Heartburn

OK, so I did some research on the interweb on this heartburn thing. I have had it for a maybe a year now. Maybe even a bit longer. But it is in waves. And one thing I figured out myself is that if I get less sleep, it gets worse.

One of the different solutions was sleeping a bit more upright, but that is not the case for me, since I never have problems with it during the night (whenever I wake up) or in the mornings. So we count out that one.

The other and probably easiest way for me to prevent it, is watch your diet. And the last one is surgery. But let’s not go there. It’s not that bad.

So wikipedia gave me this under “dietary modifications”, meaning watch these products:

  1. coffee and alcohol
  2. antacids
  3. foods high in fats
  4. eating 2-3 hours before bedtime
  5. large meals
  6. carbonated soft drinks with or without sugar
  7. Chocolate and peppermint.
  8. Acidic foods: tomatoes and tomato-based preparations; citrus fruits and citrus juices.
  9. Cruciferous vegetables:cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.
  10. Milk and milk-based products containing calcium and fat, within 2 hours of bedtime.

So here we have a list that actually is giving me a headache as well. Actually not, I should be happy I found this, since I get a high score on the items I consume. I’ll explain:

  1. coffee: daily, but I went down from 6 cups a day to max 3
    alcohol: that is max. once a week a bottle of beer or a glass of wine, so no worries there
  2. don’t use them, so no problem
  3. I guess that happens sometimes
  4. almost every day
  5. every day
  6. I stopped drinking that stuff years ago, so that is not a problem
  7. we’re not going to discuss the amount of chocolate I consume every day here. I am Belgian, that should explain it.
    peppermint: not so much
  8. tomatoes on my plate/bread every day
  9. cabbage and broccoli at least once a week
  10. milk, milk, milk … I love it. And so do our kids.

So…. 8 / 10 ….. mmmhhhh …. Maybe I should change my eating habbits. The good thing is that I can start right away with this. The only problem I can see is the chocolate. But my health is worth a bit more than some good taste and a full belly in the long run. But at least we have a plan now, we’ll stick with it and report back in a few weeks to see if it improved.

2009-10-28 | Journal |