Causes of Heartburn: Drill Down To The Real Reasons For Heartburn

Even if many popular information sources and the media suggest that aspects of lifestyle and eating particular foods are at fault, the real causative agents of heartburn are somewhat more numerous with genetic, lifestyle and dietary elements interlinked. Just like other chronic ailments, heartburn is a result of complex and many-dimensioned causes.

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 indicated earlier, several inter-linked factors make for a weak LES or excessive stomach acidity. These factors include:

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, intake of foods that are fatty or spicy and that debilitate the LES, or nutritive components that make digestion difficult can all boost existing Acid Reflux. Similarly, the regular and frequent ingestion of foods triggering acid production or levels, such as chocolate, peppermint, citrus fruits and tomatoes, also makes Acid Reflux more likely.

Whereas conventional medicine has only a superficial action, limiting any effect to purely the symptoms, a holistic, all-natural program focuses on the basic reasons to put in place the only real secure and workable Acid Reflux remedy. To halt heartburn and halt its return, the basic contributing factors must be addressed and this is what the holistic principles do.