Foods That Can Potentially Cause Heartburn

Spicy Food
Photo by Ryan Kwok on Unsplash

If you’re experiencing heartburn, there’s a good chance it was caused by something you ate. It’s unfortunate when you’re feeling those painful, acidic sensations in your chest area, but there are things you can do to prevent it. Most notably, you can avoid these foods, which may or may not have caused your heartburn in the first place.

Spicy Foods

Spicy food can add a fun flair to whatever you’re eating, but it comes with a pretty steep price. Due to its volatile flavors, it can irritate the lining in your stomach as well as relax the lower esophageal sphincter. This may seem complicated, but ultimately this can lead to a backflow of stomach acid, leading to heartburn.

Citrus Foods

Citrus foods have a solid level of acidic content, which makes them an excellent candidate for causing heartburn since heartburn is an acid-based affliction. So if you’re feeling heartburn, stay away from oranges and grapefruits.

Fried Foods

The relationship between fried foods and heartburn isn’t so different than the relationship between spicy foods and heartburn. Similar to spicy food, fried foods can trigger the relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter, causing a backflow of stomach acid and heartburn as well.