I know I mentioned it on a couple of occasions but if you don’t remember, that’s okay! I have acid reflux, among my many food allergies. Here is the acid reflux definition from WebMD:

• “At the entrance to your stomach is a valve, which is a ring of muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Normally, the LES closes as soon as food passes through it. If the LES doesn’t close all the way or if it opens too often, acid produced by your stomach can move up into your esophagus. This can cause symptoms such as a burning chest pain called heartburn. If acid reflux symptoms happen more than twice a week, you have acid reflux disease, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).”

I get heartburn about 4-5 times per week. I’ve suffered with this ever since my sophomore year in college; I was eating Domino’s cheesy bread with marinara sauce and within a few minutes, I got this sharp pain in my stomach that shot straight up into my chest. From them on I started noticing other things like ketchup was giving me that same effect.

I had that same Domino’s meal again later on in that week and the pain was so instantaneous I knew it had to be all the tomato acid (and oil). It is not fun at all and I have to be super careful as to what I eat. Especially with those acidic foods like tomatoes, tomato sauce, oranges, grapes, raw apples, strawberries, etc. Notice something? I’ve been eating these foods all week and last night it just hit me hard.

To be honest I knew it was going to kick in some day. Because the symptoms were very mild, I did mind suffering a little to enjoy me some strawberries and Tomato Basil Soup. Today I had to be really careful and try to undo some of this damage. I found a slideshow on Health.com giving some pointers on foods that ease heartburn. I gave it a shot for the day and here is how I included them in today’s meals.

BreakfastBecause oatmeal was recommended, I was quite happy. I had maple peanut butter “muffin top” for breakfast sans the peanut butter, replacing it with yogurt instead. I also had a banana on the side which helps to fight the acid in your stomach.

LunchMy stomach was getting better around lunch time. I first had another banana and then a serving of Nature’s Path granola with soy milk. It really hit the spot. For some reason, cereal is my go-to when I have a tummy ache.

Snack

For my snack, I had yogurt which helps me when I have heartburn. It’s like my natural heartburn solution, but sometimes that doesn’t even help. Later on in the day I also had a small handful of raw cashews and Cascadian Farm’s Almond Butter crunchy granola bars.

DinnerI also looked at this acid reflux article on LIVESTRONG. It pretty much said the same thing as the slide show but in a more “general” sense. I had a lightly stir fried rice with sugar snap peas, carrots and tofu scramble. It was more rice than I would normally have but the grains really help to neutralize my stomach.

I did a light workout and focused on lower body and barely any jumping. It seemed to help my stomach “deflate”, which was good. I tried to stick to bland and grainy foods. I feel much better but not 100%. I am going to have some grapes with lunch tomorrow to introduce some acid back in, very slowly.

Question: Is there a food out there that bothers you?

Like I said those acidic foods like tomatoes, tomato sauce, oranges, grapes, strawberries, etc. KILL me!