Anjali Mukerjee
If your stomach is on fire and this spreads up to your throat, you can put it down to what you have eaten. There are people who are naturally prone to heartburn but in most cases it is not so. There is no deciding age and it is not limited to old age alone. Most of you have seen the ad which shows a man screwing up his face in agony after a heavy meal and the visual of a stomach with raging fires flashes on the television screen. This is how this happens. The food pipe is a long narrow tube which has a muscular ring called the oesophagus oriticer at the bottom. This connects the food pipe to the stomach. The ring allows the food to pass into the stomach and then shuts tight. If this ring does not shut the digestive juices and acids from the stomach, the partly digested food flows back into the food pipe resulting in heartburn, pain and irritation. This results in damage to the food pipe lining which is very tender.
There are certain foods which cause this discomfort. To prevent oneself from becoming a chronic heartburn patient remember some basic guidelines. Foods like soft drinks, coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, spicy foods, red chillies and raw onions increase acidity. People prone to heartburn need to be cautious about these. Overeating, too, can pop that muscular ring up and cause harm.
Oily foods should be passed over as fried stuff triggers off heartburn. Any high fat milkshakes, cream, cheese, cheesespread generously spread on bread, fried rice, biryani, etc should be avoided as well. Such foods delay gastric emptying, as a result of which these stay longer in the stomach than low-fat foods. This results in these foods flowing back into the oesophagus, which causes heartburn.
Raw onions are known to aggravate heartburn. So those suffering from this malady should avoid it.
Citrus fruits as well as tomatoes are known to irritate the food pipe which sets off a burning sensation and this is the reason why many people feel uneasy if they gulp down a glass of fresh juice or tomato juice.
Garam masala, a must in many Indian recipes, should be avoided by acidic patients.
Alcohol allows the acids in your stomach to be gushed upwards by relaxing the oesophagal orifice. So all those with a heartburn problem should stay away from a drink just before going to bed.
White bread causes gas bloating and constipation as it contains maida and this triggers off heartburn.
Chocolates are complete no-no for those suffering from this ailment.
Remedial measures
— The writer is a nutritionist, founder director-Health Total.
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