Heartburn is a burning sensation in your chest. It’s often paired with a bitter taste in your mouth or throat. While it’s rarely anything to worry about, heartburn can be extremely uncomfortable. It’s very common too. In most cases, it does not mean you have an underlying condition.
Thankfully, learning how to treat heartburn is very easy.
What Causes Heartburn?
Heartburn typically occurs when contents from the stomach back up into the esophagus — called acid reflux. Symptoms often get worse if you lay down or if you eat a large meal.
Other health conditions or lifestyle choices can worsen your heartburn, including:
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Pregnancy
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Smoking
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Being overweight or obese
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Consuming caffeine, chocolate, or alcohol
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Eating spicy foods
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Lying down immediately after eating
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Taking certain medications, such as aspirin or ibuprofen
If you experience occasional heartburn, there are several home remedies and lifestyle changes that can help alleviate your symptoms.
Gastrointestinal Conditions Can Cause/Mimic Heartburn
Some diseases, such as Crohn’s, can cause or mimic heartburn. Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation of your digestive tract. This inflammation can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and malnutrition. Some experience esophageal involvement with the disease, which may present with symptoms such as heartburn, regurgitation and chest pain, similar to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD),
Several other conditions can cause a burning feeling in your chest, including gallstones, stomach ulcer and esophageal cancer. If you experience long-lasting heartburn, contact your doctor. Though rare, it may be a sign of an underlying condition.
How To Avoid Heartburn
Heartburn can’t be entirely prevented, but you can take steps to help avoid it. One of the simplest things you can do is to avoid laying down after eating. This will help your body’s natural digestion process.
You can also avoid all of the following in excess:
- Tobacco products
- Eating chocolate
- Consuming alcohol
- Caffeine
- Carbonated drinks
- Citrus fruits
- Tomatoes
- Peppermint
- Fried Foods
Losing Weight
Being overweight increases the likelihood of you experiencing heartburn. Therefore, you can help avoid it by losing weight. This is because excess weight increases abdominal pressure, making stomach acid leakage or backflow more likely.
How to Treat Heartburn
Logic dictates that treating heartburn would be as easy as letting your stomach process the acidity, eating something to calm it down, or chugging water. While these actions may help, heartburn can be fickle and can cause so much discomfort that it hurts to ingest anything. Thankfully, that’s not the only route you can take.
Researchers in a 2012 study evaluated the effect of antioxidant vitamins on acid reflux and heartburn. Vitamins A, B, C, and E all have promising effects on treating heartburn.
You can choose to ingest them, or you can try getting them through an IV. IVs bypass digestion entirely and allow the vitamins and minerals to be absorbed in your bloodstream. This leads to faster absorption and faster relief.
Antioxidant Vitamins and Heartburn
Results of the aforementioned 2012 study showed that consuming vitamins A, C, and E through fruits, vegetables, and vitamin supplements might help prevent GERD (an advanced form of acid reflux) and its complications.
Study participants who consumed more fruits and vegetables experienced fewer symptoms of acid reflux. Study results also suggested people with GERD, Barrett’s esophagus, or esophageal tumors may have a better quality of life by getting more antioxidant vitamins from foods and supplements.
B Vitamins Relieve Acid Reflux
According to a 2006 study, B vitamins may help stop acid reflux symptoms. Researchers divided the participants into two groups. Neither group knew which treatment they were receiving.
Group A took a dietary supplement containing:
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Vitamin B-6
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Vitamin B-12
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Vitamin B-9, or folic acid
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L-tryptophan
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Methionine
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Betaine
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Melatonin
As a result, Group A reported less symptoms than those that did not take B vitamins.
Stay Hydrated
Drinking water can provide heartburn relief. It can raise the pH level of the stomach and dilute the acid too. Water can also help with digestion, thus speeding along the recovery process. You can also try herbal tea, plant-based milk, or non-acidic juices, such as carrot juice, aloe vera juice, or cabbage juice.
If drinking water upsets your stomach more, you can give IV Revival a call. Their registered nurses of this mobile IV therapy clinic in Phoenix come right to your door. You can get hydration, and vitamins B-complex and C to help reduce your heartburn symptoms. You won’t have to worry about travelling when you’re in pain.
Call them today to request an appointment and start feeling better.