Acid Reflux & Menopause: trigger foods to avoid & other tips to help

What causes acid reflux during perimenopause and menopause

The main reason for acid reflux during perimenopause and menopause is that there seems to be a link between falling oestrogen and the lack of production of stomach acid. (1)

Now, we tend to associate acid reflux with high acid production as the main cause of problems, but low acid symptoms can cause exactly the same symptoms as high acid. And we know that there seems to be this link between falling oestrogen and lack of production of stomach acid, so you end up getting all the symptoms that are identical to high acid ones, such as indigestion and acid reflux, where you can feel food coming back up the way. You may find that food is just sitting in your stomach and it's not shifting, and you feel really very, very uncomfortable. It could be that you get lots of wind.

Acid reflux trigger foods

Very often, you find that foods that you used to have absolutely no trouble with at all are starting to cause problems.

There are a number of foods that can aggravate or trigger acid reflux which you may want to limit or remove from your diet. Here are some of the main ones to be aware of:

1. Acidic foods

Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits, and their juices too. So, if you have a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice every morning for breakfast, that could be one of your triggers.

Also, tomato-based foods. These can really cause a lot of indigestion. And tomatoes are in just about everything. They're in sauces, tomato ketchup, salsa, and lots of other general dishes and soups that include either fresh tomatoes or tinned tomatoes. And also, don't forget tomato juice itself. So again, if you're a fan of a little glass of tomato juice every now and again, that could be a big trigger.

2. Fatty or greasy foods

This includes most fast foods, fried foods, and high-fat dairy - things like butter, cream, cheese, and whole milk. And most fast foods are processed, remember? Then there’s things like bacon, sausages, beef burgers, and don't forget pastries - the high-fat baked goods would be things like your morning croissant, your mid-morning or mid-afternoon donut, or loads of different types of biscuits.

3. Spicy foods

These are your chili-based foods, hot foods, hot sauces, chili sauces, curries, and anything with things like cayenne pepper or black pepper in them.

4. Alcohol

There's a valve at the top of the stomach that helps keep your stomach contents in the stomach. But alcohol, if you drink enough of it, can loosen this valve, and that can make you more vulnerable to acid reflux.

So, if you're drinking alcohol regularly, that might be part of the problem. Also, a lot of alcohol consumption can sensitise the oesophagus (the tube from the throat down into the stomach), making it become more irritable if you do actually get gastric reflux. Sometimes if you get gastric reflux, you can feel a burning pain that feels like it's at the top of the stomach. This is because the contents of the stomach have actually breached that particular valve.

5. Caffeine

That includes tea and coffee. Even things like drinking chocolate can be a problem; and of course, energy drinks too.

6. Carbonated drinks

Fizzy drinks, juices, even fizzy water can trigger or worsen acid reflux. If you drink a lot at once, you've got all those bubbles in the stomach. They are going to create pressure in the stomach, and if that valve at the top is a bit weak, then the pressure is going to release food or drink into the oesophagus. In other words, you're going to get gastric reflux and, probably, a lot of wind and burping as well.

7. Garlic and onions

Garlic and onions can cause acid reflux in sensitive individuals, especially if you have raw onions in a salad or sandwich. They can be really quite hard to digest.

Tips that can help reduce/sooth acid reflux

Here are a few things that I recommend to help yourself if this is one of your symptoms:

Keep a food/symptom diary: The easiest thing to do is to do a diary for a week or two. List all the foods that you eat and then when you get symptoms. With this particular class of symptoms, the symptoms are usually felt quite quickly after you've eaten the food; so, you may find that within 10-15 minutes of eating you get discomfort, or you may find it happens within a couple of hours.

Doing a diary is a good thing to help identify your triggers and, as I mentioned right at the beginning, it can be something as healthy as your morning glass of orange juice that could actually be one of your triggers.

Portion size matters: Watch your portion size because, again, if the stomach is producing less acid and you have these big meals, the food in the stomach is just going to ferment, which is going to cause pressure, and you're going to get acid reflux. So, have smaller portions, and if you do get really hungry maybe have just a small snack in between meals to help with that.

Chew well: Remember to chew your food well. Your stomach doesn't have any teeth! so if you don't chew properly the whole digestive process that should start in the mouth is disrupted. We're really busy. We eat on the run. You're going chomp, chomp, swallow, rather than chewing properly. You've got all these big lumps of unchewed food in your stomach, and it's no wonder the stomach ends up struggling.

So, take your time, chew your food really thoroughly, and this is one of the things you can do for yourself that can work extremely quickly at alleviating all these symptoms.

Avoid drinking too much when eating: If you need to, just have a very small amount of water. The more you drink when you eat, the more you dilute your stomach acid, and the more likely you are to end up with acid reflux.

Avoid eating too late or having large meals before bedtime, to avoid acid reflux at night: If you're lying back in bed, there is more pressure on the valve on the top of the stomach. So, don't put a lot of pressure on your stomach late in the evening. If you tend to eat late, then have your biggest meal of the day at lunchtime and just have a smaller meal in the evening. And again, that can really help with night-time acid reflux symptoms.

Bitter herbs before meals: Bitter herbs are great because they stimulate the correct amount of gastric juice that you need to digest your food. You can look at the herb century, which is a really lovely one that you can take as drops in a little water; or you can go with bitter leaves, such as endive and fennel. Have just a small portion of those before you have something else to eat. They're part of the Mediterranean diet. If you look at the Mediterranean diet, normally, the first course of a meal is a nice plate of bitter herbs. And of course, they traditionally don't experience as much indigestion or digestive havoc.

Sit up straight when you eat: Your posture is really important. And this is something we forget, me included. Your stomach needs plenty of room to move to mix the stomach acid in with the food to break it down correctly. If you are sitting in front of the TV with your food on your lap, you're sitting hunched, you're watching TV, you're at your desk - you've squashed your stomach and it can't work properly, and you'll be far more likely to end up with gastric reflux.

I can remember my parents when I was little sitting at a table, saying, "Sit up, elbows off the table." And by doing that, you're giving your stomach plenty of room to move and work properly.

Soothe acid reflux with Silicolgel: If you get symptoms of acid reflux you can use a remedy called Silicolgel to help. This can be very soothing.

I hope you found this one helpful. We have realised that it's a very common problem. And sometimes, if you're given antacids, they actually make the position worse because you've got the symptoms of low stomach acid rather than high stomach acid.

If any of you have had this, what did you do to sort it out? Any tips? Was there any particular food that you discovered was the main culprit? Please share. You know I love reading all your stories, and your simple tips may help someone else down the line as well.

Until next time, take care and have a lovely week.

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