Have you ever felt a burning pain in your chest after eating ice cream? Well, you’ll be surprised to know that ice cream, although it is very sweet and a perfect dessert for all times, might not be good for your digestive system, especially if you have GERD.
Ice cream is reportedly linked to triggering the symptoms of acid reflux or GERD. For instance, it can cause heartburn, vomiting, chest pain, and a feeling like the food is stuck in your throat.
So, it might not be a wise decision to munch on this creamy dessert if you are already facing digestive issues like GERD.
This article will help you know what makes ice cream not good for the condition. So, keep reading!
What is GERD?
GERD stands for gastroesophageal reflux disease. It usually occurs when the acid in your stomach which is the hydrochloric acid (HCl) flows back to your food pipe or esophagus. It is commonly referred to as acid reflux and is an irritating condition for the digestive lining.
GERD is a chronic condition and is indicated by the following symptoms;
- Burning feeling in the chest while lying down or after eating
- Regurgitation of food
- Pain in the upper abdomen
- Difficulty in swallowing
- A feeling of a lump stuck in your throat
These symptoms usually worsen at night when you go to bed and thus you are likely to experience consistent cough, inflamed vocal cords, asthma or suffocation, etc.
Medicines work to fix the situation but temporarily. For long-term relief, you might have to make some permanent changes in your lifestyle, especially your dietary habits.
Your health practitioner will prescribe you medicines that will allow faster movement of food through the digestive tract or they will coat your stomach for reduced production of acid.
Besides these, you have to modify your lifestyle as well. For instance, you have to eat smaller portions and avoid food items that may aggravate the condition. These may include fried food, fast food, fatty meats, and high-fat dairy products like your favorite ice cream!
Let’s now find out how ice cream affects your digestive system.
Ice cream and GERD
According to the Surgical Clinic, ice cream and other dairy products with high-fat content can intensify the symptoms of digestive conditions like GERD. It is because they take more time to digest because of the high sugar content and stay longer in your stomach. Thus, your stomach makes more acid which is likely to flush back into your food pipe through the lower esophageal sphincter (LES).
For your understanding, LES is a small ring of muscle that distinguishes the esophagus and the stomach. It usually contracts so that the acid cannot move upward and burn the vulnerable esophageal lining.
However, gastroenterology experts say that colder dairy products like ice cream have a numbing or freezing effect on the sphincter muscles. It causes them to relax and keep the opening between the two organs wide. And this is the major reason your stomach acid can easily flow back giving rise to the respective issue.
The effects can be even more dangerous if your ice cream has a chocolate, coffee, or mint flavor because they too are found to relax your LES causing acid reflux.
In addition, ice cream is an acidic dessert and is not only likely to cause discomfort but also worsen it. Typically, ice cream has a pH between 5.82 and 6.62. However, these values may vary with the flavor of the ice cream. You must be thinking that this pH range isn’t that acidic but the fact that ice creams are slowly digested makes them very dangerous.
Special care must be taken if you are consuming sorbets or ice cream with citrus flavors. They have an even lower pH around 3.2 to 4.1. It is because they are added with citrus and other additives having acidic essence.
So, it is concluded that ice creams are not stomach-friendly at all. And must be avoided to maintain your digestive health.
Some other reasons to avoid ice creams with Acid Reflux
Ice creams can make you put on tons of weight. A half cup of ice cream contains around 137 calories. This calorie count may vary with variable brands, flavors, and characteristic ingredients. And we know nobody eats just a half cup or a scoop! It is always more than that and thus you are likely to consume more calories than the recommended amount which will add to your pounds very sweetly.
Also, ice creams are nothing but a lot of sugar! No minerals, no vitamins, no fiber, and nothing healthy. They don’t qualify to be a part of your healthy diet because of no substantial nutrients present in them. So, you cannot expect them to add to your overall health anyway.
In fact, the artificial sweeteners, food colors, and enhancers used in them are likely to cause various types of cancers. Also, the high sugar content of ice creams may include sugar alcohol which causes different digestive issues like acid reflux, bloating, gas, etc. It can also cause dehydration and water retention.
We all know that ice creams are not natural at all. They are processed and thus have almost no fiber at all. Due to the lack of fiber, ice creams can elevate your blood sugar levels and increase your risk of developing diabetes.
Final thoughts
Until here, we’ve listed all the right reasons for avoiding ice creams, especially if you have GERD. However, if you still fell prey to your sweet tooth we would suggest you be moderate in your consumption.
This means you can still treat yourself to this delicious dessert but eat it infrequently and moderately. The most crucial factor is to avoid going overboard. Don’t completely cut it out of your diet and just limit your dietary intake.
Remember, GERD is a painful condition characterized and the patient must be very careful in his or her dietary choices because anything can augment the situation and bring undesirable outcomes.
