Does Milk Help Heartburn?

You may have heard that drinking a glass of milk helps heartburn because it "coats" the throat and stomach, but that's largely a myth. Fatty food like dairy products can actually be heartburn triggers.

This article will go over what you should know about heartburn, whether drinking milk could help ease your symptoms, and other natural ways to treat heartburn.

Symptoms

Heartburn is a symptom of acid reflux that happens when gastric juices back up from the stomach into the esophagus. The juices irritate the cells lining the tube, which can cause pain.

Heartburn is common. Approximately 20% of adults in the United States—or more than 60 million Americans—experience heartburn at least once a month.

Some studies have suggested that more than 15 million Americans experience heartburn symptoms at least once per day—a number that's far too high given GERD’s potentially deadly consequences if left untreated.

Repeated episodes of heartburn usually signal the presence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a digestive disorder that occurs when triggers like spicy foods, high caffeine intake, obesity, and smoking cause repeated bouts of gastrointestinal reflux.

Each time the bouts of reflux happen, gastric juices from the stomach back up into the esophagus, causing damage to the lining of the esophagus. 

Common symptoms of GERD include:

• Coughing
• Bad breath
• Heartburn
• Trouble swallowing (dysphagia)
• Sore throat
• Vomiting
• The feeling of food caught in your throat
• Nonburning chest pain
  

Milk and Heartburn: Are There Benefits?

The myth that milk relieves heartburn has existed for a long time, in part due to the soothing nature we imagine that milk has on and in our bodies.

In reality, milk is far from a one-size-fits-all remedy for heartburn. While milk is an excellent source of calcium and vitamin D, it rarely relieves heartburn. In fact, milk that is high in fat, like whole milk, is one of the most common triggers of heartburn and can worsen heartburn symptoms once they start. 

Benefits of Milk

Meeting your daily dairy requirements by drinking milk means that you are likely providing yourself with many valuable nutrients including:

• Protein
• Calcium
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin A

These nutrients are important to your health whether you get them from milk, other dairy products, or other food groups entirely. 

Drawbacks of Milk for Heartburn

Milk does not “coat” the stomach to protect it from stomach acid as some people might think. In fact, the high-fat content of dairy products stimulates acid production in the stomach which can trigger acid reflux.

Natural Remedies for Acid Reflux

Milk is one of many natural remedies that people try to help treat their acid reflux, but there are other natural remedies that appear to be more effective. These include:

• Herbs such as ginger, chamomile, aloe juice, and licorice can serve as digestive aids.
• Baking soda, which when combined with water can help neutralize acid in the stomach.
• Apple cider vinegar. Like baking soda, taking a spoonful of apple cider vinegar with some water is thought to serve as a digestive aid. 
• Sugar-free gum (saliva production can provide a soothing effect and help decrease the production of acid in the stomach)
• Eat a banana (or another high-alkaline food). Bananas are high in potassium, making them a fairly alkaline food. This means it is the perfect food to counter the stomach acid that is irritating your esophagus.
• Quit smoking. Smoking reduces saliva production, thereby increasing the production of stomach acid. 
• Don’t lay down after you eat and wear loose-fitting clothing. Anything that pushes on the belly or negates gravity from keeping your food (and stomach acid) down can cause or exacerbate your heartburn. 
  

It's Important to note that herbal remedies do not undergo testing for safety and effectiveness by the federal government, are not FDA approved, and often do not have to meet the same standards for manufacturing and packaging that prescription drugs do. You should never take an herbal remedy in place of traditional medication without first disclosing this information to your healthcare provider. 

Summary

Heartburn, or acid reflux, is a painful condition where the gastric juices of the stomach back up into the esophagus. There's long been a myth that milk can soothe the throat and curb reflux symptoms. But most research suggests that milk, especially full-fat milk, can actually make symptoms worse. It's best to work with your healthcare provider to formulate lifestyle changes and a treatment plan best suited to you.

A Word From Verywell

The idea of milk coating the lining of the stomach and relieving heartburn is more myth than reality. Using antacids and acid blockers, living a healthy lifestyle, and avoiding trigger foods seem to be much more effective in relieving heartburn, although more research is needed to assess the effectiveness, if any, of low-fat dairy products on heartburn.