Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Avoiding Holiday Heartburn

This week is the start of the holiday season, but it can also mean time for your heartburn to return.

It's that dreaded holiday heartburn any of us can get from simply eating way too much of certain foods this time of year.

Just picture what you'll be eating this Thanksgiving and at all the other holiday meals. That plate piled high with great food might taste wonderful, but you also might end up paying the price with heartburn. This happens when acid flows back up your esophagus, or feeding tube, that can cause not only heartburn, but also wheezing, coughing and a sore throat.

If this happens to you around this time of year, it's probably because you are eating large amounts of so-called "trigger" foods, foods that set off your heartburn. But you can help yourself by avoiding, as best you can, the foods that do this. For most of us that means limiting fatty cheeses, peppermint and peppermint flavored drinks and desserts, eggnog, hot chocolate and alcohol. For others it means limiting tomato based products and citrus type drinks. And if this tends to affect you on a regular basis, medicines, some available over the counter, can help as well, but these usually have to be taken on a regular basis.

The goal here is to have you still enjoy all this holiday has to offer, but to slow down just a bit when it comes to the overindulging most of us do.

No comments:

Post a Comment