You keep peanuts and pistachios at your desk as a way to snack smarter. Or maybe you add a dollop of almond butter to your smoothie every morning. Nuts have a lot of nutrition to offer — but can they also cause heartburn? It’s possible, but it depends on which nuts and how many you eat.
People typically describe heartburn as a burning pain behind their breastbone. There may also be a bitter or acidic taste in the back of the throat.
Heartburn is caused by acid reflux. That’s when stomach acid, food, or other contents from your stomach move back up into your esophagus (the tube connecting your mouth to your stomach) toward your mouth.
If you get heartburn more than a few times a week, you may be diagnosed with a condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD.
Nuts are powerhouses of healthy fats — the kind that could benefit your heart health.
But foods high in fats are also known to contribute to acid reflux.
“Fat is one of the triggers to make the bottom sphincter in the esophagus relax and promote a tendency toward reflux,” says C. Prakash Gyawali, MD, a professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. “If a person with reflux disease were to have a big amount of nuts, their esophageal symptoms could potentially worsen temporarily.”
Dr. Gyawali notes that you’d probably have to eat a lot of nuts for this to become a problem. And a large meal of any kind can trigger heartburn. “If somebody ate a full peanut butter sandwich, is it the peanut butter that made them reflux or the volume of the meal? Probably both,” he says. If you frequently have heartburn, Gyawali recommends choosing nuts that are lower in fat, and not eating too many.
Here’s how some popular types of nuts compare in fat content, given in grams of fat per 1 ounce of raw nuts:
- Cashews, 11.1 g
- Pistachios, 12.8 g
- Peanuts, 13.8 g
- Almonds, 14.6 g
- Hazelnuts, 15.3 g
- Walnuts, 19.9 g
- Pecans, 20.9 g
Interestingly, almonds stand out on this list for having another property that may make them less likely to worsen reflux symptoms: “They are alkaline; they’re not acidic,” says Gyawali. Their alkaline nature can actually help to neutralize stomach acid and reduce symptoms of heartburn.
Nuts can also trigger chest discomfort or pain if you have a condition called eosinophilic esophagitis. This is a rare, chronic condition in which a type of white blood cell called eosinophils builds up in the lining of the esophagus. This leads to inflammation, trouble swallowing, and pain that’s sometimes described as heartburn, says Gyawali.
Because eosinophilic esophagitis is thought to be caused by an immune system or allergic reaction, people who have the condition are often encouraged to try an elimination diet. This means removing major food allergens — including peanuts and tree nuts — from your diet, to help identify which ones trigger your symptoms.
If nuts don’t seem to be the cause of your heartburn, there are other food culprits to consider. Known triggers include:
- Fried or fatty foods
- Chocolate
- Alcohol
- Coffee (including decaf)
- Carbonated beverages
- Tomato sauce
- Citrus fruits or juices
- Peppermint
- Vinegar
Other possible triggers to avoid that aren’t related to specific foods include:
- Eating large meals
- Lying down within a few hours after eating
- Wearing tight clothing that puts pressure on your stomach
- Taking aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory pain medications
- Smoking
- Being overweight
