Food

22 Foods That Trigger Acid Reflux

Health Day

It’s very normal to experience acid reflux (heartburn) every now and again, but some people experience burning sensation, bloating, and belching practically every time they eat. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a persistent acid reflux illness identified by a doctor, affects about 20% of the population. The esophageal sphincter (a muscular tube that lets food pass into the stomach before cinching shut to prevent it from coming back up) shields the esophagus from stomach acid in normal circumstances. Food can push upward through the loosened aperture if the sphincter relaxes, causing acid reflux.

“Diet is the primary line of therapy for those with GERD,” explains Johns Hopkins Medicine gastroenterologist Dr. Ekta Gupta.According to Gupta, foods that are frequently recognized to cause heartburn relax the esophageal sphincter, delaying the digestive process and allowing food to linger in the stomach longer. The worst offenders? Foods with a lot of fat, salt, or spice.

Read on for what foods you should avoid so as not to trigger your heartburn.

1. Fried Food

Deep frying is a widely used culinary method all over the world. Restaurants and fast food businesses frequently use it to produce food quickly and cheaply. Fish, french fries, chicken strips, and cheese sticks are all popular fried dishes, but you can deep fry just about anything. Fried meals are popular among many individuals. However, because these foods are heavy in calories and trans fat, eating a lot of them might be harmful to your health. Deep frying adds a lot of calories compared to other cooking methods. To begin, fried meals are usually coated in batter or flour before being cooked. Furthermore, when foods are cooked in oil, they lose water and absorb fat, increasing the calorie content even more. Fried foods, on average, have much more fat and calories than their non-fried counterparts.

One small baked potato (100 grams) has 93 calories and 0 grams of fat, whereas the same number of french fries (100 grams) has 319 calories and 17 grams of fat. A 100-gram filet of baked cod, for example, has 105 calories and 1 gram of fat, whereas the same amount of deep-fried fish has 232 calories and 12 grams of fat. As you can see, consuming fried meals adds up quickly in terms of calories.