Heartburn affects more than 60 million Americans every month. It can be described as a painful, burning sensation that occurs on the lower chest area. There are many causes. There are also many treatment modalities. Some of the conventional treatment modalities have side effects which render it impossible to continue the treatment
The muscle, the lower esophageal sphincter gets weakened with acid reflux and this is why people experience heartburn. We do know that diet plays a pivotal role in this disease. There are foods that relax the lower esophageal sphincter ( LES) allowing food to escape into the esophagus and this cause heartburn
Some of these foods are high fat foods . It is disappointing as some of these foods are beneficial to the body. Some of the high fat foods also stimulate the release of CCK, a hormone called cholecstokinin which relaxes the sphincter causing more reflux.
I used to use a lot of the mint herbs for which there are many. Mints has caused some relief but there is evidence that it can cause heartburn A study found that consuming peppermint tea increased the risk of heartburn by two fold. Other foods that causes heartburn are citrus juices, chocolate, spicy foods, onions and salt. Some of these foods have other health benefits. I fee; getting an allergy or sensitivity test for foods using Ig G testing can be beneficial We offer Ig G allergy testing in both our Connecticut and New York City offices.
Once the test is performed you can start to eliminate these foods and the foods lowering LES and stop heartburn. I use slippery elm, raspberry and meadowsweet teas to ease the bring as well as deglycherrized licorice ( DGL) Aloe vera gel can also help
Until tomorrow…