Many people have the erroneous idea that being on a special diet for GERD requires eating nothing but bland and boring foods. Nothing could be further from the truth! Just because you are on a GERD diet does not mean that you have to give up all of the flavor and enjoyment you are used to. While there may be a few foods that you’ll need to avoid, you will be able to add a lot of different foods to make up for them. Let us look at some of the foods you will want to avoid while eating a GERD diet, but more importantly what you can eat to make eating fulfilling.

The first thing you need to understand is that anything that is known to cause heartburn such as hot and spicy foods will not be very friendly to someone who suffers from GERD. There are also quite a few nuts and sugary snacks that can further irritate your condition. However, there are also some sweets that can be eaten on a GERD diet. Fat free snacks are quite friendly to someone who is eating a special GERD diet. Red licorice, jelly beans and other fat free gummy candies are usually fine. If you want to incorporate something sweet and creamy into your GERD diet menu plan then frozen yogurt is a wonderful treat. This can be bought in a variety of different flavors. You will still want to be cautious of flavors that include nuts but for the most part frozen yogurt is great for your GERD diet menu. Some fruits such as citrus fruits should be avoided while bananas and apples are fine. Apples can be eaten dehydrated as a crunchy snack or just fresh.

If you just want something safe to snack on pretzels, graham crackers, bran/oat cereal or rice cakes are great choices. Be cautious when choosing flavored rice cakes as some can trigger heartburn such as the peanut butter flavored variety. If you want to eat cheese try substituting goat’s milk or feta for cow’s milk cheeses. Always remember that fatty foods are major culprits so try to eat low fat or even fat free cheeses. Butter is something that should be avoided but low fat or fat free sour cream can be used for things like baked potatoes.

If you enjoy veggies then there is very good news. Many different kinds of green leafy vegetables can be made a part of your GERD diet menu recipes. Also, meant is not something that you’ll totally have to avoid but you will want to stick to lean cuts of meat. It would also be a good idea to avoid pork completely or at least minimize the amount of times you eat it.

There are strict GERD diets that are intended for people who have more complicated cases of the illness and then there are those who must adhere to a moderate GERD diet. If you have GERD then you’ve probably been given a set of instructions from your physician. Use the foods that you are able to eat to create exciting and delicious GERD diet menu sample items. As long as you are using the foods you are allowed to eat there is almost no limit to what you can do to create scrumptious and wholesome meals.