BE HEART HEALTHY: What you need to eat to beat acid reflux

This food plan could combat heartburn once and for all and protect you from potential cancersMany of us know the tell-tale signs — a burning sensation in the chest and uncomfortable burping after a big meal.Silent acid reflux leads to problems such as difficulty swallowing, a sore throat, nagging cough — and, in the long run, an increased risk of throat cancer. New Yorkbased ear, nose and throat specialist Dr Jonathan Aviv is one of the leading authorities on the diagnosis and treatment of acid reflux. The good news for sufferers is that by overhauling their diet and ditching acid-triggering foods, Dr Aviv believes they can eradicate the niggling symptoms and reverse the damage to the oesophagus that may increase cancer risk.In an extract from his book, The Acid Watcher Diet, Dr Aviv explains why acid reflux is so dangerous — and reveals the food plan he has devised to tackle this growing problem once and for all.Our lifestyle habits play a partSmoking, eating late at night, rushing our food and being overweight can all put excess pressure on the oesophageal valve. Stress is also implicated, as it triggers the release of hormones that can increase the production of gastric acid.Why acid is so bad for usThe key lies in pepsin, an enzyme that’s meant to help break down food in the stomach. In the stomach, pepsin is inactive until woken up by acidic foods. But once mixed into gastric acid in the gut, it can surge up into the oesophagus, chest, vocal cords and throat, where pepsin molecules can attach to pepsin receptors. This is when the real trouble begins. Once pepsin is planted in your oesophagus, it is activated every time you eat or drink something acidic.As you may remember from your school chemistry lessons, the pH scale runs from 1 to 14 — anything below pH 7 is considered acidic, everything above that is alkaline. Pepsin becomes most active in an environment with a pH level between one and four. If there are no food proteins for it to break down (as there are in the stomach), the activated pepsin will instead eat away at the throat and oesophagus, causing problems from inflammation and heartburn to Barrett’s oesophagus (a precursor to cancer) and possibly oesophageal cancer. A key feature is to keep pepsin in your stomach, where it belongs.Give foods the acid testDon’t let calories, carbohydrates or fat dictate whether a food is good or bad. Make choices based on a food’s acidity or pH value. As a general rule, the more processed a food is, the more acidic it is. Acid is found in carbonated drinks, commercially produced fruit juices and in high fructose biscuits, cakes and ice cream. It’s even high in canned soups and pickled vegetables. If the label includes citric or ascorbic acid, this suggests the product is acidic.Your acid-fighting food plan1 Rein in your reflux-generating habits — so stop smoking completely and cut out processed food.2 Avoid fried food. It relaxes the oesophageal valve.3 Eat three meals, and two mini meals, at regular intervals, having dinner no later than 7.30 pm. This ensures you don’t overeat and allows the stomach three hours to digest before lying down.4 Practice the rule of five. You can eat foods with a pH value of five and higher, while pH 4 foods can be introduced in the maintenance phase. These foods will help heal the damage to your oesophagus by keeping pepsin in check.5 Introduce more fibre into your diet — it keeps your digestion healthy, reducing reflux. To do this, eat a daily minimum of 450g of vegetables above pH 5 (for example, five medium-sized carrots) — half of which should be raw — and a daily minimum of 225g raw fruit.6 Restrict intake of fluids to just drinking water.7 Avoid seed oils. Use extra virgin olive oil instead.