What You Swallow May Give You Heartburn

Eating is a fun, social activity that can become a nightmare for the heartburn sufferer. Heartburn triggers can differ from person to person, so it is essential for the heartburn sufferer to learn what causes heartburn to strike again and again. Anything ingested may become a frustrating heartburn hazard for some people. Heartburn sufferers can begin to take control by paying close attention to what they eat.

Keeping a diary of foods, drinks, and medications ingested throughout the day may help uncover what makes heartburn symptoms worse. Many health resources online and in print provide lists of drugs, foods, and drinks that potentially irritate heartburn, such as the National Institute of Health's National Library of Medicine, the Heartburn Alliance Organization, and WebMD.

Common food and drink heartburn triggers may include:

Any alcohol, including beer and wine
Caffeine containing beverages: coffee, tea, energy drinks, colas
Carbonated beverages of any kind
Citrus juices and fruit: orange, grapefruit, lime, lemon
Chocolate
Fatty foods and fried foods
Garlic, onion, peppers, black pepper
Peppermint and spearmint
Spicy foods
Tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato juice
Vinegar

Common medications causing heartburn:

Alendronate for osteoporosis
Anticholinergics for motion sickness
Aspirin, Ibuprofen and naproxen, also called non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
Beta blockers and calcium channel blockers for high blood pressure or heart disease
Bronchodilators for asthma
Dopamine for Parkinson's Disease
Nicotine in tobacco products
Progestin/progesterone and estrogen for birth control, abnormal menstrual bleeding
Sedatives/barbiturates for anxiety and insomnia
Tricyclic antidepressants

These lists do not represent all foods, drinks, or medications that may worsen heartburn symptoms. Keeping a diary is important to potentially solving the repeated heartburn attack mystery. According to the National Institute of Health, if a medicine that is prescribed to take daily by your doctor seems to be causing the heartburn, it is not a good idea to suddenly stop taking it without talking to your doctor first. It is best to discuss with the doctor as soon as possible.

The heartburn trigger diary can be used to make changes in eating habits to find out if the heartburn attacks become less severe and less frequent. If heartburn continues, an appointment should be made with a licensed doctor, and the diary should be shown to the doctor.

Anything swallowed is a potential heartburn hazard and serious health issues may develop over time. The patient's involvement is as important to learning his heartburn causes as is working with a licensed doctor. Paying attention to food, drink and medicine triggers by keeping a heartburn trigger diary can lead to extinguishing the burn and promoting overall better health.

Sources:

Textbook: Pharmacotherapy principles & practice, by Chisholm-Burns, et al, McGraw-Hill Medical Publishing Co, 2008, page 259, Table 14-1, Foods and Medications...GERD Symptoms
www.nlm.nih.gov: encyclopedia Heartburn, updated December 18, 2009
www.heartburnalliance.org: Heartburn in the News
www.webmd.com: Heartburn Foods to Avoid
www.springerlink.com: Digestive Diseases and Sciences Journal, February 2, 2005, Symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux: Incidence and precipitating factors