GERD Elimination Diet - Handout

Step-by-step GERD Elimination diet and food diary

Printable Version 

An elimination diet is used to learn whether or not certain foods may be causing your symptoms or making them worse. If they are, the diet also can become a way to treat these symptoms. There are many foods, drinks, and other substances that may increase your GERD symptoms. The following table lists some of the common offenders.

Factors that Increase GERD Symptoms

FACTOR

EXAMPLES

Dietary Supplements
  • arginine
  • herbs used for gas in the stomach
  • such as peppermint and spearmint
  • essential oils (high doses)

Foods/Drinks
  • alcohol
  • chocolate
  • coffee (especially with caffeine)
  • cow’s milk
  • fat, especially saturated fat (dairy products, fried food)
  • orange juice
  • spicy foods
  • tea
  • tomato juice

Plan:

  1. Seek assistance from your clinician in identifying what may be causing your symptoms.

  2. Keep a 7-day “diet diary” listing all the foods you eat and drink and their amounts. Especially note any foods, drinks, and dietary supplements in the above table. (See the last page of this handout for a chart you can use. Make copies as needed.)

  3. Make a plan for how to avoid, as much as possible, any items on this list for at least 2 weeks.

  4. At the same time, keep a GERD symptom diary. List:
  • the length of time (in minutes) that your symptoms last and
  • how bad they are on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the worst.

  • Reassess how you feel after two weeks.
    • If there has been no change in symptoms, consider continuing the elimination diet for another two weeks, if it is not causing you undue hardship.
    • If you have had some improvement, consider continuing the elimination diet for another two weeks, hoping for more improvement.
    • If you no longer have symptoms, you can either
      • continue to avoid the offending foods, or
      • try to eat the offending foods again. See #7 for how to do this.

  • Continue to reassess how you feel every two weeks until your symptoms are gone.

  • Consider trying the foods again. Try just one of the troublesome foods each week. Carefully keep track of the foods you eat and any symptoms you feel in the diet diary.
    • If your symptoms get worse, you will learn what foods to avoid.
    • If your symptoms are not worse, you may be able to continue to eat the food.

    The information in this handout is for general education. It is not meant to be used by a patient alone. Please work with your health care practitioner to use this information in the best way possible to promote your health.

    For more information:

    ORGANIZATION

    TITLE

    DESCRIPTION

    Osher Center for Integrative Health

    Osher Center for Integrative Health Resource Library

    A variety of Integrative Whole Health handouts

    What we know about integrative health care has come to us thanks to the efforts, experiences, and collective wisdom of people from many cultures and backgrounds. We wish to acknowledge all the healers, researchers, patients, and peoples who have informed the content of this tool.

    Author(s)

    This handout was adapted for the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by David Kiefer MD, and Charlene Luchterhand MSSW.

    Originally Created: 2012

    Refer to the printed version to view the One Week Food Diary Chart


    Keywords:
    Digestive health, GERD, diet, nutrition, food diary, integrative health 
    Doc ID:
    150593
    Owned by:
    Sara A. in Osher Center for Integrative Health
    Created:
    2025-05-12
    Updated:
    2026-08-17
    Sites:
    Osher Center for Integrative Health
    Clean URL:
    https://kb.wisc.edu/osher/gerd-elimination-diet-handout