Suffering from acid reflux but can’t avoid peanut butter? Wondering is peanut butter good for acid reflux or can bring a negative impact?
Don’t worry. You can enjoy the taste of peanut butter even if you have acid reflux. However, you must be careful about the type of peanut butter and the amount of peanut butter you are eating to avoid its potential side effects.
Read on to briefly learn the effect of peanut butter on a person with acid reflux and some effective treatments to reduce or relieve acid reflux.
Is Peanut Butter Good For Acid Reflux?
Peanut butter doesn’t promote acid reflux; however, it has some other side effects. It’s a high-fat food and has some health benefits as well. When it comes to acid reflux, high-fat foods can increase its symptoms.
According to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, peanut butter is good for people with acid reflux.
However, you should avoid sweetened peanut butter. You should avoid chunky peanut butter, as it can produce signs of acid reflux. Instead, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center suggests eating natural and smooth peanut butter.
This type of peanut butter is a great part of esophageal soft diets that are recommended for esophagitis. One of the symptoms of esophagitis is acid reflux.
The Potential Effect of Peanut Butter On The Person with Acid Reflux
Peanut butter isn’t a problem for acid reflux. Instead, the rice, flour, and sugar contained in peanuts can bring a few side effects. Typically, peanut butter is a rich source of fat that can make you lazy.
If you eat peanut butter with toast every morning, it’ll produce a large number of saturated fats in your body that can cause acidity and heartburn. The fat also makes the stomach empty slowly.
Peanut butter also contains protein that increases acid buildup in the stomach. A combination of slow stomach emptying and acid production can worsen reflux disease, or GERD.
Hence, you shouldn’t eat peanut butter in large amounts to avoid those diseases. Alternatively, you can buy peanuts from a local Whole Foods store and grind them in a peanut butter grinder to make 100% peanut butter.
And one of the best treatments for GERD is to eat a light dinner with four pillows on a ramp and avoid sugar, alcohol, or carbs.
Treatment for Acid Reflux
If you have infrequent acid reflux, you can recover from it without intervention. Antacids are also a good treatment to relieve mild discomfort.
However, you should take antacids for a maximum of two weeks. If the symptoms still exist after the treatment, talk to your doctor.
If you have severe acid reflux, you may need both OTC and prescription medications at the same time, as well as surgery. Lastly, changing the lifestyle can lessen the symptoms of acid reflux.
Final words
In the end, peanut butter is good for acid reflux. However, you must avoid chunky and sweetened peanut butter and should consume only a small amount.
To reduce acid reflux symptoms and live a healthy life, try eating smaller meals and doing weight loss exercises one at a time.