1. Chew your food. This is one of the best kept secrets of weight loss, and it also helps resolve low stomach acid issues. First of all, you’ll eat slower, which means you’ll actually enjoy your food more and eat less. This puts less burden on your valve. The added benefit is that thinking about your food, savoring it, and chewing it well stimulates higher stomach acid production. In turn this will help your food break down better and you’ll absorb more nutrients. All in all, chewing well is an easy and cheap way to better health.

2. Do not eat late at night. This is about transit time. The lower your stomach acid, the longer it takes you to breakdown food, which is why people with heartburn often experience worse symptoms when they lie down after eating. If your stomach is functioning at optimal levels it takes 6 hours for the contents of your stomach to empty, so imagine how long this could take if you have low stomach acid. Give your body a break and give yourself a few hours after eating before trying to sleep.

3. Decrease caffeine and sugar if you have heartburn symptoms. These are known to weaken your esophageal sphincter, so lay off while you are treating the problem or you will be fighting a losing battle. The same goes for smoking (which you should have quit long ago — if you need tips see this article. And if you are eating them in excess, avoid chocolate, citrus, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and peppermint temporarily as these are all known to increase heartburn symptoms.

4. Drink vinegar. Drinking vinegars are all the rage in Portland, and although they are great they can also be expensive. You can just buy yourself some good old raw unpasteurized Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar and drink 1 Tbsp of vinegar in a glass of water 20 minutes prior to each meal. This will increase your acid production in anticipation of eating so that you will breakdown your food more efficiently. You can add a bit of honey to make it more palatable. You can also drink this concoction as needed if heartburn symptoms occur.

5. Avoid carbonated beverages. Carbonation can be a killer to people with heartburn. If you drink lots of fizzy water or soda and find yourself suffering from that burn, cut it out for a few days and you’ll likely notice a big difference.

6. Increase your consumption of probiotic foods like sauerkraut and kimchi. Once again, these will aid you in breaking down your food so that it doesn’t sit in your stomach testing your gastric valve.

7. See a practitioner trained in functional nutrition. Functional nutrition looks at how the body reacts to food and how it uses food to optimize or sabotage its necessary functions. Your practitioner will take a holistic approach to your heartburn because there are other body systems and food habits that are often involved with this disorder. If you start with the above tips you will have a great foundation for ridding yourself of heartburn, and your practitioner will be able to build a treatment plan from there.