Diet and breakfast for acid reflux is a dilemma for several reasons. As often as people have reflux problems at night while they sleep, they are likely to wake up with heartburn. And in that case, they are more likely to have antacids for breakfast than foods that will make them feel worse.
However, breakfast is also the most important meal of the day. Breakfast helps stabilize blood sugar levels after sleep and provides energy to start the day. It has also been shown that people who skip breakfast will eat more throughout the day. And what is one of the biggest problems for acid reflux and heartburn: eating fewer and larger meals, as that has been shown to cause and/or worsen your problems. Eliminating breakfast from your acid reflux diet is not a heartburn remedy.
Acid reflux and lifestyle
Preventing acid reflux and heartburn will involve making lifestyle changes. You eat breakfast, and then what happens? That late-night heartburn you may have already had, along with the food you just had for breakfast [you just couldn’t resist ‘wolfing’ down that Egg McMuffin while you were driving] they come together and give you more reflux and worse heartburn. Start your day with more energy, not just; You are starting your day in pain and you just want to turn around and go home. But instead, there’s another round of antacids to try and keep you going.
How’s that for breakfast and an acid reflux diet? Acid reflux trigger foods ‘washed down’ with antacids to get rid of heartburn pain. Lunch and dinner tend to be easier meals for heartburn sufferers. It has a wider range of food options that are more appealing later in the day than for breakfast. And you’re not in such a rush, either, which gives you more time to prepare a good meal and not have to eat it so quickly, which of course is one of the things not to do with heartburn.
Yes, the acid reflux diet and breakfast are a big deal, because so many of the breakfast food choices cause heartburn. Your fried eggs, with toast and butter, and orange juice and coffee – or that run from the fast food restaurant – are some of the worst food to eat. These can be expected to cause heartburn, which certainly negates the benefits breakfast is supposed to give you.
Breakfast Food Options for Acid Reflux
Then, what are you going to do? You need to eat breakfast, but you won’t if it will only make you feel worse. For starters, how about getting up 15 minutes earlier so you’re not in such a rush and fast food becomes your only alternative for breakfast. And then how about you stop brainwashing yourself into thinking you need caffeine to get going? I remember my old routine, getting up and skipping breakfast except for 2-3 cups of coffee, having a diet coke at my desk, and then eating Tums all morning. I have had my teeth chipped due to Tums.
There are many acid reflux diet food options for breakfast that don’t take a lot of time to prepare, and that can actually help reduce reflux and heartburn rather than cause it. And you can accommodate some changes in food choices that will help you even more: You really don’t need to eat that last piece of cold pizza for breakfast to avoid wastage J
Good food choices will include whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and protein, like any healthy, well-balanced meal. In fact, that is one of the main benefits of an acid reflux diet, in addition to helping prevent or eliminate heartburn, it is also a diet that promotes good health.
Whole-food options for breakfast can be found in oatmeal, whole-grain cereals, or whole-grain breads. These are important to your acid reflux diet. They have fiber which makes them easier to digest, they don’t require as much acid during digestion, and they actually break down during digestion in a way that can absorb excess acid. Additionally, whole grains include the antioxidant selenium, which has been shown to help protect the cell lining of the esophagus.
Fruits and vegetables are great for breakfast. What could be better than starting your day with an apple or eating some fruit with your whole grain cereal? Just remember to stay away from citrus fruits or juices, and especially tomato juice, as it is very acidic. Drink plain apple or grape juice to help reduce acid. And if you can eat pizza and drink coke for breakfast, then surely you could get used to eating some broccoli, or how about some steamed broccoli with egg whites?
Protein is an important food option. It makes you feel fuller and therefore can help prevent overeating. And protein is the food source that helps build and repair muscle; this could include strengthening the muscles associated with the esophagus. As with all acid reflux diets, make sure your proteins are low in fat content, because fat takes longer to digest and needs more acid to digest, increasing the likelihood of reflux heartburn. This means skim milk instead of whole milk, egg whites instead of whole eggs, and no more bacon or fatty meats and fried foods on those breakfast sandwiches.
Changes in breakfast and lifestyle
My lifestyle has changed in recent years; I was gaining weight as I got older and had heartburn that turned into acid reflux disease. In addition to making some very important changes to your acid reflux diet, it now includes hitting the gym in the morning before you start work. So breakfast is very important to me after working out, but I also lose some extra time I might have had to eat.
I eat a banana on my way to the gym, which helps settle my stomach. And then for breakfast, I want a lot of protein and make sure I have a relatively high protein to carb ratio; I want energy and not a spike in my blood sugar. I usually have a vanilla protein powder shake and eat a cup of Greek yogurt. [it is low-fat and has extra protein]and a delicious apple.
I feel great all morning, and with no more coffee and Diet Coke to ‘help me through’, if I want something else to eat, I have another apple. Breakfast is very important to our health, and it has many food options that not only won’t cause heartburn, but can actually help control it. But as with all acid reflux diet options, there are trade-offs and lifestyle changes that must be made to eliminate heartburn and reap the health benefits of what we eat, rather than eating out of it. a way that worsens heartburn and lead to acid reflux disease.