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The National Heartburn Alliance (NHBA) has developed a new
guide to help patients choose foods to eat that will not trigger
their heartburn symptoms.
A recent
survey by the NHBA, a group of healthcare professionals dedicated
to providing heartburn education, showed that 92 percent of
frequent heartburn sufferers report that food is the primary
cause of their digestive discomfort.
To help
heartburn sufferers stay away from troublesome foods and beverages,
the NHBA has developed the Stop and Select Guide to help prevent
heartburn before it starts.
"Good
digestive health is largely related to what we eat,"
said Pat Baird, NHA board member and nutritionist. "The
NHBA's "Stop and Select Guide" offers sufferers
one option that can help prevent frequent heartburn by providing
quick visual cues of a food's potential to trigger outbreaks."
The guide
assigns a color code to a variety of foods and beverages based
on their acidic value, fat content, ability to decrease the
lower esophageal sphincter tone and/or increase acid secretion.
Patients can then determine the likelihood of a heartburn
episode based on the color code of foods consumed.
Using
the familiar symbol of a traffic light, foods are coded red
to "stop and reconsider the choice," yellow to "consume
with discretion" and green for foods that are safe to
eat without worry of causing heartburn symptoms.
Also,
the guide has foods listed by the standard USDA Food Pyramid
food groupings, giving patients an easy point of reference
when grocery shopping, cooking at home or eating out.
"Heartburn
sufferers need not eliminate all of their favorite foods to
avoid digestive discomfort, just those that make them 'see
red,'" said Baird. "So you may want to skip the
french fries and opt for fat-free potato chips instead."
To obtain
a free copy of the NHBA "Stop and Select Guide,"
call (toll-free) (877) 471-2081.
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of June 16, 2002
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