7 foods to avoid if you have GERD/ heartburn

Whether you have a sour taste regurgitating at the back of your throat, or a burning sensation in your digestive tract, coughing and choking in the middle of the night or have griping chest pains that is not a heart attack, you have heartburn or reflux. 

Lifestyle and diet changes can help heartburn.  The 7 top foods that I have observed, when removed help reduce incidence of heartburn:

1. Coffee – the acidity and caffeine exacerbates acid reflux
2. Chocolate – have been found to be a common culprit in heartburn
3. Tomatoes – especially acidic tomatoes, non-acidic tomatoes are usually fine.
4. Alcohol – some people use alcohol to help relax and fall asleep but it is precisely the acid reflux that wake them back up! 
5. Spices – cayenne, garlic and onions
6. Gluten – it is hard to digest, especially if there are gastrointestinal problems, and starts to ferment in the stomach, creating pressure to bring up acid
7. Flour products – processed foods made out of flour can be a problem with acid reflux – breads (even gluten free ones), pancakes, etc.  Eat whole foods, rather than processed foods made out of flours, worse if it is white!

And don’t eat close bed time.  Sit upright and chew you food, 20 chews per mouthful. Your stomach does not have teeth, you need to make it easy to breakdown.

Super Seed Crackers

¼ cup chia seeds

1 cup hot water

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup linseeds/ flaxseeds

½ tsp salt (or less)

Flaky Salt to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 160C fanbake and line 2 oven trays with baking paper

Mix chia seeds with hot water stirring well with spoon in a medium bowl and allow to stand while the chia seeds absorb the liquid (about 10 minutes).  Stir in all remaining ingredients except salt to sprinkle.  Divide between the prepared trays and press out to roughly flatten with spoon.  Place a second sheet of baking paper over the top of each and roll out as thinly as possible with rolling pin (around 3mm thick).  Remove the top sheet of paper and sprinkle the cracker mix with flaky salt.

Bake for 30 minutes then remove trays from oven and flip the sheets of cracker mix and gently peel off the baking paper.  Return to oven and bake until they are crisp and firm and snap rather than fold when bent (a further 5-10 minutes).  Leave to cool and then break into crackers for a rustic look.  If you want them cut as neat crackers, bake for 20 minutes (rather than 30 minutes) before flipping, peel off baking paper and then cut into shapes.  Spread out on the trays and return to the oven to crisp (a further 15-20 minutes).  They will keep for weeks in an airtight container.

This recipe is with compliments from a client of mine, Felicia.  The crackers taste divine on their own or eaten with some guacamole, hummus or tomato and smoked salmon.