Natural Cures for Heartburn

Most of us have experienced some form of heartburn. That burning feeling in your chest which radiates to the back of your throat. Not a good feeling. In fact, it can be quite painful. 40% of the population experience heartburn, in one way or another. When the pain is almost daily and unbearable, we run and purchase over the counter medications (pepcid, mylanta, tums, etc.), hoping for relief. These medications provide temporary relief, not a cure. There like placing a bandage over a wound, covering the symptoms but not solving the problem.

If your experiencing heartburn 2 or more times a week, it's a problem and you need to make changes. Speaking from an R.N., if left untreated, gastroesophageal-reflux disease (GERD) or ulcers might become your future diagnosis. The more complicated the diagnosis, the more complicated medications you'll have to take. The more medications you take, the more side effects you'll have to deal with.

In this article, I would like to discuss prevention and natural cures for heartburn. What is heartburn? Heartburn is a burning pain, usually behind the breast bone. Sometimes, the pain radiates to your midback or up to your throat. This pain has nothing to do with your heart, but can be mistaken for angina or a heart attack. We all have acid in our stomach, which aid in digesting the food we eat. Heartburn occurs when the acid in our stomach rises up the esophagus. The esophagus is the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach. The esophagus does'nt have a protective lining, like the stomach. When acid gets in there, it's painful.

Heartburn occurs for two reasons:
1. At the bottom of the esophagus, there's a muscle, the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). This muscle contracts to keep the acid out. If your LES is weak, the acid will rise up the esophagus.
2. Normally, the esophagus has mechanisms to push materials back into the stomach. If the mechanisms aren't working properly, the contents remain in the stomach too long.

There are particular foods that can worsen heartburn. These foods increase stomach acid or weaken the LES: Coffee, citrus foods, fatty foods, fried foods, alcoholic beverages, chocolate, and pepper are some foods you might want to stay away from while experiencing heartburn.

There are also medications that relaxes the LES, which lets contents back up in the esophagus, causing heartburn. Antidepressants, bronchodilators (asthma), antianxiety meds, and some heart medications can cause heartburn. Always check side effects of medications before using. If the side effects cause heartburn, notify your doctor, maybe he can prescribe something else.

Our daily lifestyle habits can cause heartburn:
- Smoking. Nicotine relaxes the LES and increases production of stomach acid.
- Being overweight. Obesity increases abdomen pressure, which pushes contents to the esophagus.
- Do not sleep after eating. Gravity helps keep acid into the stomach. Elevate the head of your bed, with pillows, while sleeping.
- Don't wear tight clothes, around the waist. This will squeeze the stomach and force food up.
- Dont overeat. It expands the stomach and increases pressure.

You can also try alternative medication for heartburn. Papaya Enzymes works wonders for digestive disorders. Papaya enzymes contains papain, an enzyme which aids in digestion. It relieves indigestion and heatburn. It's an all natural supplement thats chewable. Take 3-4 tablets following meals, after 1-2 months, you won't need to take them. Your healed. Good luck.