Find out changes you can make to your diet or lifestyle that may help you manage your symptoms:

• Diet Changes
• Lifestyle Changes

Diet does not cause GERD. However, what you eat can aggravate GERD and its most common symptom, heartburn.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Do not overeat.
• Eat slowly.

The following is a short list of foods to avoid or limit, because they increase the amount of acid in your stomach or relax the lower esophageal sphincter:

• Coffee and tea
• Carbonated drinks (with and without caffeine)
• Alcohol
• Fried foods
• Foods high in fat
• Spicy foods
• Acidic foods such as citrus and tomatoes
• Onions
• Peppermint
• Chocolate
• Foods that trigger your heartburn (use a heartburn journal to learn your own personal heartburn triggers)

Here are some tips for lifestyle changes that may help you manage your symptoms:

• Allow two to three hours to pass after eating before you lie down.
• Raise the head of your bed so that your head and chest are higher than your feet.
• Wear looser-fitting clothing.
• Lose weight, if you are overweight.
• Wait at least two hours after eating before exercising and drink plenty of water before and during exercise.
• Keep a heartburn journal to track foods and situations that aggravate your symptoms.