What Can You Drink When You Have Acid Reflux?

I am often asked questions like what drinks help acid reflux or what’s the best drink for heartburn? Well whether you have more severe acid reflux or minor acid reflux you should be considering what you are drinking and if it could be making your reflux worse or even brining it on in the first place. People who have more serious acid reflux and have the likes or GERD or LPR should be even more careful with what they are drinking.

There is even more emphasis on someone who has LPR because if you drink something acidic this coming in contact with the throat and can further irritate and annoy symptoms. If you want more information on LPR and how it is caused check out my complete LPR guide here.

First off, I am going to start of with my few suggestions of the things you can drink that will not cause any reflux at all and in fact should help aid symptoms.

Best Drinks for Acid Reflux

What to Drink for Acid Reflux (non acidic drinks)

(this applies for people with more serious reflux and for people with LPR is it essential.)

Water

As you may have guessed water is the best thing that you can drink if you have acid reflux. It won’t annoy or aggravate any symptoms or induce reflux in the first place so really it is the number 1 choice most of the time. If you can it would be preferable to drink water that is bottled because it won’t have been processed or have anything added to it like tap water sometimes can do.

If you do decide to drink bottled water getting one with a higher pH number would be preferable but it isn’t essential. What the pH number resembles is the acidity level of the water – the higher the number the more alkaline it is and the lower the more acidic. Therefore, if you get a water with a higher pH with a rating of 8+ for example it could help naturally calm the stomach and the reflux because it is alkaline. For more information check out my article – Alkaline Water for LPR.

Tea for Acid Reflux

Chamomile Tea

Chamomile tea is one of the best teas for acid reflux not only because it is soothing and a nice taste but because of how it helps calm the whole digestive tract and the stomach. This is because it has anti-inflammatory properties with is ideal for aiding and easing acid reflux. For more on chamomile tea check our article – Is Chamomile Tea Good for Acid Reflux?

Marshmallow Root Tea

Another tea that you can enjoy is marshmallow root tea – it is probably the best tea for acid reflux. It is incredibly soothing so much so they it is often included in cough medicine because of its healing properties. The great thing is that these properties apply to the throat and the esophagus and even the stomach lining which should ease acid reflux symptoms.

These are the 3 drinks that I would advise you stick to it you are suffering a lot from acid reflux and as I already mentioned for someone with LPR it is essential to only drink these options.

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Of course, these 3 options are incredibly limited for most people and for people who don’t want to be as strict of course there are more options available. Instead of listing all the additional options I will now list all the drinks that you should be avoiding – all of these drinks can induce acid reflux in the first place and usually worsen symptoms.

Drinks You Should Avoid

Soda

Soda is one of the worst things you can consume if you have any form of acid reflux. The main problem with soda is that it is highly acidic. This acidity can often induce the reflux and irritate your throat/esophagus that may have already been damaged by acid. Also, the fact that is it carbonated means more likelihood of belching which is another avenue for acid refluxing up.

Alcohol

As you may have guessed most alcoholic beverages are quite acidic and not only that but some of these beverages like wine for example will encourage more acid production in the stomach which will only heighten the chances of acid reflux, so avoiding alcohol is highly recommended.

Something to note – Not all alcoholic drinks are acidic there are a few exceptions to the rule for example some potato based vodkas like Chopin are more alkaline than most waters, also gins tend to be less acidic, for example Greenhook Ginsmiths has a similar pH level to water.

The one thing you have to keep in mind with any alcohol is that the alcohol can make the valve above the stomach weaker (LES) which too can lead to acid reflux. The best alcohol for acid reflux are as I mentioned vodka and gin whereas most of the other alcohols like bear, wine etc all tend to be very acidic. If you have more serious acid reflux it would be wise to avoid all alochol until your symptoms have lessened or resolved and after that point you could consider the like of gin and vodka.

Drinks with Caffeine (coffee)

People sometimes get confused about coffee because coffee in fact isn’t that acidic though there is another reason why you want to avoid it. If you didn’t know for most people with acid reflux the valve above the stomach which is called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) opens when it shouldn’t. The problem with caffeine is that it can make this LES valve relax and open which then in turn can cause acid reflux which is why drinks with caffeine are a no go. You can read more about the LES’s importance in acid reflux here.

Fruit Juice

Along with soda fruit juices are one of the most acidic things you can drink. This fact alone is why you want to avoid drinking them because of their high acidity with can induce symptoms.

Conclusion

Following these pieces of advice should get you on the right track to lowering your acid reflux or for some perhaps completely eradicating it all together. If you need more advice or guidance on acid reflux consider a Private Acid Reflux Consultation with Me here.