Find Out What the Real Causes of Heartburn Are

by: JeffMartin
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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.

If heartburn happens twice per week or more frequently, a graver medical condition known as acid reflux disease may exist. This is also known as GERD (Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease). Even healthy people may experience heartburn up to once per week. Heartburn is the name for the sensation of burning or searing around the chest or throat. This frequently manifests itself after a meal.

The LES or Lower Esophageal Sphincter should normally only relax to let nutritive elements flow into the digestive system and should not allow stomach contents to move back in the opposite sense. But in a reflux situation, the LES is weakened and digestive contents can move back into the esophagus, damaging esophageal cells in the wall lining and an activating the pain sensors. GERD is the offspring of two physiological malfunctions: the first is excess stomach acidity; and the second is the weakened sphincter (LES), which no longer performs its function correctly as a barrier between the stomach and the esophagus.

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. Infections from Candida. When circumstances permit, Candida bacteria replicate fast and establish colonies all over the body. These microorganisms then ferment and are the causative agent for the rejection of digestive contents to be rejected back into the esophagus. This is when esophageal cells are then inflamed and degraded. Note that Candida is normally resident in the human body, especially in domains of the intestines and the genitals. Usually, Candida is kept in equilibrium by friendly bacteria with no negative corporal effect.

4. Diet patterns, as in the regular and frequent eating of foods that provoke acid production, such as chocolates, peppermint, tomatoes and citrus fruits. Also, eating foods that are fatty or spicy and that weaken the LES, or foods that are hard to digest, can worsen acid reflux.

To cut out heartburn and to stop it from coming back, the root causes must be resolved. Whereas conventional treatments only superficially treat the symptoms, a holistic, all-natural approach gets to the real underlying causes to provide the only true safe and effective cure for acid reflux.

About the Author

Jeff Martin is a certified nutritionist and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, Heartburn No More . For Further Information: Acid Reflux   

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