Some foods and drinks, such as citrus juice, spicy foods, and onions, can trigger heartburn symptoms.
Heartburn is a fairly common annoying symptom.
A painful, burning feeling that starts in the lower chest and spreads to the mouth is how people most commonly describe it. A sour taste in their mouth is another complaint made by some patients with heartburn.
If you often suffer from heartburn, you may have noticed that certain foods can cause or make it worse.
There are nine foods on this list that can induce heartburn. Investigate techniques to lessen the symptoms of heartburn as well.
What is heartburn?
Up to 27.8 percent of adults in the United States suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which is characterized by heartburn as its most common symptom.
When stomach contents reflux up into the esophagus, it can lead to GERD, which manifests as symptoms like:
- stomach ache
- burp
- chest pain
- sour taste in mouth due to regurgitation
The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) acts as a barrier between the stomach and the esophagus, preventing stomach acid from normally entering the esophagus. This ring muscle remains naturally closed and normally only opens when you swallow or burp.
LES dysfunction and relaxation is merely one potential GERD cause.
The following are additional variables that could raise your risk of getting GERD:
- delayed emptying of the stomach
- hiatal hernia
- obesity
- be over 50 years old
- drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
- to smoke
- pregnant
- have a musculoskeletal disorder
- taking certain medications, such as benzodiazepines, NSAIDs, or antidepressants
Managing heartburn and other related symptoms is part of treating GERD. Although people also use medications and other treatments, lifestyle changes are thought to be the most important part of treating GERD.
Currently, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) does not advise patients with GERD to cut out specific foods from their diet.
Nonetheless, a lot of medical professionals advise against eating particular foods if a patient has heartburn or GERD symptoms.
If you suffer from heartburn, you may find that avoiding certain foods helps control your symptoms.
Here are 8 foods that can cause heartburn.
1. High fat foods:
High-fat foods can cause heartburn, especially fatty foods like French fries and pizza.
Researchers are still studying the ways fat can cause GERD symptoms, but high-fat foods can make heartburn worse by stimulating the body to release substances that cause the esophagus to become irritated.
These include bile salts, which are present in the stomach, and the hormone cholecystokinin (CCK) in the bloodstream, which can relax the LES and lead to acid reflux.
In a GERD study, over half of the 85 participants who reported food triggers also said that eating fried, high-fat foods made their GERD symptoms worse, like heartburn.
Additionally, the study reported that after participants removed trigger foods for 2 weeks, the percentage of those reporting heartburn dropped from 93% to 44%.
It’s important to note that researchers are still trying to find out what types of fats can aggravate GERD symptoms, but fried and fatty foods appear to have the strongest effects.
2. Mint:
Mint species such as peppermint and spearmint are often believed to soothe digestive disorders. However, there is evidence that these types of mint can cause heartburn.
Studies suggest that peppermint decreases LES pressure and may cause heartburn.
Although mint can trigger GERD symptoms, it appears to be a problem for only a small percentage of people with GERD.
If you experience heartburn after consuming mint products, you may want to eliminate them from your diet to see if they help you manage your heartburn.
3. Citrus juices:
Drinking citrus juices can trigger heartburn symptoms.
People commonly report that orange and grapefruit juices cause GERD symptoms such as heartburn.
However, it is not entirely clear how citrus juices cause heartburn.
However, many people with GERD avoid them in an attempt to reduce heartburn symptoms.
4. Chocolate:
Chocolate is another common heartburn trigger.
Caffeine and cocoa are two components of chocolate that can relax the LES and increase exposure to esophageal acid.
Chocolate can lower LES pressure, and studies have shown that eating chocolate can relieve heartburn symptoms in many people. It’s unclear, though, if cutting chocolate out of the diet lessens heartburn symptoms.
If you find that eating chocolate gives you heartburn or makes your heartburn symptoms worse, try eliminating it from your diet.
5. Spicy foods:
Spicy foods are known to cause heartburn. However, exactly how they contribute to heartburn is unclear.
However, a study conducted on people with GERD found that chili pepper capsules increase gastric accommodation, which is when the upper part of the stomach relaxes in response to eating a meal.
Research has found that people with GERD tend to have an enhanced gastric accommodation reflex. This is associated with increased relaxation of the LES, which can cause heartburn.
The same study found that chili pepper capsules were associated with more severe feelings of heartburn and more severe heartburn in participants with GERD, compared to a placebo treatment.
An additional investigation involving 4,633 adult Iranians discovered that a higher intake of spicy foods was linked to an increased risk of heartburn in men, but not in women.
Additionally, spicy foods can irritate an already inflamed esophagus, which could make heartburn symptoms worse.
If you think spicy foods can cause heartburn, consider eliminating them from your diet.
6. Onions:
Heartburn is frequently brought on by onions, particularly when they are raw.
Onions, like other foods on this list, give many GERD sufferers heartburn. Onions may induce or exacerbate heartburn, but the exact mechanism is unknown.
In one 1990s study, people with heartburn ate a plain hamburger one day, followed by an identical hamburger with onions another day. Eating the onion burger significantly worsened heartburn symptoms, compared to eating the burger without onion.
Future research is necessary to ascertain whether consuming fewer or no onions is a good idea for everyone who has heartburn.
Additionally, onions are a rich source of FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols), a class of small, non-digestible carbohydrates that cause digestive problems in some people. These can cause heartburn in people sensitive to FODMAPs.
7. Alcohol:
Moderate to excessive alcohol intake can worsen GERD symptoms, including heartburn.
This is because alcohol relaxes the LES, which can allow stomach acid to leak into the esophagus and trigger heartburn.
Additionally, studies show that alcohol consumption is a risk factor for GERD.
A review of 29 studies found that people who drank alcohol more than 5 times or days a week were more than twice as likely to have GERD as people who didn’t or rarely drank alcohol.
8. Coffee and caffeinated beverages:
Some people may experience heartburn when drinking coffee and other caffeinated beverages.
This is because caffeine has been shown to relax the lower esophageal sphincter, which can increase the risk of acid reflux and heartburn.
Additionally, coffee can stimulate the secretion of stomach acid, which can exacerbate heartburn.
Although coffee can cause heartburn in some people, not all studies have observed a link between coffee and acid reflux symptoms.
A study that included 1,837 people, 25 percent of whom had GERD, found no significant link between coffee consumption and GERD symptoms.
While the research remains inconclusive, if you tolerate coffee, you don’t need to avoid it. If, however, coffee causes reflux and heartburn, it is better to avoid it or limit its intake.
The bottom line:
Heartburn is the most common symptom related to GERD. It affects millions of people around the world.
Many foods can cause heartburn by relaxing the lower esophageal sphincter, a ring-like muscle that acts as a barrier between the esophagus and stomach.
If you experience heartburn frequently, try removing some of the foods on this list from your diet to see if your symptoms improve.
It’s a good idea to keep a food diary so you can track which foods give you heartburn.
While eliminating certain foods can help control heartburn, it’s best to work with your healthcare team to come up with a comprehensive treatment plan to manage GERD symptoms.