Nailing Down the Perfect Acid Reflux Diet

Staying true to the name of the blog, I wanted to put a post together detailing the perfect acid reflux diet plan. There are two things we will look at in particular: trouble foods and trigger foods.

Trouble Foods


Trouble foods are foods that many people across all genders and nationalities seem to have trouble with. When eaten, these foods lower the pressure of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and seem to trigger heartburn in a large number of people. Your acid reflux diet should make an effort to avoid these foods:

• Mints
• Citrus (oranges, lemons, and their juices)
• Alcohol (of all types, the higher the proof, the worse it is)
• Chocolate (all types - including dark chocolate)
• Sugar (cane sugar, HFCS, it's all bad!)
• Caffeine and Tobacco
• Coffee (even decaffeinated coffee!)
• Tomatoes (and sauces)
• Full-fat dairy
• Spicy (hot) foods, sauces, and flavorings
• Oily fish (though if tolerated, these are actually quite healthy)

All of these foods either lower the pressure exerted by the LES or increase the body's production of stomach acid. Regardless of the path of action, most people will find that these foods do not belong on their acid reflux diet plan.

Trigger Foods

Trigger foods are highly individual foods that give you heartburn every time you eat them. Everyone has different trigger foods and they could be related to either the genetics or your environment. For example, perhaps you trace your ancestry back to tribes which lived along the waters and primarily ate fish. You might not tolerate the high carbohydrate American diet, simply due to genetics, and may experience heartburn as a result.

On the other hand, trigger foods can also be learned. Have you ever ate something that made you sick? When this happens, we often develop aversions to the last thing we ate and associate it with sickness. After consuming these foods again we may feel sick and get heartburn, even if the food was completely cleaned.

The only way to tell your trigger foods from another person's is to write down what you eat and whether it gave you heartburn. If you make an honest effort to do this over the weeks you will find that you have a couple foods which you know to eliminate (see our fast food reflux diet plan as well).

What you can then do is after you have been acid reflux free for a few months, re-introduce each trigger food to see if it gives you problems. Some foods will be re-introduce-able whereas a few may not be.