Food Choices to Lessen GERD Symptoms
To people who suffer from heartburn, food often seems like the enemy. After eating a meal, within minutes or hours a horrible burning sensation rises up in their chest and sometimes sends food back up into the esophagus.
But GERD sufferers can actually learn to coexist with food if they know which ones to consume and which to avoid in an effort to cut down on the heartburn they’re experiencing on a constant basis.
It takes more than just healthy eating when you want to rid your body of heartburn. Still, following the guidelines of the food pyramid is a good place to start. People who have GERD may need to make some additional guidelines for their eating regimen.
Your goal with GERD is to ease heartburn symptoms by eliminating increased acid production in your stomach and soothing your irritated esophagus and the lining meant to protect your body.
Looking at the food pyramid, you’ll notice that whole grains should be a top priority for everyone – but with GERD sufferers, it’s even more crucial to your health and wellness. The key is to focus on whole grains and let bread made with lots of fats stay on the shelf at the grocery store.
The next step in the pyramid tells consumers to fill up on fruits and vegetables. But when you have GERD, not all fruits and veggies create an amicable atmosphere in your body.
Certain fruits, like apples, grapes, and pears, can be beneficial to your health. But eating anything with citric acid in it, like oranges, lemons, limes, or grapefruit, can instantly result in a strong case of heartburn.
Almost all vegetables are good choices for those who have GERD, but make sure you prepare them healthfully and not laden in fats and oils that will trigger your heartburn symptoms.
When it comes to meat foods, you want to ensure you focus on low-fat proteins, which means lean meats that won’t aggravate your GERD condition. Instead of buying marbled beef, choose the lean variety.
As with your vegetables, if you want to lessen the chance that you’ll be nursing your heartburn after dinner, cook the meats in a healthy manner, like baking, grilling, or broiling them to help prevent your GERD symptoms from flaring.