What foods cause heartburn

Many people suffer from heartburn. But it is especially unpleasant during pregnancy, when the body goes through a complex restructuring and becomes sensitive to everything, especially food.

What previously did not cause unpleasant sensations is now an irritant and provokes an unpleasant burning sensation.

To learn how to cope with this unpleasant phenomenon, you need to figure out which foods cause heartburn.

What foods cause heartburn in pregnant women

Many foods that do not cause heartburn in other people are provocateurs during pregnancy.

Often the first exposure to this condition in a young woman occurs during pregnancy.

Why? There is an opinion of experts that hormonal changes contribute to this. Progesterone relaxes all muscles in the body, including the stomach.

Starting from the twentieth week of pregnancy, strong pressure from the growing baby on the nearby organs is also added.

As a result, acid is "thrown" from the stomach into the esophagus. Hence the burning sensation. Pregnancy proceeds in different ways, but many women are familiar with this condition.

This heartburn is associated with the physiology of the pregnancy process.

Before we look at the list of such products, let's designate their properties.

Foods that provoke heartburn:

• activate the production of bile and digestive enzymes;
• increase the acidity of gastric juice;
• increase gas formation, causing the development of flatulence in pregnant women;
• relax the cardia of the stomach (esophageal sphincter);
• irritating effect on the epithelium of the stomach and intestines.

Foods that cause heartburn during pregnancy

These are products that weaken the musculature of the valve, due to which the contents with hydrochloric acid are thrown upward, burning the esophagus.

The acid in the stomach neutralizes, kills all the microbes that a woman swallows with food.

But in the esophagus it should not be, otherwise - heartburn. Pregnant women need to look at the list of heartburn-causing foods:

1. Foods containing caffeine and irritating to the stomach lining: carbonated drinks, tonic drinks, energy drinks, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, chocolate desserts. Mechanism of action: caffeine weakens the muscle sphincter tone. And what happens during heartburn? When the stomach contracts, acid follows the path of least resistance into the esophagus.
2. Fresh peppermint and anything with a mint flavor (mint tea, mint gum, mint breath fresheners, mint chocolate).
3. Fried and fatty foods. Mechanism of Action: Fats cause heartburn. Fat requires the secretion of bile to be digested. It causes the release of a special hormone - cholecystokinin. It stimulates the secretion of bile and relaxes the muscular sphincter of the esophagus. In addition, fat presses on the stomach and allows acid to be pumped into the esophagus. So, fat acts in two ways - in the first case, biochemically, in the second, physically.
4. Citrus fruits (lemons, oranges, grapefruits). Mechanism of action: citrus fruits irritate the mucous membrane, already burnt with acid. For women who have chronic heartburn, citrus fruits will eat away at the mucous membrane, "sprinkle salt on the wound." Lemon increases heartburn and worsens the well-being of a pregnant woman. In this group, although they are not citrus fruits, you can include pineapples and tomatoes in sauces that provoke gastric secretion.
5. Sour alcoholic drinks are wines. Alcohol during pregnancy is generally contraindicated. But there is information that sometimes you can have a little wine. So, sour wine just intensifies the burning sensation. The mechanism of action is the same as that of citrus fruits.
6. Milk. It neutralizes acid. When a pregnant woman, knowing this, begins to use milk, then she does not help herself, but on the contrary. Why? The answer is very simple.

Mechanism of action: On the one hand, it neutralizes acid. But there is so much protein in it that even more acid is released after the milk extinguishes the heartburn.

Protein stimulates acid production. The acid digests protein. This is her job. Therefore, taking protein into the body, we stimulate the secretion of stomach acid.

It turns out that on the other hand, milk makes it worse in this situation. This is a fight against the effect without eliminating the cause. Milk gives instant results - deceiving.

We sort of extinguished the unpleasant sensations, but in fact we got the opposite effect.

Other dairy products, which are the result of fermented milk. These include fatty kefir, sour cream, cottage cheese.

Organic acids in these products, if there is a predisposition, can lead to unpleasant sensations.

Yoghurt can cause heartburn due to its high fat content. We discussed the mechanism of action of fat above.

• Potatoes. There are claims from people that they have heartburn from potatoes. By themselves, potatoes do not cause heartburn. But the product used to prepare certain potato dishes penetrates the potatoes, and it, already saturated, for example, with fat, gives rise to heartburn. Fried potatoes, fries, or chips can cause this unpleasant condition. Not all potato dishes are suitable.
• Legumes (beans, peas, beans, lentils) and cabbage. These are products that promote the formation of gas exchange. They create the appearance of heartburn.
• Spicy, pickled dishes and spices. Onions, garlic, hot peppers, radishes, horseradish, hot seasonings, spices. With heartburn, they should not be used for food. Mechanism of action: after entering the stomach, acid production increases and heartburn appears. The gastric mucosa is also damaged.
• Sweet foods. These are any sweets - sweets, cookies, cakes, pastries, jams. This can provoke heartburn in pregnant women.
• Mechanism of Action: Sugar itself creates an environment that nourishes many microorganisms. In addition, many sugary foods are very fatty foods that weaken the muscle sphincter.
• Fast food - Fast food such as hamburgers. During pregnancy, you should generally not include these instant foods in your diet. It is not known what consequences to expect. Plus, they are very fatty foods. Heartburn can be a consequence.

The question arises: is it possible to live without these products during pregnancy? Of course, you can live without them. If during pregnancy a woman is constantly tormented by heartburn, you need to give up these products.

Moreover, heartburn is a pathological condition. It is necessary to fight with it, especially pregnant women.

Simple rules of nutrition and lifestyle

1. Just don't overeat. When overeating, the stomach stretches, a huge amount of acid is released. If overeating is frequent, then the stomach loses its elasticity, weakens, including the sphincter, which leads to heartburn. Therefore, you need to eat fractionally - 5-6 times a day in small portions.
2. Be sure to eat hot food several times a day. Food should be easily digestible - steamed, stewed.
3. It is advisable not to drink food. Because when food is washed down with any liquid, the gastric juice is diluted. Due to this, the digestion process slows down. Any liquid intake is desirable either half an hour before meals, or 40 minutes after meals.
4. After eating, doctors do not recommend that a pregnant woman sit or lie down. The best part is the half hour walk.
5. With frequent heartburn, the foods discussed above, as well as yeast foods, should be excluded from the diet.
6. Be sure to watch your feelings. Then it will be possible to correctly identify foods that cause heartburn during pregnancy just for you.
7. During the day, chew oatmeal, hazelnuts or almonds, grated carrots.
8. Try to worry less, rest more, walk in the fresh air, be in a good mood. Following the rules of a healthy lifestyle contributes to proper nutrition.
9. The diet should contain alkaline drinks. A drink like "Essentuki", "Borjomi" is suitable.
10. During pregnancy, be sure to eat fresh fruits, preferring them to dried ones. Pay special attention to bananas. They act as natural antacids to soothe pain and neutralize the main symptoms of heartburn.
11. There is buckwheat and oatmeal. They neutralize acid.
12. For pregnant women, light potato soup is suitable. It will not lead to heartburn.

All these rules will help to avoid heartburn in certain cases.

Heartburn in pregnant women can be reduced by correctly identifying the list of foods that cause it.

By limiting their use in food or excluding them from the diet, you can gently and calmly cope with unpleasant sensations in the body.

If it becomes chronic, tormenting during pregnancy, you need to consult a doctor to exclude heartburn, which is caused by another disease.

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