What Causes Heartburn: Put It Down To A Weak Or Malfunctioning Lower Esophageal Sphincter

Have you ever experienced burning and discomforting sensations in your chest reason? If so, it should make you wonder what causes heartburn. Heartburn can make you feel these uncomfortable sensations at different times and under different circumstances; whether you are dong nothing more than lying down or are bending down; heartburn pain will make you wish you knew what causes heartburns so that you can know how to avoid the problem in the first place.

Acidic Contents

Heartburn leads to contents (mostly acid) leaving your stomach and entering up into your esophagus. The trouble is that this acidic content that enters your esophagus irritates as well as burns and inflames the esophagus and this leads to discomforting pain. To answer the question what causes heartburn simply and in a matter of fact manner you will first of all need to look at the kind of foods and drinks you have been ingesting.

It is well known that more than ninety percent of heartburn cases are caused by the wrong kinds of foods and drinks. It is therefore necessary that you learn about which foods and drinks can make you suffer from heartburn and then to avoid these items totally. Another way of answering the question what causes heartburn is to start to look at the anatomy of the connection between your stomach and esophagus. In between these two body parts lies the lower esophageal sphincter LES whose main function is to prevent foods and liquids from leaving your stomach and entering into the esophagus.

So, when the LES malfunctions you will get your answer to what causes heartburn. There are many reasons why the LES can malfunction including old age and improper relaxation of the sphincter. Yet another answer to the question what causes heartburn is that you have to look at certain types of drinks that, when consumed, will cause the LES to relax and so leads to heartburn. Smoking can also be considered a cause of heartburn; mainly because the smoke from your cigarette causes the LES to weaken and when pressure is lost, the acidic foods and liquids present in the stomach are able to open the relaxed sphincter and then escape into the esophagus.

It is easy to see that perhaps the best answer as to what causes heartburn is that the LES has become weak or is malfunctioning. This weakness or malfunctioning allows the acidic content to escape into the esophagus and there causes considerable distress. No doubt, there are many other reasons as well that can lead to heartburn. For example, you can answer the question what causes heartburn by saying that wearing overly tight clothes too leads to heartburn and the same is the case when you lie down too soon after having consumed a meal.

Among foods that cause heartburn you should first of all include citrus fruits and tomatoes; together these two items contain excess of stomach acids and that in turn is the main reason why people suffer from heartburn.

The quest to properly identify and answer what causes heartburn has led man to try various solutions. Heartburn is quite a common problem and even natural remedies have been proven to be quite effective in treating the problem. From available information regarding what causes heartburn it has been found that certain lifestyles, physical problems as well as wrong choice of food and drinks are the main culprits that lead to heartburn and plenty of consequent discomfort.