Heartburn - that uncomfortable pain in your chest – burning discomfort that feels like too much acid in your stomach. If heartburn is not fixed, the acid can hurt and can damage the esophagus. If heartburn is suppressed with acid blockers then food isn’t digested as well and we’re at higher risk of weak bones, irritable bowel and autoimmune disorders.
What’s happening when I feel heartburn?
Acid is leaking up, through a weakened esophageal sphincter into the esophagus from the stomach. The stomach needs high acid to break down and sterilize food and the stomach has a thick lining to protect it from the acid. When the acid leaks into the esophagus it causes pain which we call heartburn – it is just over the heart area and feels like burning.
How do we fix heartburn? #1 - Balance stomach acid to close that sphincter and properly digest your food. #2 - strengthen the esophageal sphincter to keep stomach contents from leaking up. #3 -improve gallbladder function to help move stomach contents down. In the meantime, it’s ok if you’re taking acid blockers or antacids to alleviate the pain. You can strengthen the esophageal sphincter, gallbladder and stomach before stopping the acid blockers.
This is the first in a series on healing the underlying cause of heartburn - check out the next article here.
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