Acid reflux or “heart burn” involves having the burning pain in the chest, the sensation of having acid in the back of the throat, and having a sore throat due to the upsurge of acid from the stomach into the esophagus. The esophagus doesn’t have the ability to tolerate acid and the tissue becomes inflamed due to the acid reflux. Acid Reflux Food to avoid is an important part of what takes care of the problem. There are also good medications available that also do a great deal to reduce the incidence of episodes of acid reflux.

Foods to avoid in acid reflux are those that are themselves acidic. This includes acidic drinks like orange juice, lemonade or lemon juice, tomato juice, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice. All of these contribute to the acid in the stomach and increase the acidity that comes in contact with the esophagus.

Certain vegetables can affect the flap that closes off the esophagus from the stomach. These include mashed potatoes, which overfill the stomach, French fries, which are too greasy and raw onions. All of these contribute to acid reflux.

Food to avoid in the meat category includes buffalo wings, which are spicy, chicken nuggets, marbled sirloin, and ground beef, which is too greasy.

Dairy products that one should avoid include milk shakes, cottage cheese, ice cream and sour cream. Beverages to avoid include alcohol, which affect the gastroesophageal junction (the flap).

Other beverages to avoid include coffee and tea, whether or not they contain caffeine. Grains to avoid include macaroni with cheese, and any kind of spaghetti with tomato sauce. It isn’t the spices so much as the tomato products and dairy products that add acid to the stomach and push it up into the esophagus. These contribute to acid reflux and obviously are the acid reflux food to avoid.

Acid reflux food to avoid in the sweets category include any kind of chocolate like brownies, doughnuts (which are too greasy), corn chips (also too greasy), high fat butter cookies and potato chips. All of these things affect the gastroesophageal junction tone and contribute to the pain and discomfort of acid reflux.

Acid reflux food to avoid are just the first step in treating acid reflux. There are a number of medications that help as well. Over the counter Tums, Maalox and Mylanta work to help mild cases of the condition but they tend to act temporarily and don’t do much for healing inflamed esophageal tissue.

Also available by prescription or over the counter are Histamine 2 blockers like Zantac and Tagamet. They act to reduce the amount of acid in the stomach so that acid doesn’t get inside the esophagus.

The strongest medications to reduce acid reflux are the proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec, Prevacid and Aciphex. They reduce the amount of acid in the stomach and promote healing of inflamed and ulcerated esophageal tissue. These medications are the best treatments for acid reflux.

Acid reflux food to avoid and using medications over the counter or by prescription might not make a big difference in the symptoms of esophageal reflux. This means you may have to have surgery to create a better gastroesophageal junction. The procedure is called a Nissen fundoplication and it has helped many sufferers of acid reflux who didn’t respond to any other treatment.

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