This is what you can do for heartburn

Most people have experienced heartburn at some point. If you suffer from it at least once a week, it is useful to know the following things.

What is heartburn?
In case of heartburn (reflux), acidic stomach contents too often flow back into the esophagus. Everyone suffers from it from time to time, especially after a heavy meal it often occurs. After meals, the pressure in your stomach is slightly increased, causing the sphincter to open to get rid of unnecessary air. As a result, some acid can occasionally come up.

Do you suffer from heartburn more than twice a week? Then your sphincter is probably open more often on average than with others, causing stomach acid to rise too regularly. This can be due to overweight, pregnancy, highly spicy or fatty foods, alcohol, smoking, stress or fatigue.

The effects of heartburn
If you often suffer from heartburn, this can cause a painful burning sensation behind your breastbone, but also symptoms such as an irritated throat, coughing and swallowing problems, belching, feeling of a lump in your throat, a bitter or sharp taste in your mouth and bad breath. The result may be that you sleep less well at night and you can no longer enjoy your food. Heartburn damages your esophagus over a longer period of time and can even cause inflammation of the esophagus. Do you often suffer from heartburn? Then seek advice from your doctor.

Prevent heartburn

Try to keep track of which foods you get complaints. For example, is that often after drinking fresh orange juice or eating chocolate? In that case, it is better to skip those products from now on.
Eat smaller portions to find out if that makes your complaints less.
Moderate with fatty foods and alcohol.
After a meal, it is best to take it easy for a while to lower your food, but do not lie down straight away, as this can cause your stomach acid to rise.
Do you often suffer from heartburn at night? Raise the head of your bed. By ensuring that your chest is higher than your stomach, you can reduce the complaints.

Binders and Inhibitors
Still Suffering From Heartburn? There are various means that can reduce this. You can choose between antacids and antacids. A gastric acid binder binds and neutralizes the acid in your stomach, eliminating the burning sensation. A gastric acid inhibitor inhibits the production of acid, so that you should suffer less. Medical substances that can help include algeldrate (antacids), omeprazole (antacids), ranitidine (antacids), alginic acid (antacids), and esomeprazole (antacids).

Read the package leaflet of the over-the-counter product you are going to use. Sometimes there are side effects, you may not use them indefinitely or they are not suitable for you, for example during pregnancy or if you have a deficiency of vitamin B12.