Commonly asked questions about heartburn include “is there any foods I can eat to help rid heartburn” and “does milk help heartburn”. Most people have occasional heartburn. According to a recent survey, 25% of Americans have heartburn once a month and about 12% experience heartburn symptoms once a week. Finding answers to questions like “is there any foods I can eat to help rid heartburn” may be difficult, because opinions vary. While most people agree that eating spicy, fried or fatty foods may trigger heartburn, eating foods to counteract heartburn is not commonly agreed upon.

There are different factors that can trigger heartburn. There are several things that are commonly believed to cause heartburn indigestion symptoms and most agree that a plan for how to get rid of heartburn should include attempts to avoid these things. Instead of asking “is there any foods I can eat to help rid heartburn”, perhaps you should be asking if there are foods that should be avoided to prevent heartburn. Once you have heartburn, you will probably need an antacid or other over the counter remedy to relieve the burning sensation. In answer to the question “does milk help heartburn”...some people say that drinking milk before eating spicy foods prevents heartburn. Some people find that drinking milk when they have heartburn helps and some find that taking a calcium supplement helps. If you are asking “does milk help heartburn”, a rebuttal question is “do you drink enough milk or do you get enough calcium in your diet”. Improper diet is probably the cause of most cases of heartburn.

If you only eat spicy foods occasionally and you only experience heartburn after eating spicy foods, then you can assume that spicy foods are causing the heartburn. Spicy foods do not cause heartburn in all people. Old sayings like “he has a cast iron stomach” come to mind. Some people seem to be able to eat anything without experiencing indigestion or heartburn. If you asked this people “does milk help heartburn” or “are there any foods I can eat to help rid heartburn”, they probably would not know. But if you looked at there normal diets, you might see that they eat a well-balanced diet, several small meals per day, rather than one or two large meals and they may not care for highly acidic foods like tomatoes and oranges. It may be helpful to keep a food diary to learn what triggers heartburn in your case. You can also try different foods and herbs that are folk remedies for heartburn and indigestion and you can see if they work for you.