Foods that Help Heartburn

No one really has to have heartburn, yet they do. Millions of people suffer from it every day. Problems with digestion is all about overeating, or combining the wrong foods. All you have to do is basically easy, change the way you eat.

Another name for heartburn is pyrosis. It is when you get a painful burning feeling in your esophagus. It is caused by gastric acid regurgitating. You feel pain in your neck, throat, jaw or chest. Chronic coughing is one cause of heartburn, and sometimes asthma. A funny thing is that having heartburn does not involve the heart itself. It just occurs in the breastbone.

If you want to avoid indigestion or heartburn, these are the types of food and drinks that you should eliminate: sodas, coffee, spicy foods that include black pepper, raw foods such as garlic and onions, tomato sauce on pizzas, or other tomato sauces, fried foods, ice cream, chocolate, citrus fruits and juices, alcohol, fermented foods such as aged cheeses, fattening foods and tea. You can either lower your intake to the extreme, or eliminate them altogether.

A lot of things people don’t realize is that they are eating mindlessly, meaning, you just eat ‘whatever you feel like’ eating and do not make sure that you are getting a balanced diet. You need to eat a number of different vegetables, fruits, whole grains and drink enough water and other fluids so that you can help your body eliminate the waste and hold on to the nutrients. Drinking herbal teas, such as peppermint or chamomile before bedtime really soothes the stomach. Another thing you can do to end heartburn is to eat in smaller amounts. Today in restaurants the food portions are way too large for one person to eat. The way the serve should be for three or four people!

Don’t just eat smaller portions of food, don’t eat all day long, grazing. Eat at least 3 meals a day-no snacking and stick to the same schedule. Try to eat in a calming atmosphere with nothing to divert your attention. Even what you wear is important, don’t wear anything so tight that your body is screaming, wear something comfortable, and take your time eating. Chew slowly and enjoy every bite so that your body will tell you that it’s “still’ hungry.

Try to start out your day eating something with fiber like oatmeal. Adding skim milk, and fresh fruit, you’ll be getting calcium, iron and other nutrients that will give you a complete healthy meal. Turkey and skinless chicken is also easy to digest in the stomach. Turkey lowers your cholesterol, and chicken is good for protein. If fruit is what you like the best, grapes and apples are a great choice for the fiber and vitamin C.

Milk also helps, it calms the stomach. Ways to prevent heartburn before it starts is to sleep in a chair if you nap regularly, eat 2-3 hours before you nap. if you are overweight, shed some pounds, make sure every time you eat, the food is low-fat, and has more protein.

If your heartburn is really bad, you should see a doctor. Here are some signs that will tell you when to get professional help: if you are dizzy, you experience pain when swallowing, or find it hard to swallow, you are short of breath, neck and shoulder pain, your stools are black or bloody, you sweat whenever you have chest pains and you experience heartburn more than once a week for over two weeks.