Anyone else have heartburn/stomach issues?

[Zach]

I very much love eating extremely spicy and tomato-filled food, and recently it is beginning to hit me. I probably shouldn't have heartburn at my age, but I do, and I can't eat anything now that's spicy without suffering an hour later. Pizza, ketchup, salsa, anything really that has concentrated tomato or is spicy.

I know I could take a Pepcid AC or something before each meal, but I'm not that excited about having to rely on a pill...

Anyone have some advice?

[jasonmanheim]

I have the same problem, except the problem is not with tomato and/or spicy foods per say; the problem is what's in them or what we eat them with.

For instance, it's the dough of the pizza, not the tomato sauce that causes the heartburn. As for the ketchup and salsa, it's the vinegar and sugars that cause the problem.

I just started making my own salsa with lemon juice instead. Ketchup can be made with tomato paste and a little lemon juice a sea salt.

Pizza...just eat it sparingly.

Or course the rest of your diet should be relatively alkaline. That's probably the hardest part.

[ahimel]

It's definitly the tomato sauce that makes pizza miserable for me. I had to avoid all kinds of pasta until I learned how to neutralize it.

For tomato-based acid, anyway, sugar tones it down. I put 1-2 teaspoons of brown sugar in my spaghetti sauce while I'm heating it, and I've suddenly discovered that I actually like Italian food.

When eating out (eg at Fazoli's) I have to use white sugar, but it accomplishes the same thing.

For the rest of it, I don't know that I have any advice. I've had heartburn all my life, so I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to eat 16 TUMS per day. If you really do have consistant day-to-day heartburn, though, you could look into Prilosec OTC (or any other prevacid lookalike). It works for 24 hours, so you can take it with your morning vitamin, instead of having to carry/remember ranitidine tablets for every meal.

[Milo Riano]

I did not know you get heartburn from eating spicy foods. I love them so much. About the heartburn, I experience them whenever I don't get enough sleep for an extended period of time.

[Lucas]

You dont drink pop/soda do you? In amounts around 1 can a day or more? I thought I had acid reflux disease forever, and then I stopped drinking Coke, and I rarely get any sort of heartburn anymore...

[Dolazy]

I have silent reflux. I don't feel any burning but in the long term it irritates the vocal chords. This causes an abnormal production of mucus so that I constantly need to clear my throat before speaking. Nasty!

[Zach]

Originally Posted by Lucas

You dont drink pop/soda do you? In amounts around 1 can a day or more? I thought I had acid reflux disease forever, and then I stopped drinking Coke, and I rarely get any sort of heartburn anymore...

No, I only drink a soda pop maybe twice a month. All the other times I drink water and juices.

[thadroe]

I had a major problem with this until I started eating waaay more fruit and vegetables and haven't had a problem with it since...even when I eat something spicy.

I even had to go to the hospital at one point because it was so bad.

I also learned that things like milk makes it worse...It has a rebound effect.

Thad

[moltar]

Spicy foods don't cause heartburn, but acidic and fried foods do. Tomatoes are REALLY acidic. Even the healthiest person will probably get a heartburn if you eat too much. Though, tomatoes are really good for you.

I stopped eating fried foods, 95% of heartburn went away. I occasionally still get it from tomatoes and rarely from bananas.

[cald]

you should decrease your spicy food or you will suffer from hurt burn all over your life, now i think it's only a sign, but you should take care of your food habit. soda and caffeine increase the hurt burn

things that help refiling : cold milk, cucumber, iceberg .

get well soon

[Havard]

I never experienced heartburn until I moved to the US. After a few months on an American diet I started getting heartburn. I didn't change the type of food I ate, but there was a definite difference between eating Pizza in Norway and the US.

The solution to my heartburn issue was to cut down on processed foods (Norway has much stricter rules for food additives etc than the US) and eat more naturally.

I personally think that our bodies are excellent at eating fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and seeds you find in nature. I think the endless list of chemicals added to our prepared meals are a much more likely culprit than a fresh tomato for example.

I guess the only way is to mix it up and see what works and what doesn't. I commend you for your decision to not rely on heartburn medication though. Constant medication is no good for a human being.

[cacheborn]

I did not know tomatoes cause heartburn. I eat one every day.

I get heartburn once in while but so far I have not taken anything for it. I am not sure exactly what causes it in my case because I eat mostly vegetables, fruits and nuts and very little spicy food.

[Aware]

I did, and have found out I have an intoloderance to tomatoes, it is in my family, i seem to be able to tolerate them better without the tomato skin. Id cut down on you tomato sauces and try something else. I guess you could take indigestion tablets but then that would just be covering up the issue.

Some other citrus-y foods may give you problems too. Best thing is to go for a food intolerance testing, less than 50euro dont go wasting 400 euro on the expensive ones.

[Kali]

I have had issues since I was a teenager. I had a bleeding ulcer when I was 17, even though I was extremely active and part of a professional dance company. Mine is almost entirely emotional, I sublimate all my stress into my digestive tract. At one point my stomach muscles just stopped moving and I lived on a liquid diet for 3 years. Now I just have a high tolerance for pain. This issue has been with me for 15 years, now. Regardless of what I eat or how I change my diet. I'm still very active, get lots of exercise. The only thing that has been consistent through all this is high levels of stress in my personal life. And codependency.

[liamona]

Originally Posted by Zach

Anyone have some advice?

I just mentioned this in another thread, but it's worth repeating here: drink one cup of home-made bone broth with every meal. Broth contains gelatin, which helps with digesting cooked food. For more information, read this article "Traditional Bone Broth in Modern Health and Disease" from the holistic magazine "Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients."

Originally Posted by Havard

I never experienced heartburn until I moved to the US. After a few months on an American diet I started getting heartburn. I didn't change the type of food I ate, but there was a definite difference between eating Pizza in Norway and the US.

You're not the only one to say this.

The solution to my heartburn issue was to cut down on processed foods (Norway has much stricter rules for food additives etc than the US) and eat more naturally.

Norway and pretty much any other country besides probably China has stricter rules for food than the U.S.

[lifeforce]

Eating someting alkaline will reduce the PH-value of the meal and reduce the amounts of stomach acid you produce.

Spinach is one of the most alkaline foods you can eat, so bingie on it all you want