You eat food or have some kind of drink. Then you feel pressure or another feeling after that. It could be acid reflux. It’s when the acid in your stomach travels back to your food tube. Do not worry. It might be due to your lifestyle and diet or the drinks you have. This article brings you the drinks you should avoid or the ones that could help with acid reflux.
Table of Contents
What is acid reflux?
The term acid reflux is a condition in which stomach acid travels back to your mouth through the esophagus or food tube.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) causes the same condition, but it’s a bit different.
You should not confuse acid reflux with GERD. The first one occurs occasionally, but GERD is a “chronic reoccurrence of acid reflux,” according to Healthline.
The result is uncomfortable feelings that vary from person to person, but it could include heartburn and acid regurgitation.
Your diet can influence acid reflux and GERD. It can make acid reflux worse or ease the symptoms.
The symptoms that are common between acid reflux and GERD are as follows;
- Regurgitation
- sore throat
- burping
- nausea
- heartburn
- Coughing
- Chest pain
The other symptom of acid reflux is a bitter, hot, sour, acidic, or unpleasant taste in your mouth as well.
GERD can be bad for your health in the long term and cause inflammation or damage to the esophagus. People who suffer from GERD might have difficulty in daily functions, but the symptoms of acid reflux make you uncomfortable and can be removed by simple cures. For instance, you can take some drinks like simple water, and the symptoms could be reduced. You will learn more about it in the below section.
What causes acid reflux?
There are various causes of acid reflux. But for many people, the cause is lifestyle and diet. These items are some of the common causes. You would better know them and try to reduce or remove them from your lifestyle;
- Eat a large amount of food in one meal.
- Eat acidic food.
- Eat before getting to bed.
- Suffering from stress.
- Drink large drinks of caffeinated, alcoholic, or carbonated drinks
- Smoking.
- Putting on tight-fitting clothes.
Medical conditions that cause acid reflux
Some medical conditions might increase the risk of acid reflux. You would better know them and understand the risk they pose.
If you suffer from one of them, it could be the case of acid reflux.
Remember that if the medical condition is serious or the symptoms of acid reflux do not go away easily, you might have to visit a doctor.
These are the medical conditions that could cause acid reflux:
- Diabetes
- dry mouth
- nicotine use
- Pregnancy
- obesity
There might be other conditions that cause acid reflux as well that we didn’t cover in this part. You would better ask your doctor.
What drinks should you take for acid reflux?
Drinks can help you relieve or decrease your acid reflux; you will find a list of them in this section. But, there might not be enough evidence or research behind them. If you suffer from occasional acid reflux, these drinks might be helpful. But if it’s serious and is causing constant pain, you would visit a doctor.
You should know that these drinks are often found by trial and error, and people use them at home to soothe acid reflux. Remember that you might have to visit a doctor for GERD, which is chronic acid reflux.
You would better sip these drinks slowly instead of drinking the whole glass quickly.
Drink water to release acid reflux
According to Hassan Tariq and his team’s study in 2019, drinking water can help relieve acid reflux. Several sips of water could assist in clearing acid from your esophagus.
Why can water help you relieve acid reflux? The pH for most types of water is 7. It could increase the pH level in your stomach. Moreover, water can help with the mobility and digestion of food in your stomach, which leads to relieving the symptoms of acid reflux.
This is not all of it. There is another research that says water can help acid reflux.
According to Yoshinori Tanaka and his team’s research in 2019, “alkaline electrolyzed water may help gastrointestinal symptoms like acid reflux.” As the name suggests, alkaline water has a better pH level which could help “neutralize stomach acid.”
There is also another study on the effect of water on acid reflux. It was named “Efficacy and tolerability of hydrogen carbonate-rich water for heartburn” and conducted by André-Michael Beer and his team.
The study says that drinking mineral water with high levels of hydrogen carbonate content could assist in relieving the severity and frequency of acid reflux.
Drinking water for acid reflux could be a double-edged sword. Too much water can unbalance the number of minerals in your stomach, and it could increase the possibility of acid reflux.
You would be careful with the amount of water you drink; not too much, not too low. If the acid reflux did not get better by sipping one cup of water, for instance, you might better try another way.
Coconut water
Yes, coconut water can help with acid reflux or even GERD, but you would better drink unsweetened coconut water.
Coconut water can increase the pH level of the body as it’s a rich source of electrolytes like potassium.
This is not the only benefit of coconut water. It is a rich source of nutrients like:
- Carbs
- Sugar
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Phosphorus
- Potassium
This list persuades you to take coconut water regularly due to its many benefits:
- Antioxidant properties
- Can lower blood sugar
- It could help prevent kidney stones.
- It might support heart health
- A good source of hydration.
Fruit juice
Fruit juices are like Damocles’s sword for acid reflux. There are some to avoid, and there are some to drink.
Some juices are acidic, which could lead to acid reflux, but some are less acidic, which could help with acid reflux and GERD.
The samples of less acidic juices are as follows:
- carrot juice
- aloe vera juice
- cabbage juice
If you make juice with this list of fruits, they help with acid reflux as well:
- Pear
- Cucumber
- Spinach
- Watermelon
- beets
If making juice with tomato is one of your habits or you like them, you’d better avoid them, as “tomato-based foods can trigger reflux symptoms.”
Smoothies
Having a smoothie is a tasty way to get acid reflux or GERD. If the ingredients are acidic, they could lead to acid reflux.
You would better add low-acidity fruits to decrease the risk of acid reflux:
- Peer
- Watermelon
Green vegetables are also an option to decrease the acidity of your smoothie and reduce the risk of acid reflux:
- spinach
- Kale
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
Once more, we need to remind you that there is little evidence that smoothies could help with acid reflux. But trial and error indicate it’s helpful for acid results, and you would better avoid the acidic fruit and vegetables.
Your smoothie could better include vegetables, proteins, and fruits.
What drinks should you avoid for acid reflux?
As some drinks could help relieve acidic reflux, some drinks can make it worse. You should know and avoid them as much as possible. Try to figure out how you feel after having these drinks.
Acidic or a few juices
Juices that contain tomato or acidic juices can increase the risk of acid reflux. This is a list of juices you would better avoid for acid reflux;
- lime juice
- tangerine juice
- orange juice
- lemon juice
- grapefruit juice
- tomato juice
Your stomach can generally withstand acidic food, but your esophagus can not do it. So they bother your esophagus, and you should be careful.
You should also be careful while you shop for juices. Check the ingredients before purchasing them. Companies might add acidic ingredients as flavors, and they could lead to acid reflux.
According to M Feldman and C Barnett’s research, grapefruit and orange increased the symptoms of acid reflux in GERD patients by %72.
Coffee
I am crazy about coffee, and It’s one sad truth for me, but coffee is one of the drinks that could cause the symptoms of acid reflux.
Coffee can .stimulate increased gastric acid secretions,” and it becomes more likely to rise up to your esophagus. The symptoms of acid reflux could increase with the more coffee you take.
It’s not just the coffee, but cadenced drinks can increase the symptoms f acid reflux as well; sodas or caffeinated teas.
According to Raaj S. Mehta and his team’s research, there is a connection between the intake of caffeine drinks and acid reflux.
Alcohol
The next drink that you have to be careful with the acid reflux is alcohol. The harder the liquor, the harder the acid reflux can be.
Consumption of heavy alcohol can lead to developing GERD. “It could cause mucosal damage in the stomach and esophagus.”
According to Jiaqi Pan’s team and his/her team’s research, there is a remarkable connection between alcohol consumption and GERD. This is a meta-study and involved serval other studies.
If drinking alcohol causes acid reflux, you should consider quitting or reducing your drinking. You can take some measures to reduce the effect of alcohol on your acid reflux if you can not quit it;
- drink less alcohol
- ensure you are hydrated
- avoid acidic drinks,
- Avoid heavy drink
When should you see a doctor for your acid reflux?
If you can manage your acid reflux through home remedies or by having one of the drinks mentioned here, you might not need to visit a doctor.
Also, if you can change your diet and lifestyle and live a healthier life, it could lead to less acid reflux.
But if you suffer from chronic acid reflux, it happens regularly; you would better visit a doctor. He/she might prescribe medication, and in serious cases, you might need surgery.
If the acid reflux symptom is severe, you would better visit a heart expert as it could be a sign or symptom of a heart attack too. Determine if you are at risk of a heart attack or not.
The bottom line on drinks for acid reflux
Some drinks can cause acid reflux, and some can reduce the risk. This article brought you a common list for both of them. You can take the information to check whether your acid reflux is due to the drink you have or can be relieved by one of the mentioned ones. As you read through the article, water is one of the drinks that can help relieve acid reflux. As the taste of tap water might not be good, especially in areas like Las Vegas, you can take advantage of bottled water from a reliable water company. Tahoe Springs Water has provided the best alkaline, spring mountain, and purified drinking water in Las Vegas since 1994. Give us a call at +702-433-4545 and order your water option now. You can also go through the menu of the website to order your water option. The quality is the best, and water always comes with free delivery.