Fat doesn’t just pose problems for your belly and subway turnstiles; it also can mess with your throat. About half of obese people have the chest-burning condition called GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). The thinking is that extra fat in the belly pushes down on your stomach, thereby opening the angle of the GE junction and pushing it toward the chest. (Remember, it’s at an acute angle to keep food from going back up your throat every time you eat.) The pried-open angle makes it easier for acid and food to be pushed back up. Plus, the extra fat in the belly puts pressure on the contents of your bowel. More pressure, more GERD. What’s the big deal? Besides the unpleasant sensation of tasting your food on the way up, GERD also burns your esophagus—in the same way that the sun burns your skin. After a burn, it takes a couple days to heal, but if the burning happens over and over, it means you’re burning the tissues and are more likely to develop cancer there, just like repeated sunburns increase your risk of skin cancer. Taking half a full aspirin or two baby aspirin (you want 162 mg) with a glass of water decreases this risk by about 35 percent. By the way, alcohol, coffee, pepper, acidic foods like tomatoes and OJ, and, to a lesser degree, chocolate increase GERD symptoms. The best way to manage symptoms until you lose weight is to avoid meals within three hours of bedtime and to put blocks under the head posts of your bed so that you sleep at a slight tilt. (Pillows usually don’t work, since your head will typically roll off the pillow.)