Taking Care Of Yourself: Heartburn Treatment

Although most individuals will suffer from heartburn at some point in their lives, there are people who are chronic heartburn sufferers, dealing with the issue after almost every meal. For these people it is imperative to find a solution to the heartburn problem since it affects their enjoyment of mealtime and their quality of life as a whole. There are many different heartburn treatments on the market today to help with the problem, but in order to solve the issue as a whole, most often changes to the diet and exercise plan for the individual must change.

Choices and Changes

One choice in heartburn treatment is to change the eating patterns for mealtimes. Since heartburn is often caused by eating meals that are too large in one sitting, dividing up meals into five to eight small meals per day rather than three large meals is sometimes a total solution to the individual's heartburn problem. In addition to the smaller meals, the individual should also try to lessen or cut out altogether the fatty foods that are consumed since they will often trigger heartburn. Another food item to cut out in heartburn treatment is spicy foods and those that are high in acid content since they tend to exacerbate the problem. There are also people who drink too much alcohol or who smoke regularly who will need to cut back or quit these activities altogether in their heartburn treatment.

Individuals who are obese may suffer from heartburn, so their heartburn treatment will entail losing the extra pounds from their bodies. The extra weight in the stomach area presses into the stomach which pushes the acid from the stomach into the esophagus, which causes the heartburn. By losing the weight, the individual can often solve the heartburn issue while still being able to enjoy certain high acid meals from time to time, such as Mexican foods. This can also be an issue for women who are pregnant since the growing child will often put the same sort of pressure on the stomach, pushing the acid into the esophagus and causing heartburn. The only relief for a pregnant woman is to watch the types of foods she eats to try to eliminate fatty foods and spicy foods from her diet.

While antacids are often used to help with heartburn treatment, they are often more of a problem than a solution in the long run. Many antacids have a high sodium content which is not good for anyone and especially individuals who are struggling with high blood pressure, a common problem with obese people. In addition, many of the antacids have additional calcium in them which can lead to gallbladder issues and kidney stones.