Dairy vs. Heartburn/Acid Reflux

Ramberta

Okay so, here's something I've been mulling over for a while-- do dairy products actually make heartburn/acid reflux worse?

See here's the thing-- if I've got sour stomach, I'll eat a greek yogurt or have a glass of milk and it'll settle. However, if I eat anything involving processed cheese (macaroni and cheese out of a box, for example), it's acid city. But that could also just be the salt, because that's a trigger for me too. As well as very citric things like OJ, and marinara sauce/tomato paste, although fresh tomatoes are fine. And fast food is just asking for it, obviously. But if I were to try a no-dairy diet, or limit my intake to one serving a day or less, how many days would I have to wait to feel a difference? How can I isolate whether the dairy itself is the issue or not?

Also, anyone who suffers from chronic heartburn, any suggestions for homeopathic remedies once you've got the burn? I drink so much water I feel like I'll burst, but once the burn is there I just have to wait it out, or take Tums... I've tried over-the-counter remedies but I don't want to be a pill popper. I'd rather just stick to my diet adjustments and take preventative measures.

EDIT: I guess what I'm trying to say here is, I've cut several things out of my diet already to try and reduce my heartburn. But it's been worse than ever lately and I'm fearing the worst I'm not sure I could cut out dairy completely!

alaskaang

You could try it but the fact that greek yogurt and milk don't give you the same problem, I doubt it's the dairy. Fast food, mac n cheese, I'd look at the common ingredients there. For me, the chronic heartburn issues went away with cutting out all wheat products because of an allergy. I also have issues with dairy, but the symptoms are inflammation, not heartburn.

wibutterflymagic

Just going off what you said and thinking about some of the things that would get me if I wasn't taking a daily pill, it's probably the acidic fruits like tomatoes, oranges etc. Peppers, onions and spicy foods are all things that would really get me if I didn't take my med. And, that is pretty much what is in Italian---pepper, onion and spicy meats. Pizza is a killer. I agree that if you can drink milk and eat yogurt I doubt that it's dairy. I feel like I've read that soda isn't good for acid reflux either..

Firefox7275

Dairy is a diverse group of foods. Cheese is rich in saturated fat (>30%) and the protein casein, either are slow to digest and absolutely can make reflux worse in susceptible individuals. Yoghurt and milk are much lower in fat (~4%) and contain the easily digested protein whey as well as casein. Remember commercial macaroni and cheese has many ingredients, one of which is the processed cheese which in itself has several ingredients! Ditto the marinara sauce.

The only way you can tell what the culprit is is a very detailed food diary and eliminating one ingredient at a time, it's unscientific to assume that one ingredient is the culprit from a processed food that has numerous ingredients. TBH it's easiest to cook and prepare everything from scratch and just eat meals that consist of a very small number of ingredients. You should be able to find lists of common trigger foods on reputable online websites, cut all those foods/ ingredients out and add them back one at a time. So you might spend a few days eating nothing but milk, plain yoghurt, seven different fruits and veggies, salmon or omega-enriched eggs plus brown rice, if that doesn't cause any problems you make one change or addition.

n_rockey

I too am a chronic heartburn sufferer. Just losing weight has helped a lot, but any time I eat anything spicy or anything highly acidic (tomatoes, citrus, etc.) I still suffer. The other thing I've noticed is that fatty foods trigger my heartburn. Since I've tried to cut my fat down, and completely eliminated anything fried from my diet it has really helped. Mac & Cheese & a lot of other cheeses are high in fat, so if they are some of the foods causing the problems, maybe you have a similar problem. Generally dairy products help my heartburn as long as I eat the low fat/non-fat varieties. The calcium in them (and TUMS) is a base, so it helps to offset the acid your stomach naturally generates and provides you with temporary relief. I would suggest that you use the notes field in your diary to keep track of when you have heartburn and when you don't, and see if there is any correlation between your fat intake and your heartburn, and if there is that can be an area to focus on for you.

Ramberta

Thanks for the info everyone.

Ramberta

I feel like I've read that soda isn't good for acid reflux either..

I think I've heard that too, but fortunately for me I've never been a huge soda drinker, because I don't like carbonation. Coffee can trigger it too, but I've found that as long as I eat something else alongside it, i.e. cereal or oatmeal or something similar, I don't feel the burn.

Ramberta

Dairy is a diverse group of foods. Cheese is rich in saturated fat (>30%) and the protein casein, either are slow to digest and absolutely can make reflux worse in susceptible individuals. Yoghurt and milk are much lower in fat (~4%) and contain the easily digested protein whey as well as casein. Remember commercial macaroni and cheese has many ingredients, one of which is the processed cheese which in itself has several ingredients! Ditto the marinara sauce.

The only way you can tell what the culprit is is a very detailed food diary and eliminating one ingredient at a time, it's unscientific to assume that one ingredient is the culprit from a processed food that has numerous ingredients. TBH it's easiest to cook and prepare everything from scratch and just eat meals that consist of a very small number of ingredients. You should be able to find lists of common trigger foods on reputable online websites, cut all those foods/ ingredients out and add them back one at a time. So you might spend a few days eating nothing but milk, plain yoghurt, seven different fruits and veggies, salmon or omega-enriched eggs plus brown rice, if that doesn't cause any problems you make one change or addition.

I was trying to come up with a good example of something un-processed but nothing was coming to mind, hah. I noticed the effect of marinara/processed tomato sauce vs. fresh tomatoes over time, so I suppose I'll just pay more detailed attention when I do eat dairy.