subject: What You Need To Know About Heartburn Symptoms [print this page] When people begin experiencing heartburn symptoms they turn to their favorite relief. This is usually an antacid or something that will neutralize stomach acid. Does it work?
That depends on the type of heartburn you have. This is good to know because the treatment is not the same.
A second form of heartburn is created by a lack of acid within the stomach. This is a condition more common among older people.
It occurs because the body will start making less acid as the body ages. Although, it's not limited to just older people. I've known folks in their 40's afflicted by this.
It's not pleasant to be reduced to eating very small plates of bland, easy to digest vegetarian meals. There are ways to make the situation better, however.
How Heartburn Symptoms Differ - While the common symptoms are the same for both types there is a clue or two that may assist you when it comes to identifying which is which. General symptoms are chest pain, hoarse cough, urge to regurgitate, bloating, belching and a bad taste in the mouth.
The bad taste is a good clue. With acid heartburn, the taste will be sour. With acid deficiency, the taste will be bitter. Too much belching may also be a clue of a lack of stomach acid.
What's The Remedy? - In both cases the stomach can't handle the job of digesting food. With an over acidic stomach the answer is to give the stomach what it can handle. What this means is that eating less each meal, eating less dense protein and eating much more salad.
The other heartburn - With an acid deficient diet it may become a matter of eating only one or two things per meal until you can identify the acceptable and unacceptable foods. Pay attention to seasonings as well. For example, mashed potatoes may work but not with butter. It might be that meat is the issue or it might be vegetable protein too.
Other than alternating your diet there are ways to make up for the acid missing. Papaya and papaya juice have enzymes that breaks down meat, similar to stomach acid.
Pineapple, which holds an enzyme that lessens protein, can also be helpful here, for a number of people. If meals have become a tense time for you, try starting off with a cup of chamomile tea which holds a relaxant as well as healing compounds.
Treating stomach issues with food and herbs has particular natural advantages but if they do not seem to work well enough for you then HCL may be the answer. Hydrochloric acid is the stomach's tool for digesting food.
Also an enzyme called pepsin, both are ordinarily triggered when food enters the stomach. Supplements of both these products are available in stores.
