An unpleasant burning sensation rising from your stomach, through your chest to your throat. This is the heartburn feeling that people with acid reflux often experience. It is caused by acid backwashing from the stomach and breaking the barrier between the stomach and the esophagus. If this condition persists the sufferer may find that their esophagus becomes scarred and can result in equally unpleasant choking feelings occurring.

As with a large number of medical conditions and diseases, modifying one's diet can be the best way to treat acid reflux. Eating the correct acid reflux diet is often preferable to the kinds of treatments that are required when the condition becomes more severe such as surgery or taking prescribed medication.

It is not just important to consider what you eat as part of a good acid reflux diet but also when you eat. Many people with acid reflux complain that the worst time they get it is during the night and it causes a disturbed sleep. This of course has negative impacts on the entire following day, and so acid reflux can really begin to control their lives. The key to avoiding overnight acid reflux is to not eat for around 3 hours before going to bed. Since acid is only produced by the stomach in order to help it digest food, not eating will mean less acid and less chance of overnight acid reflux.

So, taking this into account, if you have acid reflux you should also consider exactly the foods you eat that contribute to it the most. There are certain types of food that are known to cause the drastically increased acid production in the stomach that results in acid reflux. Firstly, reducing meal size is the first step in forming an effective acid reflux diet. Try eating more meals but of smaller size as this should cause less acid to be produced.

Which foods should be most avoided then? Here, I list the main culprits that help to cause acid reflux disease:

- Greasy and fatty foods especially animal and dairy products.

- Chocolate

- Caffeine

- Mint and mint flavored food

- Spicy foods such as Indian and Mexican food

- Citrus foods and juice

- Alcohol

I am sure I have just listed many of your favorite foods and you may be reluctant to give up eating them. The key is not to give up everything entirely but eat things in moderation. If you have a large Indian take-away and wash it down with several glasses of wine then you should not be surprised when heartburn strikes. So, instead of overeating on the above foods you should form an acid reflux diet centered on plant based foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, beans and wholegrain breads and cereals. Some of the above foods can be mixed in moderately as treats, rather than forming the core of your diet.

If you feel that changing your diet does not eliminate acid reflux by itself, then you may need to consider other treatments such as antacids or prescribed medicine. However, it is important to give your new acid reflux diet enough time to take effect and for you to get used to the change.

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