Just like other chronic ailments, heartburn is a result of multiple and interlinked causes. Although many popular texts make reference to aspects of lifestyle and eating particular foods, the real reasons underlying heartburn extend to a wider selection of factors with genetic, lifestyle and dietary aspects.
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.
A sphincter, the LES or Lower Esophageal Sphincter, should normally only open to let food and drink flow into the intestinal system and should not allow stomach contents to flow in the opposite direction. But in reflux situations, the LES is debilitated and stomach contents can reflux into the esophagus, damaging the cells in the wall lining and causing pain. GERD is the result of two physiological issues: the first is excess stomach acidity; and the second is the weakened sphincter (LES) which no longer functions correctly to cordon off the stomach from the esophagus.
As referred to above, several linked elements lead to a weakened LES or too concentrated a level of digestive acidity. Amongst these factors we find:
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, ingestion of foods that are fatty or spicy and that weaken the LES, or foods that are hard to digest, can all aggravate existing acid reflux. Similarly, the consistent, frequent ingestion of foods that provoke acid production, such as chocolate, peppermint, citrus fruits and tomatoes, has a similar effect.
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.
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