Free diary
Heartburn diary
Coffee, chocolate, mint, tomatoes, spicy food: the list of foods people are told to give up for reflux is long, and most of it does not bother most people. Gastroenterology guidelines now say to avoid only the foods that trigger your symptoms. This diary finds them: log your evenings for a week or two, and it compares your bad nights with your good ones.
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How it works
Each morning, log the evening before: when you last ate, when you lay down, what you had from the list, whether the head of your bed was raised, and how bad the heartburn was. A night counts as bad from "moderate" up. For each item the diary puts the share of bad nights when you had it next to the share when you didn't. It needs at least three nights on each side before it says anything.
The two habits with the best trial evidence are on every entry already: the gap between your last meal and bed (guidelines suggest at least 3 hours) and raising the head of the bed by about 20 cm (8 inches) on blocks or a wedge, for reflux at night. Losing weight, if you carry extra, helps most of all, but it takes months, not nights, so it is not in a daily log.
A suspect is a lead, not a verdict. Things come together (a late takeaway with a beer, a big meal with dessert), so test one at a time: leave it out for two weeks with everything else the same, then bring it back and see if the bad nights return.
General information, not medical advice. See a doctor promptly if food sticks or hurts on the way down, you lose weight without trying, you vomit repeatedly or see blood, your stools are black, or you are anaemic. Heartburn most weeks for years is also worth a doctor's review, especially for men over 50. Chest pain can be the heart, not reflux: if in doubt, get it checked urgently.