If you suffer from heartburn or heartburn, knowing which foods for heartburn can help you is essential. Although there are good foods for heartburn, the most important thing is the hygienic-dietary guidelines to prevent or mitigate its symptoms. With the help of Mar Ruperto, professor of Nutrition and Bromatology at the San Pablo CEU University, we found out why it occurs and what is the best way to prevent or mitigate heartburn.
Heartburn, what is it and why does it appear?
Also called heartburn, heartburn is an intense retro-sternal burning sensation, that is, it is felt behind the sternum. «It appears when the contents of the stomach regurgitate or reflux into the esophagus. This is only possible if an acid called cardia between the stomach and the esophagus is dysfunctional and does not close properly. The consequence is that the contents of the stomach – food and acids from digestion – reflux, rise. As the esophagus is not prepared to receive this acid, it suffers irritation in its mucosa. We call this process gastroesophageal reflux, which is what causes the burning sensation. It should be added that, sometimes, this acid content can rise to the pharynx and, if severe, can cause pharyngitis and even alter the teeth, eroding them,” warns Mar Ruperto.
Many people wonder if heartburn and heartburn are the same thing. «They are not synonyms,» clarifies the expert, who clarifies: «Gastric acidity or heartburn occurs due to the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, something that is part of the normal digestion process but which, if it regurgitates into the esophagus, erodes its mucosa. Burning implies gastritis.»
What to eat when you have heartburn?
As Mar Ruperto explains, it is not so much about finding which foods are good for heartburn. «It matters what we eat, but also how much we eat, when and how we eat it. Avoiding certain triggers can help reduce heartburn symptoms.
- Do not consume very cold or very hot foods, as they produce spasms at the esophageal and gastric level, in addition to irritating the mucosa.
- Avoid very large meals that can dilate the stomach, reducing the retention capacity of the cardia and increasing the risk of gastroesophageal reflux.
- Stress, poor body posture or intense and extreme exercise.
Recommended foods to reduce acidity and burning.
These are the main foods that calm heartburn naturally. ‘If I had to choose foods that take away the burning, I would say dry foods, like toasted bread,’ says Ruperto. In general, he advocates always choosing soft foods, with simple preparations:
- Cooked vegetables
- Boiled white rice
- White or whole wheat bread (seedless)
- Lean meats or white fish, without sauce and little seasoning.
Natural tricks that complement the diet
The professor of nutrition and food science prefers not to talk about natural tricks or foods to relieve heartburn and make hygienic-dietary recommendations. For her, the main ones are:
- Maintain weight in appropriate ranges, since abdominal fat increases the risk of reflux.
- Avoid large meals; make four or five smaller meals throughout the day.
- Eat slowly, chewing well.
- When you finish eating, spend thirty minutes standing or sitting upright, avoiding lying down so as not to encourage gastroesophageal reflux.
- Always drink small amounts and preferably outside of meals, thirty minutes or an hour before.
- Cook with simple culinary techniques, such as boiling, grilling, steaming or baking, avoiding preparations with a lot of fat, sauces, batters or breading as much as possible.
- Avoid eating two hours before bedtime and raise the head of the bed slightly so that the gastric contents of the stomach do not regurgitate into the esophagus.
- Stop smoking, since tobacco reduces sphincter pressure.
- Avoid very tight clothing or girdles because they increase intra-abdominal pressure.
If the burning is recurring: how to identify your triggers
First of all, Mar Ruperto warns, we must rule out the cause of the gastroesophageal reflux that causes the burning, which is usually multifactorial: «It is the aforementioned cardia dysfunction, but also hiatal hernia, obesity, pregnancy or certain drugs and certain gastric surgeries. Immature cardia is usually common in children. It is advisable to consult with the doctor.
As for the triggers of burning, you should know that there are no foods that eliminate burning. per se «But it is true that consuming certain foods increases the burning sensation.»
Foods that usually worsen the burning
Knowing which heartburn foods you should avoid is as important as knowing how much to consume. Some foods, either because they cause distention of the stomach, because they are very fatty, because they cause gas or because they irritate the gastric mucosa, according to our expert, tend to worsen the burning:
- alcoholic drinks
- All carbonated drinks.
- Flatulent foods, such as garlic or onion, as well as vegetables such as sprouts, cabbage or fruits with skin.
- The chocolate.
- Excessively fatty foods. This includes preparations with a lot of butter, margarine or oil and fried foods.
- Fast food, ready-to-eat or ultra-processed foods.
- Very elaborate sauces with white wine or cava, garlic and onion, spices, margarine or cream, etc.
- Citrus fruits.
- Coffee -normal, even decaffeinated in people sensitive to caffeine-.
- Spices such as Tabasco, pepper, mustard, cloves, cumin…
Frequently asked questions about what to eat for heartburn
When someone suffers from heartburn, they want to relieve the symptoms. Sometimes you can resort to a drug, but other times you will desperately search for foods that are good for heartburn. Due to the confusion that exists around this topic, Mar Ruperto clarifies the doubts that are usually raised by what are known as foods that can help relieve heartburn.
Does milk cut heartburn or make it worse?
«Milk has a dual effect: it temporarily relieves heartburn due to its temporary neutralizing effect, but if it is whole milk, due to its high fat and protein content, it can stimulate acid secretion, and therefore, more acid will be produced, increasing the burning sensation. In that case, it is recommended to drink semi-skimmed milk, even skimmed, according to individual tolerance,» he recalls.
Is banana good for heartburn?
“Generally, banana is well tolerated because it is a soft and low-acid food, except in the case of very serious gastroesophageal reflux, which does not tolerate practically any type of food,” he clarifies.
Does yogurt help reflux?
«Due to its low lactose content, yogurt is better tolerated than milk and its probiotic effect can improve digestive function overall. Nor can we speak of «yogurt» as a single thing, given the high availability of yogurts: with bifidus, Greek, with sugar… Greek yogurt, which has more protein and fat content, is not tolerated in the same way as conventional yogurt. It should be noted that kefir (even if it is not yogurt), due to its high acidity, can also increase symptoms of lactose. burning,” he warns.
What bread is best if I have heartburn?
«White or whole wheat loaf and dry, toasted bread. When you have heartburn, you should avoid breads with seeds due to their high fiber content, and special breads that include fat in their formulation,» he recommends.
Can I drink coffee if I have heartburn?
«It is not recommended. Caffeinated or decaffeinated, coffee stimulates acid secretion and, therefore, worsens the burning – if you have it – or favors its appearance,» he adds.
What should I have for dinner if I have burning sensation at night?
«It’s not so much what to have for dinner but how much and when to have it. The ideal is: little and early (two hours before going to bed),» he concludes.
The ALDI Council
To reduce heartburn, limit large meals, coffee, alcohol, spicy foods, and very fatty foods. Eat slowly, in small quantities and avoid lying down right after eating.
María del Mar Ruperto López. María del Mar Ruperto López has a doctorate in Nutrition and a degree in Food Science and Technology from the Complutense University of Madrid. Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics at the U. of Navarra. He has completed 3 Master’s degrees specializing in Clinical Nutrition, and 1 Master’s degree in research in Health Sciences. Currently, he is an accredited professor, and teaches in the Degree in Nutrition at the U. San Pablo-CEU, and a renal dietitian-nutritionist at the Nephrology Service of the Hospital de la Princesa. Member of the European Specialist Dietetic Network for Older Adults and Aging of EFA since 2015. Academic and member of the Scientific-Educational Committee of the Spanish Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics since 2017. He has participated as principal investigator/collaborator in 17 funded research projects in the field of Clinical Nutrition. Author and co-author of 30 book chapters, 50 scientific articles, more than 185 oral communications or national and international posters. He has given more than 65 conferences on specialized health training. Editor and/or external reviewer of national and international scientific journals of Clinical Nutrition and Nephrology. Member of the Ethics and Research Committee of the Madrid Institute of Advanced Studies (IMDEA) of Food and Nutrition of the Community of Madrid since 2017. He has received 15 research awards and 1 award for Professional Activity.
