Did you know that according to the National Institutes of Health, more than 60 million Americans experience heartburn at least once a month?

I used to get heartburn from time to time, especially in the evening. Tums was my lifeline that I always keep on hand and would pop them like candy to try to make it go away. When I asked my doctor about it, he said it’s not a big deal and taking an antacid was a good way to make it go away.

Another thing that many people don’t know is that heartburn is commonly misinterpreted by western medicine. It’s seen as an indication that the body has too much stomach acid, but in most cases, this assumption is wrong. The more common problem that’s causing heartburn is actually not enough stomach acid. Let me explain…

Imagine a plastic water bottle with a cap covering the opening at the top. When you have enough stomach acid, there’s something called the “lower esophageal sphincter” LES that acts like a cap between the stomach and the esophagus. If you put water in the water bottle I had you imagine a moment ago, put the cap on it and shake it, nothing would happen. The cap would keep the water inside.

The problem comes when you take off the cap and shake the bottle. Water goes everywhere! This is a similar situation when you don’t have enough stomach acid. The body has a built-in trigger in the stomach that tells the LES to close when the stomach acid reaches a certain pH. Not enough means you don’t achieve that pH! Then when the stomach goes to work digesting your food, you get a similar experience to shaking the capless water bottle. Stomach acid is able to spill out of the top, into your esophagus, causing acid reflux, or heartburn.

I hope it also make sense now with the water bottle analogy, why many people also have difficulty when they lay down in bed. No “cap”, means more opportunity for the stomach acid (and stomach contents) to flow up into the esophagus.

From a Western Medicine perspective, the thought process seems to get stuck in the thought process that if the capless water bottle is splashing, the best solution would be to get rid of some of the water. But this doesn’t solve the problem!

This is what has led to medications like proton pump inhibitors (or PPI’s) being one of the most commonly prescribed! But people taking these medications will often still deal with heartburn, AND a whole host of other problems.

There will be a “part 2” of this blog post that talks about other symptoms that can come up when we don’t have enough stomach acid. Wrapping this one up soon because I wanted to keep this short enough so I don’t lose too many readers, and I wanted to give you some practical tools you can use.

These are simple strategies you can try that can help reduce heartburn and acid reflux.

***IF they make things feel worse, they aren’t the right solution for you. Reach out, we’d be more than happy to help you figure out what your body needs.

• 1-2 tsp of organic apple cider vinegar, diluted in a cup of water (or more) before meals can aid in the digestion process (start with a 1/4-1/2 tsp and work up to test how your body responds)
• 1-2 tsp of juice from an organic lemon, diluted in water is also another great option (start slow with this in the same way recommended for the apple cider vinegar)
• Marshmallow root tea, chamomile tea, peppermint tea or some slippery elm powder soaked in warm water can help with soothing the stomach
• If you find yourself in a heartburn flare, ½ tsp of baking soda in about a cup of water is a quick fix that works quite well, and won’t cause the nutrient depletion of other over the counter meds like Tums or Gaviscon

Next week we’ll turn the water bottle upside down, and talk about the other sphincter between the stomach and the rest of the digestive tract. Having enough stomach acid is really important for your overall digestive health, because if the stomach isn’t able to do what it’s intended to do, the rest of the process is also compromised as well!

I hope you found this helpful! If you did, please share it with anyone you know who’s also struggling with heartburn, acid reflux or GERD. And if you’re looking for any help to get rid of heartburn naturally for good, or any other health problems, send us an email at info@AlignedNaturalHealth.com with what symptoms you’d like help with!

Live well, naturally!