What Causes Heartburn?
Heartburn can be one of the most annoying and painful conditions to have. It can cause you to avoid all sorts of foods that you enjoy, or even avoid eating entirely. I’ve even had patients who have avoided drinking water because it would cause issues. Why is it so hard to pin down the cause of heartburn?
Contrary to what you might think, heartburn isn’t always caused by having too much stomach acid. The problem typically lies in having too little stomach acid, poor gallbladder function, food sensitivities, or an infection with H. Pylori. To figure out which of these causes is the root of your heartburn, here are a few things that you have to pay close attention to:
- Timing of symptoms
- Foods that cause symptoms
- Other symptoms (irritable bowel, dry skin, etc.)
The timing of your symptoms is very important. If you experience the burning sensation shortly after eating, there is a decent chance that you are dealing with low stomach acids, food sensitivities, or sometimes, ulcers. Foods that your body doesn’t quite agree with can cause immediate discomfort. Foods that might lead to this are often acidic or spicy foods including tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, and alcohol. Not to say that those are the only foods that can be an issue, but those are quite common.
Heartburn that is happening an hour or more after eating can be due to poor downstream digestive function. It is quite common for chronic low stomach acid to lead to poor gallbladder function. Stomach acid is what triggers the gallbladder to release bile, and if there isn’t enough acid, then bile release won’t be stimulated. Bile breaks down fat in the small intestine shortly after it leaves the stomach. If fat digestion isn’t happening, then the body will intentionally slow digestion. This keeps fats in the stomach longer while increasing acid production. This is the body’s attempt to digest fats further without the help of the bile. When this uptick in stomach acid happens, heartburn follows.
A relatively similar issue happens when there are issues with the valves found further down in the digestive tract, but this isn’t as common and won’t cause heartburn for a few hours following a meal.
Management Strategies
My first advice for at-home care is to keep a food journal. If you understand when discomfort happens and what foods you ate, you can start to take charge of your symptoms. My next advice is to increase the acidity of your stomach by drinking 2oz of apple cider vinegar shortly before each meal. You can assist your stomach with digestion where acid is lacking. My final advice is to seek professional care. This article only scratches the surface of some causes of heartburn. Many underlying issues can affect everything that I previously talked about. If you have questions, schedule a free consult here to discuss your symptoms and what I can do to help! If you’d like to read more digestion articles, click here.
