If you regularly suffer from heartburn, you know that there is not much worse in life than the pain of an acute attack. Perhaps you have paid your druggist a visit in search of help or you have seen your doctor, yet you still suffer intermittent attacks. What more can you do to get relief? Overhaul your diet! You may not need to make extreme changes in what you eat, but you must be attentive to which types of foods can trigger an attack. The following list underscores which foods may trigger an attack:

Beverages: Beer, colas, and nonalcoholic wines are some causes of heartburn.

Dairy: Yogurt, frozen yogurt, milk, certain types of cheeses, and cottage cheese.

Fats and Oils: Ketchup, especially spicy ketchup.

Fruit: Many berries can cause problems including blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Other triggers include: orange juice, peaches, grapes, and apple juice/cider. For orange juice lovers you can still drink your favorite beverage, but select low-acid orange juice when visiting your grocer.

Grains: Garlic bread, granola cereal, and many types of muffins may cause an attack.

Meat: Beef, fish, tuna, ham, hot dogs, egg, and chicken salad can cause heartburn. For some folks chicken by itself is just fine, but added ingredients such as mayonnaise can cause heartburn.

Sweets and Desserts: Low fat cookies. You may save on calories when eating low fat cookies, but the artificial ingredients contained within them can set off heartburn.

Vegetables: The big triggers in this category are onions, leeks, garlic, scallions, and sauerkraut.

Besides avoiding certain types of foods, there are medications that can stop heartburn including Nexium and Prevacid. Alternatively, some heartburn sufferers have found relief through natural remedies such as Acidgone.

By drinking plenty of water throughout the day, some heartburn sufferers have found relief. In addition, avoid excessive use of caffeinated products, alcohol, and nicotine. Finally, by selecting smaller food portions and eating less you can thwart future attacks.

You don’t need to be held hostage by heartburn;

Further reading: Acid Reflux Symptoms.

Read more about what foods to avoid if you have acid reflux: Acid Reflux Diet.

More about acid reflux symptoms: What does acid reflux feel like?.

One acid reflux cause that is most common among acid reflux sufferers is the wrong kind of diet. This includes what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat.

It’s important to recognize that there are certain foods that will put you at greater risk of acid reflux.

Getting to know the foods that are an acid reflux trigger for you will go a long way to controlling symptoms.

If you’re having a hard time with this, keep a food diary. Write down everything you eat and the way you felt afterward. Over time, you’ll start to see a pattern in the way some foods lead to acid reflux symptoms. You’ll also want to look for the foods that don’t tend to cause symptoms so that you can eat more of those foods in the future.

In general, there are some foods that are less likely to trigger acid reflux. These foods include vegetables such as carrots, peas, and cabbage, fruits such as apples and bananas, and lean meats such as the white meat of chicken, egg whites, lean or extra lean ground beef, fat-free dairy products, and grains such as bran and oatmeal.

Typically, anything that is high in fat, is acidic, or high in salt will be a risky food. If you’re not sure, try the “low-fat” alternative.

Other foods may or may not trigger acid reflux depend on your own personal reaction to the food, and the severity of your condition. These are foods you may be able to eat in moderation. They include fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and peaches. Vegetables include cooked onions, scallions, leeks, and sauerkraut. Meats include hot dogs, fried eggs, fried fish, and ham. Dairy products can include cheeses such as cheddar and mozzarella, yogurt, and milk.

Foods that commonly trigger symptoms in a majority of sufferers include the following and should be eaten sparingly or eliminated altogether.

Fruits in this category include oranges, lemons, grapefruits, and other high-acid fruits. Among the vegetables are raw onions and tomatoes. Meats with a high fat content should also be avoided. Other high fat and salty foods to be avoided include potato chips, brownies, ice cream, chocolate, donuts, and even creamy salad dressings. Coffee, tea, and alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer, and spirits should also be eliminated from your diet whenever possible or drunk only in moderation.

You should also make sure that you eat properly as the way you eat can encourage acid reflux as much as what you eat.

Eating smaller meals more often is a great way to reduce the likelihood of suffering from acid reflux. This approach stops the stomach from being distended allowing it to cope better with the digestion process. By overstuffing your stomach you increase the length of time the food remains in the stomach, encouraging a greater production of gastric acids. Your LES (lower esophageal sphincter) is placed under pressure to ensure stomach contents remain where they should and is more likely to fail the more you eat. This all increases the risk of acid reflux.

Slouching while eating can encourage acid reflux. The best way to eat your food is to sit up straight – yet comfortably – in your chair at the dinner table. Avoid eating on the sofa in front of TV or at the computer. By having the distractions of the TV or the PC your posture will be compromised and you are less aware of the amount of food you’re eating.

When eating your meals ensure you allow sufficient time to eat. Rushing your food and swallowing half chewed mouthfuls means more work for your stomach, as your food will be arriving in large lumps. Chewing food thoroughly allows it to combine with saliva and this starts the digestion process. By taking time over your meals you give your body a chance to recognize that it’s received sufficient food and stops you overeating, reducing the possibility of how you eat being an acid reflux cause.

Acid reflux disorder, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD, is a condition worthy of ample attention. This chronic and complicated health problem affects the digestive tract by causing inflammation and even permanent damage to the esophagus. Because it affects a great number of people world-wide, it is important to note the acid reflux prevention that you could implement in order to avoid the symptoms from surfacing and be able to control the disorder.

Acid reflux is not only painful and annoying. Frequent regurgitation irritates the lining of the esophagus, which may lead to ulceration and scarring. At worst, it may even lead to the development of esophageal cancer.

Foods that should be eaten rarely to avoid acid reflux are fruit juices, berries, garlic, onions, leeks, sauerkraut, scallions, ground beef, chicken salad, eggs, hot dogs, ham, milk, cheese, granola, alcohol, cola and fattening or fried foods.

Other factors that create a predisposition for acid reflux include smoking, use of alcohol, food allergies, certain medications, and lying down after meals. As you can tell, most of these factors can be overcome by practicing some behavioral modifications. In fact, in many cases of recurrent acid reflux, lifestyle changes are all that is necessary in preventing heartburn from becoming a chronic disease. Remember to consult a physician before embarking on any treatment strategy.

Adopting a natural remedy for GERD is considered much better than the proton pump inhibitors (such as “Prilosec” and “Prevacid”), and the histamine antagonists (such as “Zantac”, “Pepcid” and “Tagament”) in terms of reliability and effectiveness because these drugs drastically cut down on the production of digestive acids in your stomach, which is very dangerous in the long run because the digestive capability of your stomach gets hampered. The diminished levels of digestive juices in your stomach also increase the risk of developing infections from the food we eat. These complications can be avoided altogether with the use of an effective natural remedy for GERD.

Caffeine and other drinks should be avoided. Soda and aerated drinks should be completely avoided. Also, alcohol should be taken sparingly because it loosens the muscle strength of the LES and makes it sluggish. This can then cause stomach acids to move back into the esophagus from the stomach. Alcohol also increases the amount of stomach acid which is also disadvantageous.

Treatment for acid reflux can only help short term and commonly antacids are used to ease the pain and symptoms from acid reflux or GERD. Antacids are usually helpful in short-term cases and infrequent attacks, but they can’t provide a long-term relief. A diagnosis of acid reflux is performed by gastroscopy, a medical examination using a flexible, thin fiber-optic instrument coupled to an eyepiece and light source called gastroscope.