What is the Cause of Heartburn?
The cause of heartburn, more commonly called 'acid reflux', is mostly attributed to greasy or fatty foods. Most doctors concur and recommend a diet high in lean protein such as baked turkey or chicken. Other high protein, low fat foods include skim milk, fish, and dry beans, as these foods actually reinforce the valve that guards your esophagus.
High fat foods, on the other hand, weaken the valve muscle and can cause you grief. Other inhibitors seem to include tomato based products, chocolate, and caffeinated beverages. These are some major contributors to the cause of heartburn.
When you get indigestion regularly, it might help to be an 'outside the box thinker'. Heartburn happens when you consume a food that does not agree with you. Chili, pizza, burgers, fries, chips, desserts, etc., all cause your body to become more acid. Since your body strives to be more alkaline, you may want to exclude these items from your diet until you get control of your symptoms. Common Causes of HeartburnMost physicians recommend that you 'put out the flames with an Antacid or an Antacid type product'! These are the 'cure all' products that most physician's prescribe and that we as a society are used to reaching for! Pepcid, Tagamet, Tums, and Rolaids are reached for by millions of people everyday to settle an upset stomach. While antacids seem to give you the temporary relief you need, you may be hindering the problem instead of helping! What I would like you to do is consider something different! Did you know that your heartburn may be caused by not having enough stomach acid? If you have indigestion or heartburn, have you ever considered that it’s not because you have too much stomach acid, it may be that you have heartburn because you don’t have enough! In other words you might have indigestion because there is not enough stomach acid available to digest your food! (Thereby causing your indigestion!) It’s worth considering! The more antacids you take, the more you lower your gastric acid content. You may be actually hindering the problem instead of helping it! Brilliant physicians who are on the cutting edge of new research and development, have concluded this finding. It seems very sensible if you think about it. Your cause of heartburn may be from something totally different than from what you had originally thought! The first way to prevent indigestion in the first place is to relax when you eat and try to eat very slowly. Besides being a great tip to lose weight, eating slowly is also a great tip to minimize your heartburn! When you eat slowly, you allow your food to break down more slowly and this allows your gastric acids to do its intended job more effectively. Another thing you can do immediately is to eat more foods that are more easily digested. Foods to choose are baked turkey or chicken, skim milk, fish, and dry beans. Some fruits like banana, apple, and pineapple are also very easily digested and very alkaline, so you can include those foods too. Other easily digested foods are white or brown rice, sweet potatoes, raw or steamed vegetables, and some soups. One more thing you can try is to take digestive enzyme supplements. These are called probiotics and supplement the active good bacteria you need in your intestinal tract to digest your food properly. They are inexpensive to buy and work well. Just be sure to check the dates on the supplements before you buy them. Other ways to get more probiotics are to consume yogurt with active cultures or simply eat cabbage regularly. For unknown reasons, cabbage helps promote the growth of good bacteria in your intestines. This tip if recommended from Traditional Chinese Medicine. The cause of heartburn is sometimes a mystery until you try some other alternatives. If you do suffer from indigestion or heartburn, there are some other viable alternatives. Outlined on the next page are more tips to try before reaching for more antacids. Bromelain Pineapple Digestive Enzyme
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