Heartburn Relief from Bananas
by Anna Hart
Filed under Heartburn Relief
Bananas and heartburn are said to be enemies. Eating bananas seems, for many people, to be a great means of heartburn relief. Fresh bananas or dried bananas, they apparently can conquer heartburn for many.
Bananas give heartburn relief when used in a heartburn diet, too. Use the fruit as a snack or with your meal. Work bananas into menus.
Bananas and heartburn simply do not co-exist in many people.
Natural Antacid
Bananas are a natural antacid, says Dr. P. Bradley Carey. They neutralize an acid stomach. In most cases, they will give heartburn relief in minutes. For a soothing, natural antacid, eat a banana for heartburn relief instead of an OTC antacid tablet. Most people prefer the banana taste.
If it is inconvenient to carry a banana with you, carry banana powder. This dried, ground form of bananas can be found in health food stores. You can also carry a bag of dried banana slices.
Natural Acid Barrier
John Goldenring, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital, San Diego, CA. says that bananas can provide heartburn relief by stimulating the stomach lining’s production of mucus. Mucus creates a natural barrier between your stomach lining and gastric acids that cause the burning of heartburn.
Natural Herbal Remedy
Bananas are the fruit of an herb – the world’s largest herb, “Musa sapientium”. The banana herb is directly related to orchids. Herbs often recommended for heartburn relief include chamomile, fresh basil, and ginger. But bananas also are an herbal heartburn relief.
Testimonial
A bananas and heart burn article elicited this testimonial on one website:
“I have had TERRIBLE heartburn this pregnancy, and have been popping Tums like crazy, to no avail. But the other day I got this weird forward (which I usually don’t read) about all the great qualities of bananas, and one of the things listed was that bananas are a natural antacid. I have to tell you that the last three days in a row, anytime my heartburn ahs started up, I’ve eaten a whole banana and the heartburn goes away immediately! Amazing!! Wonderful! Try it!!”
– Lisa Cash
Bananas give heartburn relief in many cases, whether pregnant or not. If you have heartburn, relief could be as near as a sweet, yellow fruit.
Disclaimer: The information in this article is presented for educational purposes only. Please see your physician for continuing heartburn.
I can say that for my banana is a cause for heartburn rather than a relief! And i’ve read online that I’m not the only person.
I also get BAD heartburn when I eat bananas!! I found this site as this morning I’ve started into a banana, hoping for the best as I have no other food in me yet, and ow! Heartburn central
As I’ve been poking around these sites, one site mentioned that eating a banana that isn’t fully ripe yet might cause it…. while my banana is yellow, it still does have a few specks of green, so maybe I should wait until the green goes away… Just a tip for others who suffer from “banana heartburn”. 
Bananas give me heart burn too. So we are not that unusual!
Bananas are also a cause of heart burn for me. I just ate one banana and 15 minutes later, heartburn. It sucks. I found some tums, but they’re not working as I’d hoped.
Bananas are giving me heartburn too. I only get heartburn when I am pregnant, and it seems especially bad when I eat bananas or potatoes, even a derivative of those, such as banana bread. I am wondering if potassium is part of the problem of heartburn? It is one of the things both bananas and potatoes have in common.
any thoughts?
I happen to get heart burn from bananas as well. Here is the best answer I have found:
There is a sphincter (muscle) at the join between your stomach and the oesophagus. It relaxes to let food into your stomach but then tightens to stop stomach acid coming out and back up into your oesophagus. In some people, the sphincter does not work very well, and this causes acid reflux.
Some people find that particular foods, such as fatty foods, chocolate, or oranges, relax the sphincter, while others such as coffee and tomatoes directly irritate the oesophagus both causing heart burn.
the bananas you eat either relax the sphincter or irritate the oesophagus
Bananas caused Hearburn in me as well. I had a banana this morning, and 30 mins later I realise a have a sour tongue and a heart burn.
I was desperate to find info online as I was having serious stomach pains. It probably has a lot to do with laying down after eating spicy, salty foods late at night and being so full. I’m calling thw doc first thin on Monday, but thank goodness I had some bananas. Can’t say it took all the pain away, but at least enough to where I’m not hunched over in pain. Eating a banana helped me…
i have heartburn everyday of my life i have started eating bananas since reading this article hope they will do the majic
I woke up at 2:00am this morning with heartburn and a nasty taste in my mouth. This is the second time this week. I don’t get heartburn very often, maybe once a month.
I just wanted to get rid of the nasty taste in my mouth so I went into the kitchen to see what I could find and the only thing readily available was bananas. So I ate one and went back to bed. Within minutes my heartburn was gone. I didn’t think much of it as I was just happy it was gone.
Two days later the same thing happened. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a banana and went back to bed. Again in minutes my heartburn was gone. I still thought nothing of it.
I told my wife this morning that something really wierd happened to me twice this week. I explained how the bananas cured my heartburn and asked if she ever heard of such a thing and she just laughed at me and said there’s no way a banana cured my heartburn.
Well, I just did a search on Google for “banana antacid” and that’s how I got to this website. I laughed when I saw how many search results I got from Google.
Anyway I can guarantee you one thing, the next time I wake up at 2:00am with heartburn I will be walking to the kitchen to grab myself a banana.
LOL,
Jeff Sargent
I have to tell you that banana’s give me heartburn but I have a great remedy. I use DGL chewable licorice extract and they work better than anything I’ve tried at the drugstore. Even my prescriptions didn’t work as well.
everyone here is talking about how bananas gave them heartburn but people who had heartburn and then ate a banana got relief. Maybe the trick is to eat a banana when you have heartburn as relief instead of eating it before you have heartburn. I’ll try eating one next time I get heartburn.
I love bananas – they just don’t love me. It’s guaranteed that within 5 minutes of eating one (and I only eat ripe ones), I’ll have heartburn. Usually only severe enough to need one tums though.
My heartburn is gone! I have had HORRIBLE heartburn and I am 7 mnths pregnant. Today I ate a ripe bananna while I had heartburn pain, I felt releif instantly!
EVERY SINGLE TIME I eat a banana I get nasty almost regurgitating heartburn, its like the banana is trying to escape, I love bananas and I only eat old ones, I like them best when the stems are turning black, my g-ma told me those are the ones she made banana bread with so I just always go for those ones..but it doesnt really matter ripe or not ripe, bananas simply give me nasty heartburn..so does pepsi, 7up, pumpkin pie, apples, pizza, “sketti” sauce..lol but I still consume some of those occasionally, teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water is the only thing that ever works, and sometimes nasty chalky original mylanta, but tums and the pink crap might as well forget it..
I get heartburn from bananas, too. The only medicine that works for me now is chewable DGL, which I get at my healthfood store. It is all natural. I notice that yellow banans give me heartburn, but green bananas do not always give me heartburn. I have very little problems with heartburn (do not eat fatty foods, wine once a week, do not smoke, eat lean fish and chicken). I am not sure why I have a problem with bananas.-especially yellow ones.
I get heartburn almost every time I eat a banana. I don’t eat them until they are nice and ripe, but within 5 minutes, sometimes before I finish it, I get pretty bad heartburn. I wish someone could tell me why, I have been to an allergist for other things and was tested for food allergies along with everything else. I can not figure out why I get such bad heartburn from them so quickly.