Certain foods can aggravate heartburn symptoms. These are foods you should avoid because they can trigger acid reflux. Once you know what they are, you can minimize them or eliminate them from your diet altogether.
Highly acidic fruits and fruit juices like orange juice, lemons and lemonade, grapefruit and cranberry juice and tomatoes. Starchy vegetables should be avoided such as mashed potatoes and french fries.
Many meats, dairies and grains can aggravate symptoms. Avoid fatty meats such as marbled steak, high-fat ground beef, chicken nuggets and buffalo wings; dairy products like sour cream, high-fat milk and ice cream and cottage cheese; and grains such as macaroni and cheese and spaghetti with sauce.
Liquor and wine can exacerbate uncomfortable heartburn symptoms; likewise, so will coffee and tea (decaf or regular).
Fatty, creamy salad dressings are on the "no-no" list also as are vegetable oils because they are high in polyunsaturated fats.
Sweets, desserts and junk foods can aggravate acid reflux symptoms, too. High-fat cookies, brownies or doughnuts will do it. Potato chips and corn chips can also create unpleasant symptoms.
While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, it provides a good framework of what foods to avoid if you are trying to gain some control of or entirely eliminate the symptoms of GERD and heartburn.
Begin to eliminate (or at least reduce) these foods from your diet and you should begin to experience relief from heartburn and acid reflux. While it's not a "one-shot" fix, it's definitely a step in the right direction.
Now that you know the foods to avoid acid reflux, you might be thinking "What can I eat?" In a future article, we'll discuss foods you can eat that won't aggravate heartburn and acid reflux symptoms and instead, will bring relief and begin allowing your body to begin healing itself of the damage caused by heartburn.