Foods to avoid with indigestion

Indigestion can feel like fullness, burning, upper abdominal discomfort, belching, or nausea after eating. Rich or fatty meals, chilli, coffee, alcohol, fizzy drinks, and eating quickly can aggravate symptoms in some people. These foods are not automatically harmful to everyone, and avoiding them does not explain why symptoms started.

Ongoing indigestion may occur with acid reflux, gastritis, a peptic ulcer, gallstones, or Helicobacter pylori infection. Food changes may ease discomfort but cannot diagnose or treat each of these conditions.

Keep a simple diary of what you ate, the portion, how quickly you ate, when symptoms began, and whether you used pain medicine or alcohol. Change one factor at a time. Try smaller, slower meals and avoid lying down soon after eating if that pattern brings discomfort. Keep enough variety in your diet rather than removing several food groups together.

A pharmacist or clinician can review regular medicines, including those that irritate the stomach, and decide whether testing or acid-reflux medication is appropriate. Do not start repeated courses of treatment without checking the reason for your symptoms.

Seek urgent care for severe abdominal pain, chest pressure, vomiting blood, black stools, faintness, or repeated vomiting. Book a medical review for indigestion that persists, keeps returning, causes trouble swallowing, or comes with unintentional weight loss. New symptoms should not be explained away as a food intolerance without assessment.

Could reflux, gastritis, an ulcer, gallstones, or Helicobacter pylori explain this pattern? Which medicines or foods should I pause? Do I need testing, and how should I use treatment while symptoms are being assessed?