Eating Out With Acid Reflux - Finding the Right Food

Welcome to my quick guide on how to pick out the best places to eat when you are on the road and what to get when you are out to ensure that you pick the right foods and avoid heartburn on the road.

Types of Cuisine Bad for Reflux

The two places you will struggle to find food on the menu that you can eat are places that serve Mexican (Tex-Mex variety) food and barbeque. Both of these are terrible for reflux and there is very little you can eat on the menu that is safe. If you do choose to eat Tex-Mex, go light on the spices in order to prevent acid reflux.

You also have to be careful with portions at Tex-Mex restaurants. Overeating is an easy way to get a lot of heartburn, so you have to be careful about how much you eat. One thing you can opt for is the chicken fajitas, focusing on eating the rice, beans, and meat, while skipping over the peppers and cheese. This is often a safe meal, at least compared to the other things on the menu.

At barbeque houses, generally you can order a steak prepared without barbeque (or a chicken breast) with a side of steamed vegetables. This is an easy meal that works and you can even get this in most American restaurants as well.

Eating Fast Food with Acid Reflux

Finding a place that has decent fast food is even tougher if you have acid reflux. Try to find somewhere that offers low carb meals or choose the low-carb option. Salads are your best bet. When you are on the road, a place like Panera or Cosi is generally a good place to go, because the portions are controlled and you can get a lean salad instead of a fatty fried sandwhich.

Although some more mainstream fast-food restaurants are starting to offer salads, you have to be careful about dressings with trans-fat. Trans-fat finds its way into many sauces including mayonaise and salad dressing at many popular chains. This is starting to be phased out, but it really depends on what part of the world you live in. Many places in the USA still use trans fat in their fast food, so it is best to avoid them all together.



The video above shows off Panera. Skip the bread and get an apple on the side with your salad, and you can get a nice healthy meal on the road for a low price.

As stated, some of the higher-end sandwhich shops offer decent salads with trans-fat free menus. With that said, sandwhiches are generally not a safe bet as the sodium nitrate found in many preserved meats and the general high fat status of sandwhiches can lead to problems.