Have you ever experienced a burning sensation in your chest? This is commonly known as heartburn and it often happens if you eat foods that cause you discomfort. Now, that we’ve said this, the first few things that cross your mind are probably the unhealthy food choices you make. But what if we were to tell you that there are certain healthy foods that can also cause acid reflux and a heartburn sensation?
What is a Heartburn?
No, it is not when someone rejects your proposal or breaks your heart, but your stomach acid comes pretty close to doing that. What happens is when breaking down your food, this very stomach acid escapes into the esophagus. The sudden pressure causes a heartburn. If someone complains about an acid reflux, this is usually what they are referring to. Over a period of time when your body faces acid reflux, your esophagus becomes weak.
What Causes Heartburn Everyday?
Your food plays a major role when it comes to causing or minimizing a heartburn. Here are four healthy foods that have the potential to cause a heartburn!
Tomatoes
Tomayto-Tomahto, call it what you like; these little sour balls are highly acidic. Yes, they are filled with Lycopene, which is a very powerful antioxidant. And studies show that lycopene may aid the fight against breast, prostate, and even uterine cancer, plus it also helps improve your vision. But because of their acidic quotient, if you are already facing acid reflux, this can easily trigger a heartburn.
Chocolate
If you can’t do without chocolate, and are facing regular heartburns, you know what you’ve got to do. Reduce your intake of chocolate, especially milk chocolate, as it contains serotonin, which relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter, causing the esophagus to open and close. This is when stomach acid gets a chance to escape and you face acid reflux plus there are chances of suffering from a heartburn as well. Though chocolate contains antioxidants, it also contains caffeine, which is again not good for your system when it comes to acid reflux.
Oranges
Citrus fruits are filled with Vitamin C, which helps boost immunity! They also tend to be the perfect morning breakfast or afternoon snack. But despite being so good for health, oranges are highly acidic fruits. If you already are suffering from acid reflux, then eating oranges can cause a heartburn. Though studies are still not entirely sure how this happens, but the statistics do point us in that direction. You should be careful while consuming any acidic fruit, another example is grapefruit. Stick to fruits and foods that help reduce acid reflux.
Coffee
Can’t do without your morning cup of Joe? If you are suffering from a heartburn, we might have to ask you to reconsider your decision. Since coffee contains caffeine, it relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter, which can cause acid reflux. You could try other options like decaf, if you can’t do without coffee. Another thing to keep in mind is for you to understand your body. If you do not feel like coffee causes any acid reflux or heartburn for you, you may not need to stop it just yet. Try avoiding coffee and look for a heartburn relief instead.
These were off the top of our minds, have you ever experienced a heartburn with healthy food too? If, yes, then share the details with us in the comments below. Also, remember to look for a list of foods to eat that will help with acid reflux, we will be sharing that with you very soon too!
