I get asked a lot about what foods to eat and should I be following some kind of acid reflux diet to help ease my symptoms. The short answer is that it doesn’t really matter, within reason, what food you eat – there isn’t really a “one size fits all” acid reflux diet.

People with digestive problems often ask which acid reflux foods cause their symptoms and which are unlikely to do so. They are surprised to find that there are very few types of food that cause GERD and acid reflux symptoms. A minority of sufferers find that fried foods upset them: others find that tea or coffee or similar hot drinks do so.

Many more rue the glass of spirits that well-meaning friends have offered them. The rule about food is that if you find one that brings on heartburn symptoms or discomfort, then avoid it. Everyone is different. It is more important to eat a variety of foods that don’t obviously induce the symptoms rather than to go on a restrictive “acid reflux diet”.

The main consideration you should be focusing on, with any kind of acid reflux diet, is to stop eating big meals. You will almost certainly find, as you change from big meals to small portions eaten slowly, that you return to eating foods that in the past you thought made you feel ill. This is why I’m not dedicating a lot of space to so called acid reflux diets. They don’t work in GERD or acid reflux disease, except in so far as you will find by trial and error and experience which foods suit you and which ones don’t.