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deni's avatar

Why do bananas help with heartburn?

Asked by deni (23141points) January 17th, 2011

For me at least. Tonight I got horrible horrible heart burn which rarely happens but the view times it has I can take an acid reducer, wait an hour, drink a gallon of water, eat some chia seeds….nothing will help. Usually it worsens. Literally a minute after I start eating a banana it is completely gone. This happened tonight. What property is it of the banana that gets rid of my heart burn?

My mom swears by this too and she had serious acid reflux problems until about 10 years ago when she got surgery…but no one else I’ve suggested this too has ever heard of it, or if they have, it doesn’t work for them. Thoughts?

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7 Answers

leftt's avatar

from what I’ve heard, the potassium in bananas helps in some way.
I… kinda forgot why, though, but it is to do with the high potassium levels.

Arbornaut's avatar

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.

tedibear's avatar

Interestingly, I often get heartburn from bananas. Bummer. I’m a weirdo again!

deni's avatar

Weird! Good to know!

faye's avatar

@tedibear I get heartburn from bananas as well.

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