Causes

• One of the main causes of GERD is a condition called a hiatal hernia, when the upper part of your stomach and the ring of muscles (the lower esophageal sphincter, or LES) move up above the diaphragm--the muscle that separates your stomach from your chest. But there are a number of lifestyle choices that can also cause acid reflux. Those include being overweight; eating very large meals, then lying down on your back; and certain foods and drinks, including citrus fruits and juices, chocolate, coffee or tea; and fatty or spicy foods. Smoking also increases the chances of getting frequent heartburn.
  
  

Alkaline Diet

• Your body naturally wants to maintain a healthy pH balance between acidity and alkalinity and diet plays a significant part in that. Meat and other protein foods that can leave a residue of acids in the stomach have become an increasing part of the American diet over the last century or so. Your stomach simply can't digest too much acidic food completely. The leftover undigested food can cause stomach and a buildup of stomach gas, forcing the LES open and allowing the stomach acids to move up in to your esophagus.
  
  Eating more fruits, vegetables and grains is a helpful start to reforming your diet to reduce the likelihood of acid reflux. Berries, apples and pears, bananas and melons can help neutralize stomach acids. Recommended vegetables include the cabbage family (including bok choy, cauliflower and broccoli, as well as head cabbage), carrots, peas and green beans. Good sources of grain include corn bread, oatmeal cereal, pretzels, rice and rice cakes. Choosing low-fat or fat-free dairy products and lean meats such as skinless chicken breasts, fish and turkey will also help, as excess fats contribute to the problem. The same thing applied to sweets and desserts--oatmeal cookies are a better choice than chocolate ice cream, for example. Drinking plenty of water and substituting herbal teas for black tea or coffee should also help reduce the prospect of painful bouts of heartburn.
  
  

Foods to Avoid

• While the foods just mentioned will help keep too much acid from forming in your stomach, there are other foods that can make matters worse and trigger acid reflux. Foods that you should limit or try to avoid completely include spicy cuisines like Mexican, Indian or Thai and dishes containing hot peppers. Citrus fruit such as grapefruits and oranges and their juices can also add to acid problems, as can junk foods, which usually contain large amounts of fat and refined sugar. Chocolate can be especially difficult for people with acid reflux disease to tolerate. High-fat meats, particularly cured meats like sausages and bacon are hard to digest and add to the problem as well.
  
  While all these are good general suggestions, each person's experiences are different, so keeping a food diary and making notes on which foods are helpful or harmful to you in particular can help refine your diet to one that works well for you.