mens health > heart > heartburn

Heartburn

You just finished slapping down some anchovy smothered pizza, and chased it down with some beer and now you’re content ...

What you didn’t take into account was the possibility of having heartburn, which can be a painful and uncomfortable experience to say the least.

The strange thing is though ... almost everyone has suffered from heartburn at one time or another, and yet most people do nothing about it.

Symptoms of Heartburn

The burning uncomfortable feeling which heartburn produces in your chest and throat is a trademark of spicy or greasy foods, but heartburn can also be caused by eating citrus fruits and even heavily caffeinated drinks such as everybody’s favourite ... pop.

Basically you will feel a burning sensation at the back of your throat, which kind of feels like the food wants to come back up, which you probably wouldn’t mind if it would stop the heartburn. You might also feel a burning in your chest that spreads to your neck and increased pain if you lie down or bend over.

Some people who experience heartburn mistake it for a heart attack. This can be a scary experience, but heartburn is far less severe than a heart attack and generally can be avoided by eating properly or avoiding certain foods.

Heartburn is caused when stomach acid (which contains hydrochloric acid) refluxes into your esophagus. This usually happens when the valve that is supposed to stop the acid from ever touching your esophagus isn’t working properly. This valve is supposed to let food down into the stomach, but isn’t supposed to allow the acid up. Sometimes it relaxes and doesn’t do its job properly causing heartburn.

Fighting Heartburn

If you are prone to heartburn there are a few things you can do to combat it. One of the things is to make sure that you cut down on caffeinated, carbonated, citric and alcoholic beverages. You should also cut down on spicy and greasy foods and foods such as citric fruits, garlic, pepper, tomatoes and tomato based products and chocolate.

All of these foods and drinks add to the acidity of your stomach and make it more likely that you will suffer from heartburn.

Eating before bedtime can cause heartburn because your acidity level is highest after eating a meal. Also, eating large meals (gorging yourself) can lead to heartburn because your body will produce more stomach acid than usual in order to break down your pig-fest.

Being overweight doesn’t help heartburn either and neither does smoking cigarettes or cigars. Wearing tight clothing can also add to the pressure on your stomach and force stomach acid upward causing heartburn, so stay away from the 80’s gear like tight spandex and skin tight jeans will ya?

Sam Fields