Porridge = Heartburn?

[GlitteryBalls]

I have always liked my oat-so-simple of a winters morning, but recently I have deduced that it is always bound to give me heartburn later on in the day. Why is this? I even use skimmed milk, so you would have thought it would be a non-greasy, low acid meal that would be ideal... I have less problems when I have toast dripping in real butter and marmite!

Anyone else out there got any advice on good breakfasts to have, as what I have for breakfast seems to really influence how much I suffer later on - I'm 32+5. x

I don't know what to say! Nearly everything gave me heartburn in my first pregnancy. The only thing that really helped me was to eat little and often as I found bigger quantities in one setting set me off. Perhaps start the day with a smaller portion and have some snacks throughout?

You definitely have my sympathy! If it helps I hardly suffered at all in my second pregnancy.

change this around for me. I'm at same stage 33 weeks this week and started eating porridge last month each morning. Have had no problems since so I'm clearly no help here. :o

Are you sure its the porridge? I use porridge before bed to settle my heartburn - its fantastic! And milky products generally advised to reduce effect of stomach acid... Each to their own I guess, but could it be something else in your diet?

I have a theory on this which you can take or leave as you please.

Porridge is supposed to be good for you because it's low GI ie it is absorbed slowly and your body has to work harder to digest it, which means that you stay fuller for longer.

However, i think if you have some digestion problems, porridge can cause heartburn because the effort of digesting it causes your body to produce too much acid, which then causes heartburn.

It's a little like they tell you to eat alkaline products to help with heartburn. But a nutritionist told me once that for some people it actually works better to eat acid/spicy food as those foods send a signal to your brain to stop producing acid.

It is all down to you and your body. Experiment. If porridge is not working for you, stop eating it.

One further tip though is to keep with your porridge, but have a much smaller portion, and then top up with a small second breakfast a few hours later.

No - pretty sure it's the porridge. If I have it the reflex/heartburn has started before I've finished the drive to work and lasts all day, and nothing else is that bad! It does seem odd doesn't it, but I've observed this everytime I have it! Milkshakes and ice cream have the same effect - these are things I have eaten assuming they will help but have actually made it far worse! I just seem to be a bit of a freak! Maybe it's a rebound thing - producing more acid in response? I have ranitidine prescribed by the Dr, but she said only use it when i really have to, so I wait for it to get bad before I take it - and this always seems to be after porridge

Is it very hot when you eat it? Anything very hot or very cold (e.g. milkshakes, ice cream) can also trigger reflux.

Hmmm. Not really. I usually nuke it then leave it to stand and thicken up while I have a shower. Think I may just have to accept that I've got to stick to the weetos (for some reason give me no problems at all) til the baby arrives and my lower esophageal sphincter is back to its usual self!

i recently read that milk can aggravate heartburn in select cases. Maybe you are one of them, and as someone said above, porridge takes a long time to digest (great if you have normal digestive system)...so maybe try cornflakes with hot milk, or weetabix or any other cereal really and see how you get on? Might be worth trying to drink a hot chocolate (no porridge) and seeing if the hot milk is what is giving you problems rather than the oats. If it is, you may need to consider toast or something less comforting for the next few weeks!

Porridge gives me heartburn even when i'm not pregnant.
I enjoy porridge but got fed up with the heartburn so stopped eating it.
I made my porridge up with water.