty foods like steak, meatballs, hamburgers, bacon, sausage, or ham exacerbate your heartburn? This is a common concern and one that can make it tough for people to consume enough proteins when their acid reflux is flaring up. If that speaks to you, consider switching to seafood and lean cuts of meat or poultry, such as chicken breast, turkey without the skin, fish, or eggs at least temporarily. 

 

Keep in mind, however, that the method of preparation also counts. Grilling, baking, and broiling are superior choices to frying or pan-frying because they use much less cooking oil. 

 

7. Salad greens

A fresh salad full of greens, celery, asparagus, cucumbers, nuts, and avocados is a great way to keep acid reflux symptoms at bay because it combines fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats, all in a neat package. A 2017 study showed that participants who follow a plant-based diet loaded with such fresh produce experience acid reflux much less than the rest of the population. 

 

Just skip the tomatoes, onions, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, or high-fat salad dressings, as all of these ingredients can make your heartburn worse.  

 

8. Fennel

Certain foods can neutralize stomach acids. All foods fall somewhere on the pH scale, which is a scale of how acidic or basic any substance is. The range comes from 0 (very acidic) to 14 (very alkaline), with pure water being in the middle of the pH scale at 7. On one hand, foods that are more on the acidic spectrum are more likely to cause reflux. Alkaline foods, on the other hand, make the stomach acidity go down, balancing the pH level in your stomach. 

 

A great alkaline food you can throw in pretty much any savory dish is fennel. If you’ve never tried fennel, it’s an aromatic and flavorful vegetable that tastes a little like anise. You can just chop it up quite finely and add it to salads, soups, or even meat dishes.

9. Bananas

Speaking of alkaline foods, bananas are also capable of neutralizing that stomach acidity. But that’s only part of the reason why bananas are so good for acid reflux. These yummy fruits are also very rich in pectic, a type of soluble fiber that coats foods in your digestive system and makes it easier for them to move through. Last but not least, bananas are quite filling, so they make a great midday snack for those of you who suffer from heartburn. 

 

Not a fan of bananas or fennel? Other options of alkaline foods are almonds, cauliflower, and melons. 

 

10. Low-fat dairy

Dairy can be a bit of a double-edged sword for people suffering from heartburn. But if you know what to look out for, dairy can be tremendously beneficial for alleviating symptoms of acid reflux. As long as you eat low-fat dairy products only, milk, ice cream, or even plain yogurt, you'll enjoy the wonders they can do for your digestive system. 

 

Dairy products coat the esophagus and protect it from the acid that irritates it and causes heartburn. It’s important to go low-fat because fatty products actually have the opposite effect, making it easier for stomach acids to move up to the esophagus and cause that painful burning sensation in your chest.

 

11. Watermelon

Water, herbal tea, and other beverages aren’t the only way to increase your hydration and dilute the stomach acid. Munching on foods that have a lot of water in them will also help reduce stomach acidity. Watermelon is 91.45% water, for example. 

 

Eating a few slices of watermelon is a great way to reduce heartburn, especially if you chill it in the fridge beforehand, as this adds an extra cooling effect. If you’re not a big fan of watermelons, know that celery, cucumbers, or even some soup or broth are all great hydrating alternatives.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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How to Balance Your pH and Find Out If You’re Too Acidic

 

Have you recently heard people talking about being over-acidic, measuring their pH and eating alkalizing foods? Emphasizing the importance of body’s pH might seem like a new fashion, but the science and art of pH balancing has had a long tradition and, unlike some other trendy theories, it has successfully overcome the test of time.

What is PH?

In terms of chemical understanding, pH is a measurement of hydrogen ion (H⁺) concentration in a solution. Solutions with low hydrogen concentrations have high pH values, and solutions with high hydrogen concentrations have low pH values.

As you probably remember from school, the pH scale runs from 1 to 14, with 7 representing the pH of pure water – neutral. Above 7 is alkaline, below is acidic.

In optimal circumstances, your body should have a pH of between 7.0 and 7.4, so slightly alkaline. This refers to the pH of the body’s main fluids: blood, lymph and cerebrospinal fluid.

The pH of the digestive system however, is a bit less uniform: the mouth, pharynx and esophagus are all slightly acidic with a pH of 6.8; the pH of the healthy stomach is 1.3 – extremely acidic; the pH of the small intestine resembles that of healthy bodily fluids; and in the colon it ranges between 5.5 and 7.

Why Does pH Matter?

In 1931, Dr. Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize in physiology. He was the first to describe the correlation between the acidic environment and cancer cell growth.

We know now that an acidic body is more susceptible to different diseases, including arthritis, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases.

What’s more, if your pH is out of balance, digestive problems can occur and your body can’t assimilate the goodness from food, which can make you feel constantly tired. Blood pressure, insulin levels and cholesterol, as well as body weight and immune system function, are all influenced by changes in pH levels.

As every one-point decrease on the pH scale means 10 times increased acidity, going from pH 7 to 5 makes your insides 100 times more acidic! This is not a good sign if you’re planning on living a long and healthy life.

The bottom line is that you want to keep your body’s pH as close as possible to what nature intended it to be. Also, if you are aiming to cure a disease, you might want to start by looking at the pH of your body. When doing that, most people discover that they’re too acidic.

What the Research Says About the Alkaline Diet

Research suggests that an alkaline diet can assist with chemotherapy treatments, making the treatments more effective. This is the case for example with cucumber, which contains lignans that are being studied for treating estrogen-related cancers within the body.

The Journal of Environmental Health suggests that “it would be prudent to consider an alkaline diet to reduce morbidity and mortality of chronic disease that are plaguing our aging population”.

Another medical study showed that “oral NaHCO(3) (or baking soda) selectively increased the pH of tumors and reduced the formation of spontaneous metastases in mouse models of metastatic breast cancer.”

While there are no studies that directly show an alkaline diet to prevent cancer, research is ongoing.

In general, the alkaline diet may assist cells and connective tissue in retaining water as it works to enhance systemic, brain, and bone health.

Additionally, alkaline foods such as cucumber may provide the support needed for enhanced enzymatic function, to prevent degradation of tissues and slow cell aging.

Presumably, an abundance of alkaline cellular reserves buffers the depletion that occurs when the body constantly readjusts to maintain proper pH and minimize cellular acidity.

What Causes pH Imbalances?

The main culprits of over-acidity are improper diet (fast food, high consumption of sugars, animal products and processed foods), stress and lifestyle choices, for example sedentary life style. Interestingly, over-exercising, especially too much cardio workout, can lead to a drop in your pH levels as well, as it contributes to stress.

At first, the body tries to compensate and bring the pH back to its optimum levels. For example, minerals such as potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium are taken from our vital organs and bones to counteract the acid. But this cannot go on indefinitely, and sooner or later the acidic environment starts to attract all sorts of ailments.

Naturopath Ann Boroch is one of many who recommend switching to a more alkaline diet (see video at the end of my article). She points out that the five things we should all avoid (or reduce as much as possible) in order to keep our bodies within the optimal pH range (between 7.0 and 7.4) are:

• Excessive consumption of red meat
• Caffeine
• Sugar
• Alcohol
• Stress

She claims that all these turn your body acidic and make it inflamed. So you need to become more alkaline again. You can do this by eating foods that will bring you back to balance. The changes don’t need to be as complex as some might think. Boroch emphasizes that little can go a long way.

Warning Signs Your Body is too Acidic

According to experts, signs and symptoms that may be seen in acidosis include:

• Headaches
• Confusion
• Feeling tired
• Lack of appetite
• Sleepiness
• Fast breathing

The Link Between Candida and Cancer

Candida is very widespread due to the imbalanced lives we lead. Antibiotics and steroids are taken routinely, and everyone is overly stressed. All these factors contribute to candida overgrowth.

Many times, candida goes undetected for a long time and weakens the immune system. Compromised immune system leads to genetic mutations. One medical study found that candida infection can significantly increase overall and some individual cancer risks. Another medical study concluded that “Candida spp., particularly C. albicans, has been implicated in oral and esophageal cancer development, the pathogenic mechanisms and its carcinogenic capability is not clearly understood”

Doug Kaufmann has written and lectured about the ‘fungal theory of disease’, in which he explains the role fungi has in disease development. Fungi should not be ignored, as they might be the key to solving many health issues.

Ann Brooch herself believes that there is a strong connection between cancer and candida overgrowth. She claims that if you have candida, that is a clear signal your body is over-acidic.

How to Test your PH Level

It might be a good idea to test your pH and find out where you stand. You can do this at home. All you need is litmus paper, which can be bought at a pharmacy or a health food store, and a bit of discipline.

You need to dip the litmus paper in your first morning urine. Collect a sample in a clean container and measure the pH level. Or, you can use saliva, one hour before a meal or two hours after eating. Make sure you obtain a clean sample, so before spitting on the litmus paper, collect saliva in your mouth and swallow it.

You might find it useful to keep a diary over a period of time, so you can compare the values and get a medium value. The pH of your saliva should stay between 7 and 7.4 all day.

The pH of morning urine is slightly more acidic and fluctuates between 6 and 6.5. If you are also measuring the evening urine, the value should be between 6.5 and 7.
 

Tips for Alkalizing your Body

Some methods for alkalizing your body are straightforward and focus on dietary and lifestyle changes, while others will require specialist support and guidance, such as the use of alkaline minerals. Cesium chloride, germanium, rubidium and other alkalizing minerals can be used to alkalize the body.

Particularly cesium chloride and sodium bicarbonate therapies have received a lot of attention and have been reported to yield good results, the latter being somewhat easier to use.

The Cancer Alternative Foundation, which has a mission of researching and verifying various alternative approaches to healing cancer, has established that alkalizing therapy is one of the most efficient alternative techniques for treating cancer, even in the later stages of the disease.

Basic dietary changes you can make to get your body more alkaline and healthy

As for a diet that will help turn your body alkaline, it’s recommended to embrace a vegetarian, or even better a vegan diet (meat and dairy products have a very acidic effect on the body’s pH levels) and to eliminate refined sugars, alcohol and caffeine from your diet.

Eat more vegetables such as cucumbers. Your diet should consist of 60% vegetables. That doesn’t necessarily mean eating raw vegetables. Your food can be cooked. In fact, some people’s digestive tracts can’t handle just raw food. Dark leafy greens are particularly praised for their alkalizing potential. Juice, steam, sauté them – whatever works for you.

Fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are a preferred choice due to their alkalizing potential. A food’s natural pH level does not necessarily indicate the effect it will have on the body. For example, lemons and limes are known to have an alkaline effect on the body, despite their initial (citric) acidity, so squeeze some lemon in water and drink before a meal.

A very popular dietary supplement that also helps you alkalize your body is spirulina – an algae that can be consumed in powder form or in tablets. Some guidance may be required to establish which food and food combinations are optimal for you.

Get a dose of raw apple cider vinegar first thing in the morning. Mix a tablespoon with some water. Or, mix freshly squeezed lemon juice with some warm water, and drink that every morning.

Don’t eat junk food and processed foods.

Reduce your stress

The next thing you should look at is your stress. Don’t forget to assess your stress levels. Sound sleep, exercise and regular relaxation can do wonders for the body and mind. If you need to manage your stress levels, some simple breathing exercise can do the trick. You can also look at some other relaxation techniques, such as yoga, meditation, emotional freedom technique (EFT), to name a few.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement