Here's
the most complete guide to Heartburn and
indigestion.
Heartburn
is the consequence of indigestion but it
involves many other factors. While indigestion
mostly occurs due to insufficient flow or
secretion of gastric juices that include
hydrochloric acid in the stomach, heartburn is
felt when part of the acidic stomach contents
reflux back into the esophagus (the tube that
carries food and drink to the stomach) causing
irritation to the esophagus inner linings. The
principal culprit in heartburn is the lower
esophageal sphincter or LES that inappropriately
open up allowing the reflux.
Indigestion
may happen to anyone consuming bad or contaminated
food items. It can also happen from too much of
spicy food that is not suited to the person - but
this need not necessarily mean that he or she
would experience heartburn or acid reflux if the
person's LES is functioning
normally.
It
is only when the feeble LES fails to hold back the
stomach contents and lets it leak into the
esophagus that heartburn takes place. Besides,
indigestion is seldom chronic, unless it is
accompanied by other more serious health
conditions whereas heartburn associated with
gastroesophageal acid reflux or GERD often takes
the chronic form. Even the treatment form of
indigestion and heartburn are totally different.
While temporary indigestion can be easily treated
with enzymes or some such digestive medications,
heartburn requires a holistic approach for
ultimate treat.
Heartburn
and indigestion - how to solve the
puzzle?
Since
heartburn resulting from chronic GERD involves a
multitude of factors, some of which are not even
understood till now, doctors advise change in
lifestyle in the hope that the trial and error
method may rectify some erroneous or bohemian way
of life that caused heartburn and related
discomfiture. The initial episode of this involves
selection and elimination of food and drink one by
one. If potatoes are suspected to be the
wrongdoer, it has to be eliminated from the diet
for a few days to watch if the frequency of
heartburn has diminished. If yes, then it is
eliminated, if not, it is reinstated. Similar is
the case with eggs, beef, and all kinds of sauces
and condiments and cheese. Next come the
beverages. If elimination of Red wine restores
normalcy, it should be permanently discarded from
the list of beverages and replaced by White wine
or vice
versa.
Then
there are certain food items that may be termed as
taboo for heartburn patients. This includes
tomatoes, all citrus fruits or fruit juices, rich
or spicy foods, five-course lunches and dinners,
scotch on rocks, cigarettes and cheroots and all
processed foods like ham, bacon, sausages and
heavily fat layered pork
chops.
The only sure way to fight
acid reflux and its symptom (such as heartburn) is
to identify all the factors that cause it in the
first place, which can be many by the way.
Identify the contributing factors and take steps
to correct them and the symptoms will be
automatically go. To do this, the body has to be
treated as a whole and not just the symptoms,
which is the approach of holistic remedies. So
when suffering from heartburn, turn to holistic
remedies for a more efficient
treatment.
