Heartburn Causes and Symptoms

Heartburn is a burning sensation that crawls up from your abdomen to your chest, accompanied by a bitter taste in your throat and mouth. Its name may suggest otherwise, but this condition has nothing to do with the heart. Heartburn occurs when the stomach acids move back to the esophagus, termed as an acid reflux. The acids irritate the esophagus, causing the burning sensation.

For starters, eating properly is the first precept to remember. Food shaped with obtuse edges or are rough to the touch must be avoided as they can cause small wounds as they move from the mouth and through to the stomach for ingestion. These foods damage the lower esophageal sphincter, and as such, must be avoided.

Avoid any foods that may trigger the heartburn. Keep a food diary to monitor the food that you eat, and the certain drinks. Common triggers can include: citrus fruits, chocolate, peppermint, spearmint, tomatoes, raw onions, garlic, black pepper, vinegar, fatty foods, spicy foods, coffee, citrus juice, carbonated beverages, and any alcoholic beverages can trigger heartburn.

Heartburn can also be a symptom of conditions like gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), pregnancy, hiatal hernia, acid regurgitation, peptic ulcer, stomach emptying disorders, gastrointestinal motility disorder or even coughing too hard. Medications to treat respiratory problems, heart problems, blood pressure, arthritis, osteoporosis, anxiety, depression, insomnia, Parkinson’s disease and cancer are also known to cause heartburn. The use of aspirin can also cause heartburn.

Tips to Make Natural Treatments for Heartburn

If you have ever suffered a sudden attack of gastric reflux, heartburn or indigestion and did not have any medication with you at the time, then you will know how debilitating such an attack can be. There is a fair chance that If you have been a long time sufferer of heartburn, you will have tried every over-the-counter cure it all. If your problem has persisted, you would have gone to your doctor and had something prescribed for you.

You see, a heartburn happens when the lower esophageal sphincter or LES which is the passageway from your esophagus to your stomach, behaves inappropriately and the foods in your stomach comes back upwards or when your stomach produces too much acid and it refluxed into the esophagus, which is why you taste the sour and bitterness.

Are you tired of waking up in the middle of the night to find out that your mouth is full of sour taste? Are you tired of having that burning sensation on your chest and makes it difficult to swallow anything? Aren't you tired of buying every over the counter medication for heartburn only to see zero results all over again? It might be time for you to consider a more natural approach. There are a few heartburn natural remedy that can help you on your way to a better recovery, and live a more quality life.

Of course, tips to make natural treatments for heartburn work won't be complete if it doesn't advise against stuffing tons of food into one's mouth. Chewing slowly aids in digestion. Easily digestible food like mash potatoes, soup, oatmeal, and even scrambled eggs works very well with helping the human body to heal itself naturally from wounds incurred during heartburn.

An Overview of Heartburn and Acid Reflux Disease

The truth is that these over the counter heartburn remedies do not cure the problem. They merely relieve the burning pain for a limited period of time. More worrying to me is the fact that if these medicines are used over a long period of time they can contribute to other health problems for example links have been found between these remedies and hypertension and other serious illnesses.

Drugs prescribed by your doctor are really not much better. They may be more efficient at keeping symptoms at bay for longer but there is a catch. Most of these cannot be prescribed for more than 12 weeks. The reason? After this time there is a tendency for them to encourage the stomach to produce excess acid.

If you have never had an attack of heartburn, gastric reflux or indigestion then you will never know how quickly an attack can come on and how unpleasant it is when that "pain" hits. Initially, you try and ride out the pain but this can only go on for so long before you need help usually with antacids or prescription pills.

This will usually do the job and give you instant relief. The big question is how long before the next attack and will you need something stronger as the attacks start to occur more often. For most people this is OK but if you are like me, then you will want to look at why these attacks are happening and what you can do with your diet and lifestyle to eradicate the problem naturally.

Many acid reflux sufferers are asking about a GERD alternative - what foods help heartburn? If you are suffering from Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), you may want to consider how your diet impacts your reflux problems. Did you know that most acid reflux problems are caused by a poor diet? It only makes sense that a GERD alternative treatment must include your diet to work. In this article, you will learn 5 dieting tips to cure your acid reflux disease.

Avoiding the things on this list and developing good nutrition and fitness habits can cut back on the number of times you have to take heartburn medication, and keeping the acid out of the esophagus will help it to serve you happily for much longer. Gradually introduce heartburn-avoidance habits into your life to avoid making yourself wonder whether life is worth living, even with heartburn, but do introduce them.