What Are Some Leading Causes of Heartburn?
Heartburn happens to most of us, at one time or another. Heartburn is that painful, burning feeling in your chest or esophagus. Sometimes it goes up and leaves a sour or bitter taste in your throat or mouth. There are many symptoms of heartburn, and chances are, you've had them at one time or another. They would be very familiar to you. Whichever symptoms you have, it is good to know the leading causes of heartburn.
Pinpoint Your Trigger
While there is not one definitive cause, there are several leading causes of heartburn. The trick is to identify which of the causes could be causing your heartburn, or can be fixed to alleviate your heartburn so that you don't get it again, or at least not as frequently.
There is a simple answer of what causes heartburn. It is caused by the acidic contents of the stomach rising up, burning the bottom end of the esophagus. How this becomes a leading cause of heartburn is because the lower esophageal sphincter (which is supposed to constrict and not allow that to happen). This sphincter relaxes on a regular basis - for example, during swallowing. That is alright - it is supposed to do that then. But other times, it is supposed to be closed - and work together with normal peristalsis, those muscular contractions that happen in a rhythmic wave, moving food down and past the lower esophageal sphincter and eventually clearing the stomach contents into the further parts of the digestive tract.
Another leading cause of heartburn is ingesting foods, drinks, or other things that can irritate the sphincter or the bottom of the esophagus. Doctors find that 90 to 95% of heartburn sufferers or of esophageal disorders can tie their symptoms back into ingestion of specific foods. Some of these things are: spicy foods, tomatoes and tomato sauces, fried foods, chocolate, peppermint, citrus fruits, coffee, cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages. It can be very helpful to manage your diet as a way to treat heartburn. Eating foods and drinks that have a low risk of causing acid reflux can help - foods like bread, yogurt, fruit, etc.
These leading causes of heartburn can be offset by doing a few things. For example, it helps if you drink a glass of lukewarm water after a meal to help dilute and flush out the stomach acid, and also chewing gum helps, because it stimulates the production of saliva, which neutralizes stomach acid.
