If you have ever experienced heartburn, GERD or acid reflux; you know how uncomfortable a bout can be and you also understand the importance of avoiding foods and beverages that have a tendency to cause heartburn as even though relief is available through medication, it is still best to avoid the foods that cause heartburn if you want to live a pain free life and stave off instances where that burning sensation in your chest becomes just too much to bear. Once you start changing your diet accordingly, you can help prevent heartburn from occurring. Even though you will not always be able to avoid all foods that cause heartburn, by having a better knowledge about foods that tend to cause heartburn will help you in making better food choices. Not all foods cause heartburn in all people, as everyone is different and over time you will come to know which foods are more detrimental to your own personal condition, however, some common culprits do exist and knowing which ones they are helps you to make wiser food choices if you seek to prevent occurrences of that all too common burning sensation one gets after eating something that brings on heartburn or reflux.
Perhaps the best way to start learning about and understanding whcih foods cause heartburn is to through each meal of the day and isolate foods specific or common to that time of the day which could be causing you problems. Breakfast for most people is how each day gets started, and to help make sure you do not eat the wrong foods right off the bat as your day gets going, you need to try and avoid some of the common foods that cause heartburn found at breakfast. For starters, coffee is a mainstay for most people; however, the acidic properties of coffee can cause heartburn. Other breakfast items that can be bothersome, especially those prone to heartburn, include orange juice, cut up citrus fruits, bacon, ham, ketchup, salt and even fried potatoes if they have been cooked with onions. You need to pay attention to all ingredients in dishes so that you can best determine which items may have the potential to be one of the foods that cause heartburn. If you eat eggs routinely for breakfast, start having the eggs cooked without salt and pepper and avoid using ketchup or salsa as all of those things can cause heartburn. If you prefer an omelet, stick with one that has just cheese and avoid having onions, peppers, ham, sausage or other salty, fatty or processed foods inside as those items can all cause you discomfort.
Lunch time is the next meal in a day, and one you need to be careful with if you are trying to prevent heartburn. You will need to most likely pay closer attention to what you eat or order if dining out for lunch as many people do who work in an office or away from home. In fact, if you are outside of the house routinely for lunch, you need to make sure you learn how to read menus properly or get in to the habit of packing lunch so you can always have with you good food choices and not foods that cause heartburn as your only option for lunch. Some of the foods that cause heartburn found during lunchtime include oil and vinegar salad dressing, pasta salad that has vinegar, onions and peppers, sandwiches with mustard, pizza, fried foods and fast food which has a higher content of grease that can cause heartburn to occur. You need to pick and choose foods accordingly, and you may need to make special requests when dining out so you can remove foods that cause heartburn from your plate. For example, if eating out for lunch and ordering a salad, request that the dressing be a creamy Italian or Ranch and that onions, peppers, olives and cabbage be removed from the salad. The same holds true when ordering pasta for a lunch meal, avoiding red sauces which are tomato based and high in acid can be a way to prevent heartburn, as opting for creamy Alfredo sauce will be the better choice for you. You should also not forget to take beverages in to account, and choose water over iced tea, coffee based beverages and soda since all three can be the basis for a bout of heartburn to flare up right after lunch.
Dinner time is typically the meal of the day you have the most control over, and it is also the one meal where you get to unwind from your day and relax.
Dinner signifies the end of one day and thus you do not want to get off track by eating foods that cause heartburn during your last full meal of the day.
You need to avoid foods that cause heartburn, especially during dinner as you do not want your condition to flare during the evening or overnight hours and cause you to lose sleep or have disrupted sleep due to heartburn.
For those main meals in the evening, opting for broiled, sauteed or baked foods is a good start in helping to prevent heartburn. Though grilled food is fine, if you coat the meat prior to grilling with a spice rub, cracked peppercorns or even Kosher salt you can run the risk of getting heartburn from the added spice. Steering clear of foods such as tomato based soups and sauces, acidic salad dressing comprised of vinegar, all types of onions and peppers, citrus fruits, hard to digest vegetables such as broccoli, sprouts, dark beans and beets and making sure to keep fried foods to a minimum are all good ways to prevent heartburn during dinner. You can change dishes by removing the common foods that cause heartburn and replacing them with more digestive friendly alternatives to enjoy the same types of foods. For example, if you are having Italian subs for dinner, replace lunch meat with low sodium ham and reduced fat salami, add provolone and mozzarella cheese for flavor, top with shredded lettuce and use dry Italian seasoning for flavor along with reduced fat mayonnaise.
Dessert may not be a required meal, but it is one many people look forward to every evening. Though the majority of dessert items are not foods that cause heartburn, a few are and so too are some of the ingredients used in making the sweet treats. Avoid orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit sorbets, tarts and syrups to remove those high in acid flavors. Though chocolate is a common ingredient in desserts, steering clear of too much chocolate can induce heartburn in some people and if you happen to be one, opt for vanilla flavored cake, cookies, ice cream and pudding instead. Once again, avoiding coffee and coffee based drinks is another good step to take.
You may think that once you have the basic meals covered, you will be on your way to preventing heartburn, however, you really cannot forget about snacks. Snacking is yet another way you can develop a case of heartburn if foods that cause heartburn are not avoided. Skip salty, fried potato chips, salty and spicy chip dips, salted pretzels and spicy mustard, salted peanuts, spicy snacks and fried foods to keep your heartburn under control. In fact, keeping healthy food choices in mind is a way to make snacking good for your whole body and to keep heartburn at bay. Choose fresh apples, pears or plums for a sweet snack and go with a bowl of cereal and milk if you crave something more substantial. Even toast with butter or a bagel with cream cheese can give you a snack that is good for your condition.
In the end, it is imperative that you avoid foods that cause heartburn to the best of your ability.
Even if you cannot get away from all of the foods known as common culprits, even simply cutting down on some of the foods and reducing portion sizes can be helpful. If you are at a dinner party and spaghetti with red sauce, salad with oil and vinegar and salty garlic bread is being served, you will have to eat those foods that cause heartburn, but you can combat some of the damage by eating less and drinking plenty of water.
A great way to start remembering which are the foods that cause heartburn is to memorize these as they are the most common: citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit), fried foods (french fries, onion rings, potato chips), tomato based items (ketchup, salsa and spaghetti sauce), salty foods (peanuts, popcorn, pretzels, black olives and table salt), spicy foods (hot pepper, cayenne pepper sauce, Buffalo wing sauce) and hard to digest vegetables (onions, peppers, broccoli, sprouts, beans and mushrooms), vinegar based items (barbeque sauce, salad dressings, pasta salads and marinades). Though other items can be included in the list, these are perhaps some of the most common foods that one would eat, or find in foods eaten often. You need to be more cognizant of what you eat and start paying closer attention to avoiding foods that cause heartburn if you are attempting to prevent heartburn through dietary changes and modifications.