Conquering heartburn with our diet

A balanced diet

In this chapter, we will be discussing how we can conquer heartburn with our diet.

Heartburn is a painful burning sensation in the chest and/or throat, which occurs when stomach acid and other digestive juices back up into the eosophagus (the tube that carries food to the stomach).

Almost everyone gets heartburn sometimes, but if you have heart­burn more than twice a week, you may have gastroeosoph­ageal reflux dis­ease (GERD). Here is what you need to know.

A one-way valve sits just above the stomach, which opens to allow food from the eosophagus to enter the stomach, and closes tightly to prevent vice versa.

In GERD, this valve does not close tightly enough to prevent the diges­tive juices in the stomach from climb­ing up into the eosophagus, which irritates the eosophagus, leading to the characteristic chest and/or throat pain and discomfort.

Certain medications, foods and alcohol can bring on heartburn, and manage­ment of this condition may be medical or dietary;

Foods to include

• High fiber diet such as whole grains, fruits (with the exception of citrus fruits) and vege­tables

• Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, flax seeds, and walnuts

• Water; it flushes out the eosoph­agus

Foods to avoid

• Fatty foods such as fried foods

• Coffee

• Tea

• Whole milk

• Spicy food

• Citrus fruits

Lifestyle changes

• Weight loss through exercises like going for walks, jogging, and riding bicycles

• Avoiding alcohol intake

To conclude, heartburn can be very uncomfortable and disabling, but it’s also very well controlled and prevent­ed with the above measures incor­porated into our diet and lifestyle, which are sure to keep us far away from the clutches of heartburn.

The writer is a nutritionist and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Holistic Health Centre.

 By Dr Bernice Korkor Asare