Despite what it sounds like, heartburn is a disorder that affects the digestive system, not the heart. It occurs when the acids in your stomach get out of hand and start climbing up through your esophagus towards your throat. The result is a burning sensation in your chest area.
Heartburn is a disorder that affects almost everyone at some time or another, particularly if you’ve just eaten a rich, heavy meal.
There are a number of reasons that you might experience heartburn, but generally your discomfort can be eased by using natural treatments for heartburn relief.
The most fundamental natural treatment would be to avoid eating foods and beverages that trigger heartburn symptoms. You’ll simply have to avoid or moderate some of your favorite foods and beverages. As a general rule, you need to avoid beverages containing caffeine, such as tea and coffee, carbonated beverages, and acidic beverages such as lemonade. Alcohol is another major offender.
Other heartburn triggers are rich, high fat foods, particularly fried foods, acidic foods such as those based on tomatoes (think pizza sauce, pasta sauce, and salsa), highly spiced foods, and citrus products such as lemon, lime and orange.
In addition to avoiding certain foods, another way to get heartburn relief naturally is to eat smaller meals more frequently. When your stomach is stuffed full it will put pressure on the sphincter. This causes acid reflux and heartburn symptoms. Be conscious of your intake while you’re eating, and stop before you’re stuffed. Filling up three quarters of your stomach is recommended. A side benefit is that you’ll probably lose some weight by sticking to this rule.
Another tip for finding natural heartburn relief is to avoid eating anything for 3 hours before going sleep at night. Your body needs sufficient time to digest whatever you’ve eaten and this won’t happen very efficiently when you’re lying down.
There are some other tips and tricks that you might have heard of, including chewing gum, consuming a teaspoon of brown sugar, not having any liquids immediately following a meal, and learning to relax following a meal. Many of these tips don’t have a lot of science behind them, but you should certainly try anything within reason that might bring you heartburn relief.
Remember, if your heartburn symptoms are persistent and ongoing, you should visit your doctor to be sure there isn’t a more serious cause for your discomfort.