Heartburn, Reflux and Your Lifestyle

Posting Date: 11/11/2004

Some lifestyle factors seemed to confer protection. Regular consumption of high fibre brown bread and 30 minutes of strenuous exercise at least once a week both halved the risk of developing acid reflux.

The explanation for dietary fibre might lie in the fact that it mops up large amounts of nitric oxide in the stomach, produced from nitrites in the diet, say the authors. Nitric oxide relaxes the muscle at the bottom of the gullet, so promoting reflux.

Surprisingly, heavy coffee drinkers (around 7 cups a day) were also around 40% less likely to develop acid reflux than those who drank one or fewer cups a day. However, the authors point out that people with acid reflux might abstain from coffee drinking, which could potentially skew the results.

But neither tea nor alcohol, irrespective of the quantities drunk, had any impact on risk.

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