6 foods and drinks to avoid if you get heartburn

If you experience acid reflux, a condition characterized by a burning pain in your chest, you're not alone. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), more than 60 million Americans have heartburn at least one time each month. The good news is that acid reflux and its most recognizable symptom, heartburn, are treatable, and even preventable.

What causes heartburn? It has to do with your esophageal sphincter. It’s a ring-shaped muscle that opens to allow food into the stomach, then closes to prevent food and digestive juices from flowing back up into the esophagus (food pipe). When the sphincter is weak, it allows those stomach contents to bubble into the esophagus, causing the sensation we know as heartburn. 

Obesity, pregnancy, hiatal hernia (when the upper portion of the stomach pokes up through the diaphragm and into the chest), smoking, and certain medications (like painkillers and drugs used to lower blood pressure) can cause acid reflux. Certain foods and drinks can trigger discomfort, too, such as the following.