Cool Ways to Manage Heartburn

Whatever fast food is your favorite fare, pay attention to portion size. Overeating ups the chances of getting heartburn.

Avoid

• Combo orders with sandwich, fries, drink
• Double burgers
• Onion rings, fries
• "Supersize" orders
• All-you-can-eat buffets
• Country fried steak and all the fixings
• Meats with fiery-hot BBQ sauce
• Ketchup

Choose

• Sandwich without fries
• Grilled chicken sandwich
• Plain baked potato
• Salad bar with low-cal dressings
• Turkey sandwich with vegetable soup
• BBQ meat with no sauce, or mild sauce
• Honey-based dressing

It isn't just the coffee that might turn on the burn. Coffee shop fare can contain a lot of fat. If that's one of your heartburn triggers, there is still tasty food for you here.

Avoid

• Quiche
• Fried chicken sandwich
• French fries
• Chicken fried steak
• Donuts
• Chocolate cake
• Coffee
• Tea with caffeine

Choose

• Broth-based soups with vegetables
• Grilled chicken sandwich
• Baked potato without butter
• Veggie burger
• Whole wheat bagel
• Fruit bowl for dessert
• Decaf herbal tea
• Mineral water

Breakfast is a perfect meal to squeeze in some of your fruit servings for the day. Pick ones that will be kind to you. The less citrus, the better.

Avoid

• Grapefruit, oranges, tangerines
• Coffee, orange juice
• Bacon and fried eggs
• Chocolate donuts or croissants
• Sugary cereal

Choose

• Apples, bananas, peaches
• Low-fat milk, apple juice
• Poached or hard-boiled eggs
• Whole-wheat bagel and jam

Some Chinese food may be spicy, but the menu at your favorite restaurant should have plenty of heartburn-free options.

Avoid

• Egg rolls or fried spring rolls
• Deep fried wontons
• Crab Rangoon
• Szechuan pork or chicken
• Fried rice
• Sweet and sour pork or chicken
• Hot and sour soup
• Fried dessert

Choose

• Wonton soup
• Steamed dim sum
• Steamed dumplings
• Stir-fried beef with broccoli
• Plain or brown rice
• Moo Goo Gai Pan or Mu Shu Pork
• Egg drop soup
• Steamed broccoli or eggplant
• Fortune cookies

Getting heartburn doesn't mean you have to give up desserts. Just fine-tune what you order to avoid your triggers, such as chocolate.

Avoid

• Chocolate candies
• Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Fried or chocolate pies
• Mocha ice cream
• Chocolate mocha cake
• Mocha cookies
• Key lime pie
• Lemon meringue pie
• Regular ice cream

Choose

• Hard non-citrus candies -- not mint
• Angel food cake
• Sugar cookies
• Apple pie
• Vanilla low-fat ice cream
• Sponge cake
• Vanilla or sugar cookies
• Berries in season
• Peach pie
• Non-fat frozen yogurt

If you like gourmet cuisine, you can still enjoy it without getting heartburn, even if fatty foods are a trigger for you. Here, how to cut back the fat, but not the taste.

Avoid

• Creamy salad dressings
• Dishes made with butter
• Porterhouse steak and other high-fat cuts
• Scalloped potatoes
• Fish in lemon cream sauce
• Fennel with lemon stuffing
• Green beans with lemon
• Spring greens with cherry tomatoes
• Caprese salad
• Ravioli with sun-dried tomatoes
• Gourmet pizza with tomato paste
• Lamb or lamb kabobs with mint sauce
• Beet and mint salad
• Mint and yogurt soup
• Au gratin potatoes
• Rib eye steaks
• Fried vegetables
• "Designer" coffee drinks
• Wine, other alcohol

Choose

• Low-fat salad dressings
• Dishes grilled with little oil
• Nonfat frozen yogurt
• London broil or filet mignon
• Plain Baked potato
• Grilled fish
• Vegetable kabobs with grapes
• Fennel with parsley
• Green beans and onions
• Mixed green salad with low-fat dressing
• Ravioli with zucchini
• Gourmet pizza with pesto base
• Lean Beef kabobs
• Roasted lamb
• Asparagus or other vegetable soup
• Brown rice
• London broil or round steak
• Steamed vegetables
• Fruit bowl
• Mineral water

If fatty foods trigger your heartburn, you can still enjoy Greek food.

Avoid

• Fried calamari
• Moussaka (lamb and beef)
• Classic Baba Ganoush
• Classic lentil soup
• Zucchini with lemon
• Artichoke with lemon
• Fried fish
• Gyro
• Bakalava

Choose

• Dolmas (rice in grape leaves)
• Roast lamb
• Shish kabob
• Eggplant dip without tomato
• Lentil soup without tomato
• Fava beans
• Grilled fish
• Roasted vegetables
• Fruit

If you love Indian food, don't despair -- yes, it's often spicy, but you can avoid the burn with some wise menu choices.

Avoid

• Pineapple chutney
• Paneer Pakora (cheese and mint sauce)
• Indian relish (red peppers)
• Butter chicken (tomato sauce)
• Tomato rice
• Pappu Tomato
• Samosas
• Curries made with cream
• Fried or stuffed breads
• Curries with coconut cream or milk

Choose

• Vegetable platter
• Squash Vada
• Asparagus with ginger
• Malai Kofta (vegetarian meatballs, without sauce)
• Tandoori chicken
• Mango chicken salad
• Papadum (thin lentil wafers)
• Curries with a vegetable base
• Naan (bread)
• Roasted meat dishes such as chicken tikka

Tomatoes are a common heartburn trigger, and a big part of Italian fare. Eating Italian takes a little creativity to avoid the burn. But you can do it.

Avoid

• Tomato sauces, toppings
• Tomato toppings
• Chicken parmigiana
• Pepperoni, sausage, salami on pizza
• Tiramisu
• Coffee
• Wine

Choose

• Mushroom sauce, broth-based sauce
• Crunchy bruschetta toast without toppings
• Baked chicken without sauce
• Broccoli, mushrooms, olives on pizza
• Plain biscotti
• Decaf herbal tea
• Mineral water

Salsa is traditional Mexican fare, but if tomatoes kick up your heartburn, you can still enjoy some South-of-the-border dishes.

Avoid

• Chips and salsa
• Tomatoes in tacos
• Fried taco shells
• Chile peppers
• Mole sauce
• Chorizo
• Chimichangas
• Margaritas
• Flan

Choose

• Chips with mild guacamole
• Guacamole in tacos
• Flour tortilla
• Milder peppers, if you can tolerate them
• Mild guacamole
• Chicken in flour tortilla
• Fajitas (no onions)
• Mineral water

Seafood can be kind to your heartburn -- or cruel. If fried foods are your heartburn trigger, here's what you need to know.

Avoid

• Fried fish or shellfish
• Balsamic vinegar glazed salmon
• Seafood gumbo or bouillabaisse

Choose

• Baked, broiled, or grilled fish or shellfish
• Grilled salmon without sauce
• Fish and potato stew (no tomatoes)

Spices are a mainstay of Thai cuisine. If spicy foods trigger your heartburn, choose wisely.

Avoid

• Geow Grob (fried wontons)
• Tod Mun (fried fish cake)
• Gang Leang (spicy vegetable soup)
• Tom Yum Goong (shrimp in spicy soup)
• Tom Yum Hed (spicy oyster mushroom soup)
• Moo Dang (BBQ pork with five spice marinade)
• Pud Makua Yow (stir-fried eggplant with chili pepper)
• Goong Ob Woonsen (shrimp with garlic)
• Mee Grow Chow Wung (sweet and sour crispy fried rice)
• Goew Tiew Kak (rice noodles in beef curry sauce)
• Cha (Bright orange tea)
• Pineapple mango upside down cake
• Fried bananas

Choose

• Satay (marinated, grilled meat)
• Thai salad rolls without sauce
• Gang Jued Naw Mai Sod Gub Gai (fresh bamboo shoot soup)
• Nam Gang (chicken broth)
• Tom Yum Gai (lean chicken soup with lemongrass)
• Neur toon (slow-cooked beef stew, hold the spices)
• Grilled snapper
• Ginger and chicken stir fry
• Pad Thai (stir-fried rice noodles with chives, sprouts and shrimp)
• Kow Su-ay (rice cooked in water)
• Fug Tong Gang Buad (pumpkin in coconut milk)
• Boa Loy (rice balls in coconut milk)
• Saku Piak Maprow On (tapioca pudding in warm coconut milk)