Soothing Heartburn with Healthy Habits

Some of the clients we see have suffered from heartburn before starting our healthy eating plan.  If you are like them you sure know the telltale signs of that burning pain behind the breastbone.  You may have also had acid reflux from the acid in your stomach backing up into your esopohagus.  If this progresses for more than once a week for months you may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Symptoms of GERD include: regurgitation of gastric acid or sour contents into the mouth, difficult and/or painful swallowing, chronic cough caused by acid refluxing up and getting into the lungs, chest pain, hoarseness in the morning, bad breath, nausea or vomiting, or feeling like something is stuck in your throat.

Any of these are certainly unpleasant, and there are simple ways to help prevent or soothe these symptoms. Let's first look at the causes:

Causes of Reflux:
Your lower esophageal sphincter or the muscular passageway between your lower esophagus and the stomach plays a role in this.  Its job is to maintain a tight seal after you have finished swallowing. However, if the sphincter has weakened it can allow acid in your stomach to back up into your esophagus.

Causes Heartburn:
There are two types of foods that wreak havoc.  They are either considered relaxers or irritants.  The relaxers are foods that can lower the pressure between the esophagus and stomach, or they can relax the lower esophageal sphincter.  Either way makes it easier for stomach acid to creep up.  This includes things like caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, peppermint and fatty meals. On the other hand there are irritants that can aggravate an existing irritation of the esophagus from acid reflux.  These include spicy or acidic food, orange or tomato juice, and carbonated beverages.  

This is not to say that all of these foods on these two lists will always bother you, but that they may.  To help, pay attention to how you feel after having them.  Once you find a trigger avoid it for a while and see if it helps.

Lifestyle Choices:
In addition to what we eat and drink there are some lifestyle choices that may be working against us such as being overweight, eating too much that you feel stuffed, lying down right after consuming a large meal, as well as eating most of you food late in the day.  It's important to listen to your body because it is letting you know that you need to make a change. That said, you may want to consider losing weight and eating smaller portions and overall eating less, as well as drinking alcohol in moderation. Making those changes will also help with your risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.

Here are some ways you can take charge!

• Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight
• Eat your meals more slowly
• Don't lie down after meals
• Don't consume the majority of your food as one large meal
• Don't eat within several hours before bedtime
• Don't exercise immediately after meals
• When sleeping, prop up your torso with pillows or a bed wedge
• Rule out heartburn caused by medications or dietary supplements.  Some supplements and drugs can cause reflux or inflammation of the esophagus.

Reference:  Health & Nutrition Letter, Tufts University, April 2018, VOL. 36, NO. 2, Soothe Heartburn With Diet and Lifestyle Changes (pp 3).