By Gayatri Kamat

I’m someone who grew up loving the vibrant, medium spicy heart of Indian food, but my body seemed to have other plans. I spent most of my youth with that familiar burn in my chest, assuming that a life of bland, boiled food was my only future!

Then came my college years. Sitting in lecture halls and diving into clinical nutrition textbooks changed everything. I realized that my sensitive stomach wasn’t a life sentence, it was just a system I hadn’t learned to communicate with yet. In my physiology classes, I was introduced to the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES). Think of it as a small, muscular valve that acts like a security guard for your stomach. In my case, this guard was frequently falling asleep on the job. I learned that certain things we love, like caffeine, processed, ready to eat foods basically act as sedatives for that valve. When the LES relaxes at the wrong time, stomach acid makes a run for it. Understanding this wasn’t just biology, it was a roadmap.

The Soda Myth: Like many, I used to gulp down a cold soda when I experienced acidity, thinking a big burp would solve it. But nutrition helped me understand that carbonation actually expands the stomach, putting more pressure on that sleepy LES gatekeeper. But then I simply swapped the fizz for diluted buttermilk and it worked like magic every single time….

Simple Shifts: I then started eating mindfully. I reduced consuming heavily processed foods, high fat, high sugary foods and started focusing more on the protein and fiber part. One of the most humanizing things I learned was that our bodies have a rhythm. Our digestive enzymes are most active when the sun is up. So I started sleeping early, stopped overstuffing my stomach unnecessarily, kept myself hydrated throughout the day!

Even now, as someone who understands the science, I have the occasional bad day. When the burn starts, I don’t panic. So basically, I learned that my acidity wasn’t a sign to stop eating, but a signal to eat with more intention.