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Get to the Truth About The Real Causes Of Heartburn

by: JeffMartin
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Just like other chronic ailments, heartburn is a result of multiple and interlinked causes. Although many popular texts make reference to aspects of lifestyle and eating particular foods, the real reasons underlying heartburn extend to a wider selection of factors with genetic, lifestyle and dietary aspects.

Although people in good health may experience heartburn once per week or less, if heartburn happens twice per week or more, this may indicate a graver medical condition known as acid reflux disease, and also referred to as GERD (Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease). Heartburn can be identified as the sensation of burning or searing in the area of the chest or throat. This feeling often comes after having eaten.

GERD comes about because of two physiological problems: the first is excess acidity in the stomach; and the second is a weakened sphincter (LES, Lower Esophageal Sphincter) which no longer acts properly to block off the stomach from the esophagus. Normally, the LES only opens to let food and drink flow into the intestinal system and should not let gastric juices escape backwards. Nevertheless, in reflux situations, the LES is debilitated and stomach contents can reflux or splash back to the esophagus, corroding the lining and causing the feeling of pain.

As mentioned above, several related factors result in a weakened LES or too high a level of stomach acidity. Amongst these factors are:

1. Characteristics passed on from one generation to another.

2. Lifestyles, where habits such as smoking ruins the digestion, attacks the immune system and aggravates Candida multiplication, which then leads to the disease of acid reflux. Stress from lack of sleep, emotional pressure or excess of work also provokes these problems.

3. Candida infections. Candida is normally present anyway in the human body, including the intestinal and genital areas. In usual circumstances, Candida is balanced by beneficial bacteria and does not harm the body. But under certain conditions Candida microbes grow rapidly and spread. These microbes can then ferment and reflux stomach contents back into the esophagus, where inflammation and damage to the esophageal lining then take place.

4. Diet patterns, ingestion of foods that are fatty or spicy and that weaken the LES, or foods that are hard to digest, can all aggravate existing acid reflux. Similarly, the consistent, frequent ingestion of foods that provoke acid production, such as chocolate, peppermint, citrus fruits and tomatoes, has a similar effect.

To cut out heartburn and to stop it from coming back, the root causes must be resolved. Whereas conventional treatments only superficially treat the symptoms, a holistic, all-natural approach gets to the real underlying causes to provide the only true safe and effective cure for acid reflux.