What If You Have Heartburn /Reflux?

How to manage acid reflux without dieting or eliminating foods

This post is from my previous newsletter, Food Psych Weekly.

This week’s question is from a reader named Valerie, who writes:

Hi Christy! Your podcast has helped me so much in the past 10 months or so that I've been listening. I have made progress in my binge eating disorder recovery but know that I still have farther to go.

Lately I have been struggling with chronic (and sometimes severe) heartburn. I've had heartburn sporadically over the past few years but it has gotten worse in the past 2-3 months. Most of the available advice to reduce acid reflux/heartburn is to lose weight and/or cut out certain foods. Considering my history with binge eating and weight gain (I am in a larger body that has only gotten larger since the pandemic started) this "advice" is deeply unhelpful. I work in an office 9-5 and I'll get acid reflux in the middle of the afternoon.

I especially get really bad acid reflux during exercise. I take steps to prevent this by taking famotidine before my workout but sometimes I forget and it causes me to end my workout early due to the pain. The acid reflux also flares up at night time. I have a wedge pillow that I have been using to sleep with my head elevated to reduce this pain but again, this is only temporary and the pain returns the next day. I don't want to have to take famotidine everyday to manage this problem as I don't think famotidine is meant to be taken long term. Is there an anti-diet solution to this problem? Do I really need to cut out certain foods to manage the acid reflux?

Thank you for everything that you do!