Heartburn Relief: Quick, Easy Tips

Do you suffer from heartburn?
Here are some surprising, quick and easy tips that actually help:
1) Apples. I've found that eating an apple a day actually helps. The green Granny Smith apples seem to work best for me. Apparently, even thought they are acidic, something about the apples lessens (or helps prevent) the heartburn.
2) Almonds. I put crushed almonds on my cereal and find that these also help to prevent the onset of heartburn early on the day.
3) Small meals. Eat small meals and don't go hungry for significant periods of time. Keep a small bag of pretzels or some other non-fatty snack handy. If you're stomach is growling, that's a prescription for heartburn. But remember: small meals.
4) Water. Drinking water also helps. So, keep bottled water handy. But don't gulp it. Sip it.
5) Chewing gum. This works for many people but remember -- chew unsweetened non-mint gum. I like the Trident fruit flavor. Avoid mint of any type as that is not good if you have heartburn.
6) Walking. Brisk daily walks (at least a mile) are helpful and healthy. Take deep, full (not quick) breaths.
7) Carbonated drinks. Stay away from them. Eliminate these from your diet as they are heartburn-inducers.
8) Caffeine. In moderation, caffeine need not be feared. This means one cup of HALcaf coffee per day and/or an iced tea/lemonade mixture. Keep the caffeine to a minimum.
9) Chocolate. A small piece of milk chocolate occasionally. That's it. Avoid rich, dark chocolate and never eat chocolate just before bed time.
10) Dairy. Be careful with dairy products. Stay away from rich creams (and ice-cream) if your heartburn is active. Once it's under control, enjoy these treats sparingly -- that means once or twice a week, tops.
The secret is getting your heartburn under control.
These tips are helpful (0ften with medication) to get the problem under control and (more importantly) to prevent recurrences.