Top Causes of Heartburn Might be a Surprise!
If you’ve never experienced the burning pain of acid reflux, count yourself lucky! It isn’t pleasant, especially when it keeps you up at night.
One of the most frequent health complaints of adults it can cause a sensation of burning in the chest, lump in your throat, belching and bloating and the worst, it can cause the regurgitation of acidic, partially digested food into your mouth. It can affect the respiratory tract and create hoarseness, wheezing, postnasal drip, chronic cough or even asthma. Persistent acid reflux might also erode the esophageal lining and increase the risk of developing cancer.
Antacid’s, one of the most prescribed and purchased drugs, suppress acid production but don’t always solve the original cause of reflux. They offer a temporary reprieve and perhaps a better night’s sleep, but they aren’t the best long-term solution as these drugs, come with their own set of problems.
The best way to deal with acid reflux is to find out why your body is allowing acid to go where it wasn’t designed to go!
Potential causes of Heartburn
1. Low stomach acid (LSA)-It may be counterintuitive but for many patients, LSA can be the reason they are suffering with heartburn.
2. Food sensitivities-Sensitivities to certain foods might decrease stomach acid production or weaken the tone of the lower esophagus sphincter (LES) at the top of the stomach. The sole goal of this valve is to allow food and liquid eaten into the stomach, but then to shut and not allow food or acid to move from the stomach to esophagus!
3. Use of certain medications-Are you being treated for high blood pressure with calcium channel blockers? These meds, NSAIDs, and asthma medication may cause heartburn and lead to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
4. Smoking-Yep, another reason to quit! And inhaling second-hand smoke can be just as bad!
5. Overweight-Anything that puts pressure on your stomach and diaphragm can cause acid to be pushed up into the oesophagus.
6. Certain types of food-Coffee, alcohol, rich fatty foods, greasy foods, spicy foods and other acidic foods. These can decrease the strength of the LES allowing food to seep back up the esophagus.
Looking at these causes you can see there can be deeper reasons for heartburn and reflux. From a naturopathic perspective, each of these warrants deeper investigation. For instance, determining if LSA is the reason for your heartburn or reflux could change the treatment protocol completely, looking at adding digestive aids with your meals to ensure the right balance of stomach acid. Finding out what foods may be irritating your stomach and then eliminating them may just be the easiest and most straightforward approach, working at the health issues that necessitate pharmaceuticals and focus on healing and protecting the gut may have multiple benefits. Certain treatments and therapies offer help for smoking cessation and if your heartburn is weight related, naturopathic medicine looks at potential imbalances in hormones and metabolic systems.
Want to know more? Dr. Yim created a video discussing the esophagus and heartburn.
If you or a family member are dealing with heartburn and/or GERD, please contact one of VitaCare’s naturopathic physicians and start getting to the cause!!