The most common symptom of Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease (GERD) is when the contents of your stomach back up into your esophagus, causing burning in your chest or throat. This is called heartburn or acid indigestion. GERD affects people of all ages, including children, and must be treated to avoid further health problems. You may have to change some of your eating habits in order to manage GERD and lessen the severity of symptoms.
Avoid Irritating Foods
Different foods can trigger heartburn in different people. Some common trigger foods and beverages include alcoholic drinks, sodas, teas and coffees that contain caffeine, chocolate, citrus fruits and other acidic foods, fried and fatty foods, tomato sauce and juice, onion, garlic, mint flavoring and spices.
Eat Smaller Meals
Instead of sitting down to a normal-size breakfast, lunch, and dinner, divide up the food you eat in a day into five or six smaller meals. Smaller meals are digested more quickly than larger meals and put less pressure on your stomach muscles.
Eat Early
Plan dinners for early in the evening so you can wait at least three hours after every meal before lying down to rest or going to sleep. This will allow your food to be fully digested. Also, avoid bedtime snacks. If you lie down too soon after you eat, the food and digestive acids in your stomach may back up into your esophagus and cause heartburn. Bending and lifting can also put pressure on your abdominal muscles and force food to back up, so avoid any tasks that require these motions for several hours after you eat.
Stay at a Healthy Weight
If you are overweight, lose weight. Those extra pounds put pressure on your stomach, which causes acid to back up into your esophagus. Even a few pounds of abdominal fat lost can make a difference.
