Can diets help with heartburn, flatulence and GERD?

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Every person experiences heartburn at least once in their life. This unpleasant sensation in the chest area occurs after eating certain foods, as a result of eating a large meal. The rare occurrence of this symptom should not worry, but the occurrence of reflux more than once a week is a reason to consult a doctor.

Frequent heartburn may indicate gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). You can get rid of this disease with the help of special medications and careful attention to your diet.

What you can and should eat when you have heartburn, so that reflux does not bother you, we will consider further.

What is heartburn (reflux)

Heartburn is a common phenomenon, characterized by a burning sensation, heat near the stomach, abdominal pain, and sour belching.

Heartburn is a frequent companion to diseases such as:

• gastritis with high acidity of gastric juice;
• stomach and duodenal ulcers;
• cholecystitis;
• diaphragmatic hernia;
• intolerance to food components.

Heartburn often occurs during pregnancy; its appearance is provoked by periodic stress and anxiety. To get rid of it, the use of special medications is indicated. It is important to follow a diet, giving up some foods and increasing the amount of others.

Preventing heartburn

• Eliminate heavy lifting.
• Sleep at least 7 hours.
• Do not bend over or go to bed for 1.5-2 hours after eating.
• Avoid corsets, bandages and tight trousers.
• Quit smoking, don't abuse alcohol.
• Get rid of extra pounds.
• Don't skip preventive examinations.
• When the first complaints appear, consult a doctor.
• If you have gastrointestinal diseases, visit a gastroenterologist 2 times a year.
• Control of emotional state, help from a psychologist.

Taking into account the increasing number of cancers, which at the initial stage manifest themselves with minimal symptoms, recurrent or constant heartburn cannot be ignored. Contact the First Family Clinic of St. Petersburg. You will undergo the necessary studies, and gastroenterologists will prescribe effective treatment.

How to treat GERD?

Reflux should be treated in close cooperation with your doctor.

Self-medication is not acceptable here, because such symptoms can be caused by different pathologies, the treatment of which is different.

Purchasing medications without a doctor’s prescription can temporarily mask unpleasant symptoms, which will only delay complete relief from the pathology.

Treatment for GERD includes:

• taking medications;
• lifestyle changes;
• diet for reflux, esophagitis during exacerbation.

The essence of the diet

Only a doctor can advise which diet for GERD will be effective and which daily menu to prefer.

The essence of the heartburn diet is as follows:

• filling the daily diet with vegetable proteins;
• reduction in the amount of plant proteins;
• reducing the amount of sweets in the diet, you can replace them with juices and fruits;
• refusal of fermented milk products, sour fruits, which provoke an increase in the acidity of gastric juice;
• reducing the consumption of semi-finished products and fast food;
• replacing animal fats with vegetable ones: choose sunflower, corn, olive oils, prefer virgin, unrefined oils;
• refusal of dry food and snacks;
• Between meals, eat sandwiches with dried bread and butter (without smoked or boiled sausage).

List of foods that cause heartburn:

• fatty foods;
• onion;
• caffeine;
• chocolate;
• peppermint;
• alcohol;
• carbonated drinks;
• alcohol;
• citruses;
• tomatoes.

Choosing foods that are suitable for a person with reflux needs to be done individually. The food that is suitable for one person may be useless for another. Just because milk helps someone with heartburn doesn't necessarily mean it will help other people. In some cases, foods may provoke heartburn before bed, but are well tolerated if consumed in the first half of the day.

Organizing proper nutrition for GERD does not always mean giving up your favorite foods. In most cases, some exceptions are enough to alleviate the condition.

Consumption of certain products helps reduce the manifestations of negative symptoms of the disease and make a person’s life easier.

Fruits and vegetables

You should avoid foods that cause heartburn:

• oranges;
• limes;
• lemons;
• grapefruits.

Also read: What are vitamins for? What vitamins and vitamin complexes should you take?

Can be used:

• bananas;
• melons;
• grenades;
• apples;
• pears.

Avoid tomatoes, onions, sauces with irritants in the form of fats, and flavor enhancers.

Lean proteins

Eggs contain a lot of protein. If eating them causes heartburn, you should eat only whites, avoiding high-fat yolks. Otherwise, negative symptoms can increase.

Fried, fatty foods should be avoided

They reduce the pressure of the esophageal sphincter, which delays timely emptying of the stomach, which increases the risk of reflux.

It is better to choose lean cuts of meat, without excess fat content. It can be grilled, boiled, fried in a dry frying pan, or baked in the oven.

Complex carbohydrates

The diet for GERD with esophagitis should include sources of healthy complex carbohydrates:

• couscous;
• oatmeal;
• whole wheat bread;
• brown rice

Potatoes and other root vegetables are a source of carbohydrates and fiber, which are easily digestible. The main thing is not to add garlic or onions to these products. They are the ones who often provoke excess acid synthesis.

Healthy fats

The diet for GERD should include fats. Despite their high calorie content, they are a necessary part of the daily diet.

It is necessary to avoid saturated fats, which a person gets from dairy products and meat. Avoid trans fats found in processed foods, fatty additives, and margarine.

You can replace unhealthy fats with unsaturated fats found in plants and fish:

• monounsaturated fats, found in oils - olive, canola, sesame, sunflower, peanut, found in nuts and seeds;
• polyunsaturated fats are found in soybean, flaxseed, corn, nut oils, soybeans, tofu, salmon, trout, and other types of fatty fish.

13 foods that will relieve heartburn

To relieve reflux, you need to reduce the acidity inside the stomach. There are 13 products that do this job well.

Below is a table containing a list of foods that reduce stomach acidity.

Also read: Benefits of B vitamins for the body. Dietary rules for maintaining normal B vitamins

Diet during pregnancy

Heartburn is quite common during pregnancy. This phenomenon occurs for physiological reasons, due to hormonal changes in the body of a pregnant woman. This causes the sphincter, which keeps food from moving from the stomach into the esophagus, to relax. Therefore, gastric juice penetrates the esophagus, which causes negative symptoms, and foods that cause heartburn may not have anything to do with it.

Another cause of reflux is the gradual enlargement of the uterus, which puts pressure on the walls of the stomach, causing discomfort. If after the birth of the baby, a woman is no longer bothered by heartburn, it means that its occurrence during pregnancy was purely physiological in nature and does not require additional treatment.

Diet rules during pregnancy:

• eat often, but in small portions, to avoid overdistension of the stomach and penetration of gastric juice into the esophagus;
• Avoid foods that increase stomach acidity;
• in the first trimester, eat up to 4 times a day, in the second – up to 5, in the third – up to 5-6 times;
• Chew food slowly and thoroughly; well-chopped food will be digested faster in the stomach and will reduce the risk of reflux;
• have dinner early, about three hours before bedtime;
• Some women find milk helps with heartburn, but this recipe needs to be checked individually in each case;
• try not to lie down immediately after eating; it is better to spend a little time sitting so that the food has time to be absorbed and move into the stomach;
• do not drink a lot of liquid while eating if you have heartburn, otherwise the gastric juice will become diluted and the efficiency of food digestion will decrease;
• drink half an hour before meals or an hour after meals;
• give up carbonated sweet drinks, prefer clean water, mineral water without carbon;
• a diet for high stomach acidity should include teas with fennel, chamomile, and ginger;
• give up fatty foods, giving preference to steaming, boiling, and baking in the oven;
• during pregnancy, avoid sauces, seasonings, fatty, spicy foods, sour cream, mayonnaise, lard, cream;
• small quantities of butter are allowed;
• choose low-fat varieties of fish and meat;
• cook soups with a second broth; it is better to avoid fatty and rich broths, mushroom and fish soups;
• limit the consumption of fermented baked milk, yoghurt, kefir, choose non-sour cottage cheese;
• give up sour fruits, berries, vegetables;
• in case of severe manifestations of heartburn, prepare pureed soups, porridge from buckwheat, semolina, oats;
• relieve acute attacks of reflux by chewing oatmeal, grated carrots, almonds, hazelnuts, and sunflower seeds.

Also read: What to do at the first signs of sinusitis? Types of disease and methods of treatment

First aid for burning sensation

Poor diet causes heartburn

Based on the information presented above, it could be understood that heartburn is a symptom of a certain illness, but in no case an independent disease. To completely eliminate it, it is necessary to accurately determine the cause of the burning sensation and eliminate it.

However, at the initial stage of heartburn, it is necessary to relieve the symptom. To mitigate the condition you need:

• Take one of the many antacid medications. Such medications contain calcium carbonate, magnesium and aluminum hydroxide, which quickly neutralizes the effect of stomach acid on the mucous membranes. The most effective among antacids are Maalox and Rennie. The main thing when taking them is to fully comply with the instructions for use and not wash them down with water.
• Stop eating and refrain from eating for a period of 2-3 hours after the first onset of heartburn. Here, perhaps, everything is clear. The digestive canals already suffer from the effects of acids, so why put additional stress on them?

In the absence of antacid drugs, it is also permissible to use natural acid neutralizers. The latter can be a solution of soda in water (1 teaspoon per glass), milk or herbal tea.

Let us repeat, the therapeutic measures noted above are only one-time ways to eliminate heartburn and do not in any way affect the cause of its occurrence. If a burning sensation occurs frequently, simply relieving the symptoms is not enough; the cause of its occurrence must be eliminated. Remember this.

Diet for heartburn and gastritis

Very often, heartburn occurs in the presence of gastritis of the stomach. This disease is an inflammatory process of the mucous tissues of the stomach. Products that increase stomach acidity can seriously worsen a person’s condition.

In such a situation, there is no escape from a diet that eliminates the symptoms of gastritis:

• using diet No. 1, which contains strict but necessary restrictions;
• eliminating very hot or too cold foods from your diet;
• eat food that is boiled, steamed, or baked without crust;
• reduce salt intake;
• eat up to 6 times a day, fractionally, in small quantities;
• chew every piece of food thoroughly;
• eat foods for heartburn, including eggs, vegetable soups, with rice, cereals;
• refuse mushroom, fatty fish and meat broths;
• replace fresh bread with crackers;
• give up fatty meat, replacing it with veal, turkey, chicken, rabbit;
• I don’t cook fish often, preferring steamed cutlets;
• It is allowed to eat soft-boiled eggs, omelettes with a small amount of milk;
• food for reflux esophagitis should be boiled, boiled, stewed, baked;
• with increased stomach acidity, pears, non-sour apples, and bananas are allowed.

Having dealt with the question of what you can eat if you have heartburn, let’s focus on prohibited foods:

• White cabbage;
• puff pastry;
• fatty meats;
• Rye bread;
• spinach;
• mushrooms;
• onion;
• canned food;
• salted cheeses;
• mayonnaise;
• onion;
• sorrel;
• ketchup;
• marinades.

From drinks, choose mineral water, pure still water, black tea.

Cause of heartburn

Most cases of occurrence are associated with the effect of gastric juice on the esophageal mucosa. Such an effect becomes possible when gastric contents reflux into the esophagus (gastroesophageal reflux), and this in turn becomes possible due to insufficiency of the cardiac sphincter of the esophagus (a kind of clamp at the junction of the esophagus with the stomach), which normally separates the acidic contents of the stomach. Severe reflux (reflux) leads to the appearance of the disease reflux esophagitis - this is inflammation of the esophageal mucosa under the influence of gastric juice. With prolonged exposure, an inflammatory process occurs in the esophagus, erosions and even ulcerative lesions may appear, while the patient’s condition remains the same complaint - heartburn, although the process is at a completely different stage.

Useful tips

Some important tips for heartburn:

1. To increase saliva production and reduce the amount of acid in the esophagus, you can use chewing gum.
2. Avoid alcoholic drinks, which weaken the LES and provoke reflux symptoms.
3. Maintain an even posture while eating and after eating. After finishing your meal, do not lie down in a horizontal position for at least two hours.
4. Do not eat before bed, otherwise the amount of acid in the stomach will increase. If you take a lying position, the efficiency of the sphincter will decrease and the juice will enter the esophagus, causing heartburn.
5. When choosing what to eat for heartburn, do not forget that you need to eat no later than 3-4 hours before bedtime.

Proper nutrition for GERD does not necessarily mean giving up your favorite foods. In most cases, small adjustments to the diet, lifestyle changes, and eating habits help. The main thing is to maintain the presence of fruits, vegetables, non-fat sources of protein and fiber in your diet. You will only have to give up fried, spicy, and salty foods.

Some foods on the list of prohibited foods can be eaten, but in reasonable quantities. Here it is important to monitor the body’s reactions to what you eat, draw conclusions and select a suitable diet for yourself.

Comments

Heartburn in pregnant women

Heartburn bothers 30-50% of pregnant women. In the absence of organic damage to the digestive tract, burning along the esophagus (functional heartburn) is caused by hormonally caused relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter, increased pressure in the abdominal cavity and displacement of the stomach due to an increase in the size of the uterus. However, it is possible that the expectant mother develops a gastrointestinal disease or that an existing pathology has worsened.

Typically, heartburn first appears in the 20th week of pregnancy and torments the woman until childbirth. A common myth is that burning sensation in the esophagus is caused by hair growth on the fetal head. Expectant mothers should take care of proper nutrition and daily routine, and not believe in prejudices.

Pregnant women are not recommended to take antacid medications on their own. First, some medications can negatively affect the fetus. Secondly, it is extremely undesirable to trigger a serious illness. Malabsorption of nutrients can lead to fetal malnutrition and other abnormalities.

Important! Functional heartburn does not harm the unborn baby. The first step to getting rid of a burning sensation in the esophagus is maintaining proper nutrition.