Can You Eat Prunes if You Have Acid Reflux?
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Can You Eat Prunes if You Have Acid Reflux?

Can You Eat Prunes if You Have Acid Reflux?
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Updated on August 6, 2025
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Certain foods and eating habits can aggravate acid reflux, but prunes are a healthy and safe food to eat if you have acid reflux.

While acid reflux triggers are unique for each person, plant-based foods that provide soluble fiber generally help the gut function better by protecting tissues in the esophagus.

Prunes fit this description neatly: One serving of four to five prunes provides approximately 3 grams (g) of dietary fiber, with around half of it being soluble.

Food passes from your mouth to your stomach through a muscular tube called the esophagus. A valve, located where your esophagus and stomach meet, normally prevents food and stomach acid from regurgitating into your esophagus. Acid reflux occurs due to contents from the stomach coming into the esophagus through this valve, which eating typically triggers, causing heartburn.

Occasional acid reflux is common, but persistent reflux that occurs more than twice a week is considered gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). It can eventually lead to more serious health problems.

If you have GERD or find that certain foods trigger acid reflux, keeping symptoms at bay is about more than what you eat. How much you eat, when you eat, and the way you eat all make a difference, too.

Meal Size Matters for Preventing Acid Reflux

Overfilling the stomach causes it to expand, preventing the gap at the top of the stomach from closing all the way. This may provoke reflux.

Eating frequent small meals and snacks instead of three large meals helps reduce pressure on your stomach and the resulting acid reflux.

Eating roughly every four to six hours may be an effective meal spacing strategy.

Because prunes are a dried fruit, a 1/4 cup counts as a 1/2-cup serving. Similarly, a 1/2 cup of prunes counts as a 1-cup serving.

 You may want to consider eating prunes as a snack rather than an add-on to a meal to prevent overfilling your stomach.
To feel satisfied after smaller meals, try the following:

  • Eat slowly, which gives nerves in your stomach enough time to tell your brain you’re full.
  • Use smaller bowls or plates.
  • Avoid getting too hungry between meals.

Body Position Can Affect Acid Reflux After Eating Prunes

Gravity can be your best friend or worst enemy when you’re living with acid reflux. An upright position helps prevent food and stomach acid from coming up into your esophagus, while lying down increases pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter, increasing the risk of acid reflux.

After you eat prunes or other food, stay upright to let gravity reduce your risk of reflux.

 While lounging about after a meal may be tempting, avoid lying down to sleep, read, or watch television immediately after eating.

Can You Eat Prunes Before Bed With Acid Reflux?

Avoid eating prunes or other foods within three hours of bedtime if your acid reflux symptoms worsen at night or while lying down.

This helps prevent nighttime acid reflux and heartburn by allowing your stomach time to empty before you lie down to sleep.

Beneficial Nutrients

Prunes provide a range of nutrients. In line with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended daily values,

 just four prunes provide a good amount of the following nutrients:

  • Vitamin K
  • Copper
  • Potassium
  • Riboflavin

They also provide lower amounts of:

  • Manganese
  • Niacin
  • Vitamin B6
  • Magnesium
  • Pantothenic acid
  • Phosphorus
  • Iron
  • Vitamin A
  • Thiamin
  • Protein
  • Zinc
  • Calcium

This dried fruit is also rich in dietary fiber. Four prunes provide roughly 2.7 g, or 9.63 percent of your recommended daily value of fiber.

Prunes can also help move stubborn stools along if you have constipation. A sugar alcohol called sorbitol, along with the fiber in prunes, helps promote regular bowel movements.

Research has shown that consuming prunes for 12 months helps protect bone strength and structure in postmenopausal women.

This may be due to plant compounds in prunes called polyphenols that slow the inflammatory process that can cause bone loss as well as prunes’ vitamin K content. Vitamin K deficiency can contribute to low bone density.

Lifestyle Tips for Managing Acid Reflux

Aside from meal timing, portion size, and positional support, prunes can be part of a dietary approach to acid reflux as long as you avoid common trigger foods.

Some of these may not cause problems for you, but foods that commonly trigger acid reflux include:

  • High-fat foods
  • Drinks containing alcohol
  • Chocolate
  • Caffeinated beverages, such as coffee
  • Soda
  • Mint
  • Spicy foods

Weight management may help manage acid reflux symptoms if you are overweight or have obesity.

Sugar-free, non-mint chewing gum can reduce reflux-related heartburn by promoting saliva production, which rinses stomach acid from your esophagus.

At night, you might benefit from raising your torso with a wedge-shaped cushion. You can buy one from a medical supply company. This upright position may help relieve pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter. Leaving a couple of hours between eating a meal and working out might also help reduce acid reflux.

If you experience persistent or recurrent heartburn, consult a healthcare provider to determine the underlying cause. They might recommend excluding some of the above foods to see whether symptoms improve. They may also work with a dietitian to recommend an eating plan that can help you manage your weight more effectively.

Your healthcare provider may also refer you to a gastroenterologist for testing. For example, they may recommend an endoscopy to see the amount of reflux you’re experiencing and determine its cause. Sometimes, the symptoms of reflux may be due to causes other than GERD.

The Takeaway

  • Prunes are safe to eat if you have acid reflux. They serve as a good source of fiber and a healthy snack option as part of a broader approach to managing acid reflux.
  • You might experience less acid reflux in general if you eat several hours before bedtime, stay upright after eating, and stick to prunes as snacks between smaller meals.
  • Avoiding foods that trigger your reflux can help you steer clear of symptoms. Common trigger foods and drinks include alcohol, fatty foods, and spicy foods.
  • Consult a doctor if reflux symptoms persist or recur frequently. Several treatment options beyond dietary management are available, and further testing may be necessary.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Change How You Eat to Help Reduce Acid Reflux. Northwestern Medicine. January 2025.
  2. Prunes are good for more than digestion. University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences. April 22, 2022.
  3. Definition & Facts for GER & GERD. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. July 2020.
  4. Acid Reflux & GERD. Cleveland Clinic. September 28, 2023.
  5. Healthy Eating As You Age: Know Your Food Groups. National Institute on Aging. February 25, 2022.
  6. 11 stomach-soothing steps for heartburn. Harvard Medical School. July 26, 2023.
  7. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Canadian Society of Intestinal Research.
  8. Eating, Diet, & Nutrition for GER & GERD. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. July 2020.
  9. Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels. Food and Drug Administration. March 5, 2024.
  10. Plums, dried (prunes), uncooked. U.S. Department of Agriculture. April 1, 2019.
  11. Lever E et al. The effect of prunes on stool output, gut transit time and gastrointestinal microbiota: A randomised controlled trial. Clinical Nutrition. February 2019.
  12. Koltun KJ et al. Prunes preserve cortical density and estimated strength of the tibia in a 12-month randomized controlled trial in postmenopausal women: The Prune Study. Osteoporosis International. Feb 13, 2024.
  13. Got Prunes? Fruit Linked to Better Bone Health. Breastcancer.org. December 6, 2024.
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Yuying Luo, MD

Medical Reviewer

Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.

Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.

She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.

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Tina M. St. John, MD

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Dr. St. John is a medical writer and editor with more than 15 years experience in the field. She is a former medical officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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