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Heartburn Friendly, Low-Acid Food Products

  

Pat Baird, MA, RD, FADA

Everyone who suffers from heartburn has one or two trigger foods that will send them running to the medicine cabinet. These "trigger" foods are fairly common and contribute to heartburn because they either irritate the lining of the stomach or relax the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). It's the job of the LES to close tight after foods pass from the esophagus into the stomach. Unfortunately, some foods like chocolate relax the sphincter, which then allows stomach acid to back up and burn the delicate tissues of the esophagus.

While it's not always necessary to eliminate things like coffee, orange juice and chocolate, many people adopt this strategy just to be safe. Some savvy food manufacturers realize there's a market among the more than 60 million people who have heartburn1 and have come up with an array of heartburn-friendly products. Here are some of the items you may want to try to put back on your menu:

Orange juice is one of the first things heartburn sufferers eliminate. Unfortunately, they also eliminate a good source of vitamin C, folic acid and potassium.

• Minute Maid (www.minutemaid.com) was the first brand to offer Low-Acid Orange Juice in frozen and refrigerated varieties. It should be noted that both products are made from juice concentrate
• Tropicana (www.tropicana.com) followed with Pure Premium Low-Acid orange juice, which is the only not-from-concentrate, reduced-acid orange juice

Coffee gets most Americans started in the morning. It can bring on heartburn since caffeine has been known to irritate the stomach lining, which causes increased acid production. Even decaffeinated coffee is acidic. Several companies have found a way to lower the acid and retain the flavor – without the burn:

• While it doesn't make a low-acid claim, Folgers® Simply Smooth™ (www.folgers.com) says its regular and decaffeinated products are "stomach-friendly," and "easy on your stomach".
• Puroast (www.puroast.com) has a patented process that does not use additives or an extraction process to create a line of low-acid coffees.
• Helva (www.helvacoffeeco.com) has regular, espresso, decaf and flavored low-acid coffees. While in the green state, Hevla uses a pressure and a steam process to reduce irritants they say are formed during coffee roasting. According to Helva, this results in coffee that is: "Exceptional. Phenomenal. Jaw-droppingly good".
• Toddy (www.toddycafe.com) uses a cold-water filtration system it developed and patented in 1964. This produces coffee that is 67% less acidic than conventional brewed coffee, in a coffee concentrate that is then used to make an individual cup or pot of coffee. You can purchase the Toddy System, or bottles of the concentrate at their Web site.
• For those who choose to eliminate caffeine, Caffix (www.internaturalfoods.com), a grain beverage that tastes like coffee, is the answer. Made from malted barley, chicory and beetroot, it's a beverage that can be served hot or cold.
• Likewise, Pero (www.internaturalfoods.com) is made from malted barley, chicory and rye so it is also caffeine-free.

Chocolate, much to the dismay of many people, is a common trigger food. Though the high-fat content may have something to do with it, chocolate contains theobromine (a compound that occurs naturally in many plants such as cocoa and tea), which relaxes the LES.

• Carob is the fruit (or pod) of the carob tree that has a flavor similar to cocoa (or chocolate) and is used in carob candies, cakes and cookies and sold alone for use in cooking. Carob truffles, pralines, English toffee and other items are available at Whole Foods Market and Web sites including www.mothernature.com and www.lowacidfoods.com and may offer the great flavor of chocolate while helping you avoid the symptoms of heartburn.

Alcohol can be double-trouble for heartburn sufferers because it's often mixed with other trigger items like tomato juice and soda. It increases acid production and relaxes the LES. While there is no substitute for beverages like scotch and vodka, there are a number of alcohol-free (dealcoholized) wines and beers available at most liquor stores and online. Many of the dealcoholized wines have two-thirds less calories than their counterparts, providing an additional benefit.

• Carl Jung wines (www.carljungwines.com) has a full variety of dealcoholized wines, including whites, reds, sparkling and rose on its Web site. These wines are from France and Germany.

• Alcohol Free Wines 4U (www.alcoholfreewines4u.com) has and assortment of dealcoholized red and white wines produced in the Napa Valley. Don't worry that these wines lack the heart-healthy benefits often touted in wine. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition2 showed that removing the alcohol content of red wine does not reduce its widely hailed health-giving properties. In fact, the alcohol may actually shorten the benefits.

• Alcohol-free beers from national brands like Coors, O'Doul's and Pabst Blue Ribbon are available nationwide. The non-alcoholic (or alcohol-free) beers get good marks for flavor and taste. Most of these products are available in major supermarkets. Several of the others are also available for purchase through their respective Web sites.

Keep in mind, however, that carbonated beverages (of any kind) create gas and belching in many people. Whenever belching occurs, there is a small amount of regurgitate that comes up into the esophagus, and this can contribute to heartburn. Alleviating heartburn requires several lifestyle modifications: diet, exercise, and stress reduction. Whether it's wine or coffee that contributes to yours, one step toward a pleasant solution could be low-acid food products. For those who just can't pass up their morning Java or garden-fresh tomato salad, you might try Prelief (www.preflief.com). This over-the-counter product, found in supermarkets and pharmacies, removes the acid irritant from food and beverages. Two tablets with each meal or beverage usually calms the burn.

Do you have a favorite low-acid food we haven't mentioned? Please let us know here and we will add it to the list:

References

1. Synovate Inc.'s online Global Opinion Panel was used as the sample source for this study. This is a national household database consisting of over 1.4 million households that have agreed to participate in survey research. The study included 1,000 representative interviews among adults age 18 to 65, and is balanced to be representative of the general population based upon region, gender, age and household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The selected individuals receive a customized e-mail inviting them to participate in the survey. The survey consists of a shared set of standard demographic questions.
2. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 39, 1999.