If you’re dealing with burning chest pain, acid reflux, GORD, bloating, or that uncomfortable lump-in-the-throat feeling, you’re not alone. Millions of people experience acid reflux symptoms every week — and many rely on medications without addressing the root cause. In my nutrition and herbal medicine practice, I’ve seen how simple diet and lifestyle changes can significantly reduce acid reflux naturally. In this guide, I’ll walk you through what causes acid reflux, the best foods to eat, what to avoid, and gentle herbal remedies that support digestion and healing.
Symptoms of acid reflux are not just limited to the throat, the acidic vapours can rise into the nasal passages causing sinus irritation, into the ear canals causing symptoms of ear irritation and into the lungs where they can cause breathing problems. This is how I was diagnosed with GORD, I was struggling to breath at night and didn’t realise I had acid reflux because I thought it was normal for food to move into the throat, plus I didn’t experience the burning sensations because I had ‘silent reflux’ so it was easier to think I didn’t have anything wrong. This was before I had studied nutrition, I’ve since done additional post graduate training with pharmacist and nutritionist Debbie Grayson to help people, where appropriate come off their PPI medication and manage acid reflux naturally. Long-term PPI medication can cause nutritional deficiencies and are only meant to be used for the shortest possible time according to the NICE guidelines. So unless you have a medical condition or take certain medications that require long-term PPI use, it’s worth looking at what you can do to natually reduce acid reflux.
Certian foods are know for making acid reflux worse, usually because they cause the lower oesophageal sphincter to relax and therefore stay open rather than closed where it should keep the stomach acid in the stomach. These foods are high fat foods, spicy foods, chocolate, peppermint, coffee, caffeine, carbonated drinks, alcohol, tomatoes and citrus. Removing these foods can help to eliminate a food trigger.
Eating smaller frequent meals rather than large meals puts less pressure on the stomach so food is less likey to reflux into the throat. After eating it’s also important to not lie down as this will also cause food to move upwards rather than down, for this reason it’s best not to eat too close to bedtime. Being overweight or pregnant also puts pressure on the stomach, so losing weight can help, and after pregnancy reflux can subside. Eating ‘on the go’, when stressed and eating too fast can play a big part in acid reflux because the digestive system doesn’t work very well when we’re not relaxed, or if not chewing our food properly then the rest of the digestive system has to work harder in order to break the food down.
There is also the debate about whether acid reflux is from too much or too little acid, sometimes it’s just acid in the wrong place due to the relaxed oesophageal sphincter not closing the top of the stomach off properly. If you have low stomach acid then food can sit in the stomach for too long which can lead to fermentation and reflux. Symptoms of high stomach acid are usually burning sensations in the stomach. Supporting optimal digestion is the main goal here, if we can digest our food well then it’s more likely to cause less problems.
Foods that are low in acid and easy to digest are porridge, vegetables, melons, bananas, and cooked foods like soups and stews because the cooking process softens the foods making it easier to digest. Herbs like ginger are also good as they have a prokinetic action helping to move food through the stomach so it’s not sitting around for too long. Herbal bitters also support digestive secretions and therefore digestion.
Some women find that acid reflux starts or gets worse during peri-menopause and menopause, this is because hormonal changes cause the oesophageal sphincter to relax, increase in tissue sensitivity (in the throat) due to lower oestrogen, increase in weight gain which increases pressure on the stomach and slowers gastric emptying.
If you’re experiencing burning sensations then herbal powders with a mucilagenous consistency like slippery elm can help to heal the lining of the throat, this is really important because stomach acid is very erosive, if left untreated for too long then it can cause damage. The aim with treating acid reflux is to support optimal digestion, balance stomach acid and promote healing to the delicate tissues that can become irritated.
If you need help with acid reflux or any other health issue then contact me here where we can discuss how I can best help you.
