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First, it's annoying and uncomfortable.
Then, with routine occurrences it becomes downright painful and discouraging.
You know the scene all too well. Roughly 30 minutes or so after you’ve finished a meal or enjoyed your morning cup of coffee, the burning sensation creeps up into your chest or throat and lingers there.
Perhaps it’s kept you up at night?
Perhaps it’s had you perusing the aisles of your local pharmacy, looking for chalky remedies?
Or, maybe you’ve even found yourself doing a cupboard cleanse at your doctor’s admonition, ditching some of your favorites (like coffee) to keep these awful symptoms at bay.
If you find yourself in that number, you’re not alone. Nearly 15 million Americans suffer from heartburn symptoms daily!
So, what is it? What causes it? And please, for the love of all things good and right in this world, tell me you don’t have to actually stop drinking coffee to get rid of heartburn!
First, let’s get technical…
In the lower part of your esophagus is a band of muscle, a valve known as the lower esophageal sphincter.
This valve connects your esophagus to your stomach, and it essentially has two jobs.
Seen in action: When you swallow, the valve relaxes to allow food to enter your stomach, then it tightens again afterwards, keeping the contents in your stomach.
Unfortunately, when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) doesn’t tighten properly, or it becomes weak, those digestive fluids can leak back into the esophagus causing pain and discomfort.
So now, let’s get practical…
What does heartburn feel like?
Some lesser symptoms of heartburn include:
But, the most common symptom associated with heartburn includes a mild to severe burning sensation or pain located in the chest, throat, or neck.
You see, the lining of your stomach is tough, designed to handle its acidic contents. Your esophagus though, its lining is far more delicate.
Therefore, since the digestive fluids that have leaked into your esophagus are acidic (we’re talking stomach acid here), you rightfully feel a burning sensation as those contents irritate the esophageal lining.
In instances of heartburn, this is often felt directly behind your breastbone or in your throat.
Though heartburn actually has nothing to do with your heart, thankfully, it gets its name due to the fact that the discomfort felt from these symptoms often centers around your lower chest or upper chest as it proceeds up your throat.
With heartburn, these uncomfortable sensations can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. And, they’re often exacerbated when you bend over or lie down.
Heartburn is typically experienced within 30-60 minutes of eating or drinking, and some sufferers report the symptoms to worsen during the evening hours.
Chocolate is made of cocoa, which contains serotonin, a hormone that is thought to cause the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) to relax, allowing those digestive juices to leak back into the esophagus causing pain and discomfort.
Even worse, chocolate also contains theobromine and caffeine, which are both known to stimulate the LES, causing it to relax.
And, spicy foods in and of themselves may cause heartburn due to a compound they contain called capsaicin.
Capsaicin is known to slow down the rate at which your body digests food, meaning foods can stay in your stomach longer, increasing the risk for those digestive juices to leak back into your esophagus.
These foods are also known to trigger the release of a hormone known for its ability to relax the LES, doubling the effect and further causing heartburn symptoms.
Then, to make matters worse, the smoke from cigarettes works to relax the LES, causing that extra acid to leak into your esophagus, causing heartburn.
Quit smoking and avoid secondhand smoke to help decrease symptoms of heartburn.
In your stomach, this means an extra amount of stomach acid is produced which can increase the likelihood of this acid leaking back up into your esophagus, causing heartburn.
Overeating foods that are spicy or high in fat can worsen these symptoms.
Seek to eat small meals more frequently, as opposed to a few large meals per day, to avoid instances of heartburn.
If you are overweight, those extra pounds you are carrying around put pressure on your internal organs...here, your stomach.
As the pressure on your stomach increases, the acid within is essentially forced out, back up into your esophagus causing heartburn.
This same effect is also seen in individuals wearing tight fitting pants, where the waistband can place pressure on the stomach, causing digestive fluids to leak back into the esophagus.
In individuals who have been overweight for a long period of time, the LES can eventually lose its natural shape and strength, causing chronic symptoms of heartburn and acid reflux.
Losing weight can help relieve the excess pressure on your stomach, reducing instances of heartburn.
You finish eating dinner, then slide into your favorite chair and slouch down to relax, but are plagued with heartburn.
Is it dinner or your posture that is causing the discomfort?
Especially after meals, avoid sitting or slouching to reduce heartburn. Even better, try going for a leisurely walk post-meals to decrease heartburn.
Thus, this lends to the theory that other components of coffee may be the culprit here.
The thing is, all coffee is not created equally.
Coffees that contain chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides can irritate the lining of the stomach, thus causing an increase in acid production, leading to heartburn.
But, the other component of coffee that is thought to cause heartburn is the acidity level, with most brands of conventional coffee ranking on the pH scale at 4.85-5.10...in other words, very acidic.
Today, nearly 50 years later, we’re spelling relief by reaching into our coffee cabinet instead of our medicine cabinet!
Our delicious dark roast is the low-acid coffee solution you’ve been looking for, a way to continue enjoying coffee without the awful heartburn discomfort that some experience as a side effect!
MEDICAL DISCLAIMER
This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician. All readers/viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Neither Dr. Charles Livingston nor the publisher of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program.