Many people experience heartburn on a regular basis. If you’re one of them, you might find that your favorite foods can seem like they’re the enemy. Minutes or hours after enjoying a meal, a painful burning sensation arises in your chest. Sometimes it’s so bad that your stomach contents threaten to return up your throat.

But those who suffer from heartburn can often find a way to make friends with food. The trick is to figure out which foods are easy on your system and which ones will cause you distress.

In order to relieve the symptoms of heartburn, you need to reduce the excessive amount of acid being produced in your stomach. You also need to calm and repair the esophageal lining, which protects your body from many toxic substances.

By itself, healthy eating isn’t a good enough treatment of heartburn. Following the recommendations of the food pyramid will certainly help. However, you’ll have to take a more in depth look at your diet if you really want to avoid heartburn.

According to the food pyramid, the majority of your daily food intake should come from grain products. For heartburn relief, this is even more critical to maintaining your health and easing your pain. Whole grains in particular are important. Stay away from highly processed, starchy products that contain a lot of sugar and fat.

Fruits and vegetables make up the next section of the pyramid, and it’s advised that you eat an abundance of these foods. But if you suffer from heartburn, not all produce is created equal. There are a few types of fresh produce that will actually aggravate your problem.

Fruits like pears, grapes and apples are loaded with nutrients and won’t worsen your problem. But fruits that contain citric acid, such as grapefruit, lemons, oranges and limes, can lead to an instant outbreak of heartburn.

The majority of vegetables won’t trigger heartburn symptoms and should be eaten in abundance. Just make sure to prepare them in healthy manner. Avoid using generous amounts of fat as a garnish, particularly those that are considered to be unhealthy. Heartburn is very frequently triggered by consuming excessive quantities of fat.

When choosing which proteins to include in your diet, always opt for the lower fat products. Lean meats won’t lead to heartburn problems. The well trimmed cuts are your best choice. Stay away from those that are marbled with fat.

Similar to vegetables, though, how you prepare your healthy cut of meat is important. You can keep heartburn at bay if you choose broiling, grilling or baking as your cooking techniques of choice.