There are a number of causes of heartburn. Despite it?s name, it has nothing whatever to do with your heart, and is in fact purely a digestive problem. The most common cause is acids in the stomach, used during the digestion process, leaking out and rising back into the esophagus. Since the esophagus isn?t designed to cope with the extremely strong acids in your stomach, this causes a painful burning sensation.
Severe or persistent heartburn should be treated by your doctor. Note also that the symptoms of a heart attack can be similar to heartburn. If in doubt, seek medical attention immediately.
The first step for any home heartburn remedy has to be prevention.
Avoid eating immediately before bedtime. Anything less than three hours and your stomach will not have had time to process dinner. Lying down make it easier for those stomach acids to leak back to the esophagus.
Eat smaller meals, more slowly. Eating fast or forcing large amounts of food into your stomach can increase the risk of heartburn.
Avoid alcohol, or excessive amounts of any drink, with meals.
Some foods are know to cause heartburn. These include tomato based products such as tomato soup, salsa and pizza topping. Other culprits can include drinks containing caffeine such as coffee and soda. Only you can determine if you are affected by these foods. Keep a heartburn diary for a month or two to see which foods cause problems.
Relax after eating. Walking or even changing your position can cause heartburn. Wait at least ten minutes before leaving the table.
Okay, you still get heartburn after following the prevention tips? Try these home heartburn remedies:
1. Try a cup of ginger or green tea. Drink it slowly after eating. You can also chew on a piece of root ginger.
2. Chew gum after eating. I know that this sounds counter-intuitive but many long-term sufferers swear by this remedy.
3. Swallow a teaspoon of dark brown sugar as soon as you experience heartburn.
4. Drink half a cup of milk.
These tips and prevention techniques should help to make heartburn misery a thing of the past.
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