Heartburn tumbles an unpleasant consequence of eating. Most experts agree that its appearance becomes the main symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Heartburn most often occurs after eating fatty, fried, spicy, overly salty foods. It can become a kind of response of the human body to seemingly completely harmless food products, for example, coffee, tea, tomatoes, onions and others.
We understand the reasons
Before moving on to the main topic of the article and understanding what you can eat with heartburn, I want to focus a little attention on the disease itself. So, a person notices an unpleasant burning sensation in the esophagus, which is a consequence of the contact of the contents of the stomach with the mucosa of the esophagus tube. The consequences of heartburn can be completely disappointing: it often marks the development of tumors, inflammation, erosion. That is why you should not ignore the symptoms, especially if they begin to take on a regular basis.
The main causes of heartburn include:
- chronic diseases - gastritis, stomach ulcer;
- vulnerability of the esophagus mucosa before exposure to acids;
- individual intolerance to certain products, causing a similar reaction;
- excessive physical activity.
Heartburn can have sad consequences, which is why burning, discomfort in the esophagus certainly should not be left without due attention. If you follow a diet, you can bring the stomach and intestines back to normal.
The main principles of the diet for heartburn
The goal of any diet is not only to minimize pain, but also to eliminate them, ensuring the normal functioning of the vital processes of the body. In this case, it is necessary to "extinguish" that flame that flared up in the esophagus, and get rid of unpleasant symptoms. And all this can make a diet for heartburn. Proper nutrition for heartburn is based on the basic laws:
- fractional nutrition - try to eat food 5-6 times a day in small portions;
- do not overeat - there should never be any heaviness in the stomach, eat exactly as much as you need, it is better to leave the table with a slight feeling of hunger;
- refusal of late meals;
- Calmness during the meal - do not eat, as if a pack of wolves drives you, this is a huge stress for your body, which just can provoke the appearance of heartburn;
- activity after each meal - do not immediately after a busy lunch or dinner occupy a horizontal position, but also exhaust yourself with physical activity - extreme, it is better to stand up and walk with a calm step for 35-40 minutes;
- rejection of bad habits and harmful foods - if you want to be healthy, take care of your longevity, give up smoking, alcohol, try to minimize the use of fried, greasy, salty and spicy. Changes in well-being will not be long in coming;
- replacement of animal fats with vegetable.
Food sparing
Want to know what helps with heartburn? The secret of cooking for people suffering from such unpleasant symptoms has long been sparing food. What is it?
So, try to cook your favorite dishes for a couple, and immediately before use, grind them. Refuse all products that provoke the appearance of heartburn, replace with less dangerous analogues. Well, finally, give up the thermal irritant of the mucous membrane - in this case, hot food and, on the contrary, over-chilled dishes, for example, cold snacks, ice cream with ice.
Healthy foods
What can I eat with heartburn? Finally, we got to this issue. Contrary to the prevailing stereotype, there are quite a few products that positively affect the mucous membrane of the esophagus and stomach, demonstrate a neutralizing effect and help relieve inflammation and pain. These products include:
- Dairy products (not subject to fermentation) - milk for heartburn - a real medicine, one of the most useful products that you need to include in your diet. Non-fat village milk envelops the walls of the stomach and esophagus, relieves inflammation, soothes, and has an enveloping effect. It is allowed to use cottage cheese with a high fat content, as well as curd cheeses. Kefir with heartburn is a rather interesting topic. Most experts agree that in small amounts, kefir even helps the body fight burning. Kefir is an excellent tool to soothe a bloated stomach, relieve pain, with its help you can cope with overeating.
- Oatmeal. What helps with heartburn? Oatmeal for breakfast. The mucous substances with which this cereal is enriched envelop the walls of the stomach. Oatmeal retains a feeling of satiety for a long time, does not provoke an increase in acidity. You can add milk to cereal during heartburn - in this case, you combine the useful properties of these products.
- Bread - for people suffering from heartburn, exclusively yeast-free bread is useful. A great example is pita bread, it can be included in the diet. If we talk about traditional bread with yeast, this is definitely not your option. It starts the process of fermentation in the stomach, accompanied by the release of acid, which leads to the appearance of burning.
- Flaxseed oil - oil for heartburn, obtained from flax seeds, perfectly envelops the walls of the stomach, soothes it, eliminates pain. It can be added to salads, to side dishes and taken on a tablespoon on an empty stomach.
- Banana - This tropical fruit is enriched with healthy vitamins and minerals. If you do not know what you can eat with heartburn, you will not only not harm the bananas, but also help your body. It practically does not contain acids, which can provoke a burning sensation in the stomach. Due to the excellent enveloping properties, a banana will help to neutralize pain and soothe irritated walls of the stomach.
- Steamed or stewed vegetables are allowed in any quantity. This is a great side dish for those who suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Vegetable soups, low-fat broth - the stomach of each of us needs liquid food.
Perhaps this is the right diet for heartburn. Proper nutrition with heartburn is the key to well-being, so do not neglect its basics.
Prohibited Products
It is not surprising that you should not eat foods that should be discarded by those who suffer from heartburn. First of all, it is:
- Fruits and vegetables with high acidity - this group includes apples, citrus fruits, kiwi, plums, currants, strawberries, tomatoes. All these products repeatedly increase the level of acid in the stomach, so their use is strictly prohibited.
- Yeast bread.
- Spicy dishes - you should refuse dishes with pepper, mustard. These are aggressive products for the stomach and intestines, which can lead to burns of the mucous membrane, sharp pains.
- Canned food - fish in various sauces, pickled mushrooms, cucumbers, squash caviar and more. Refuse these products that adversely affect the irritated mucous membrane of the esophagus.
- Fast food - this group includes baked goods, highly carbonated drinks, chips, crackers. They do not carry any benefit in themselves, on the contrary, they have a detrimental effect on the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and digestive system.
- Smoked products, coffee and chocolate - these products are placed in one group only because they help to relax the sphincter, which allows acid to enter the esophagus. With heartburn, honey will be a worthy alternative to sugar and will replace chocolate.
Recommended Menu
Here it is, eating with heartburn. The menu, as we see, can be the most diverse. It is better to combine healthy products with each other. We have prepared a sample menu for you to prove that heartburn nutrition can be not only balanced, healthy, but also delicious.
Breakfast
Oatmeal cooked in milk is the best option for breakfast. You can replace it with millet, semolina, rice - it does not matter. If porridge is not enough, you can add tea with a pita sandwich and any cottage cheese. Remember that breakfast should be hearty, oatmeal does an excellent job.
Snack
As a morning snack, a glass of milk or kefir is perfect, but for an afternoon snack you can choose a fruit, for example, a banana or a snack with a sandwich made of unleavened bread with avocado and cottage cheese.
Dinner
Vegetable soup with low acidity, chicken broth - the perfect solution for lunch. You can supplement the soup with a small piece of low-fat boiled meat (breast), and use pasta from durum wheat, vegetables as a side dish, all seafood lovers can replace meat or poultry with low-fat fish.
Dinner
Dinner should be easy enough: do you remember one of the basic rules of nutrition for heartburn? Cottage cheese with nuts and dried fruits will be enough. If you can’t cope with hunger, you can boil a small piece of breast and supplement it with a salad of fresh vegetables.
Late dinner
Before going to bed, you can drink a glass of kefir or milk - this way you calm the walls of the stomach.
We hope that we have covered the theme from all sides: "What can I eat with heartburn, which foods are better to refuse." Eat right, help your body.