The Most Powerful Ways to Stop Heartburn

While in some of my previous posts I have been ranting on about the basics of heartburn, in this one I really wanted to give cover some powerful and effective ways to stop heartburn. While losing weight and charting trigger foods is necessary for long term heartburn success, they take forever to actually kick in. In this article I wanted to give you some powerful things you can do right away to start helping out your heartburn.

Bed Wedge Pillows

I think that these are great and are necessary for anyone who sleeps in the same bed as their significant other. This allows you to lie on an incline, helping stop heartburn at night. Most heartburn at night is unrelated to it being at night but rather related to body position; lying down makes heartburn worse!

By lying on the pillow, you prevent  acid reflux from "rolling downhill" and entering the esophagus. These pillows are my secret weapon and I do not like to sleep without one.

The thing is you can also just elevate your bed on one end and get the same effect. Your spouse however may not be comfortable with this, so the bed wedge pillow works great when that is the case.

Medicines

While not always perfect for long-term use, medicine from the doctor really can help, especially when you are trying to turn things around. Prescription medicine not only stops heartburn but promotes healing of the esophagus, so it can help reduce your symptoms and give your esophagus some time to heal as you work on losing weight and fixing your diet.

Some people who just happen to produce a lot of stomach acid do well on these medications even for the long term due to this. You should talk with your doctor and make an informed decision on the use of such medication.

Gum

I love popping a piece of chewing gum in my mouth if I happen to go out to eat and have something that I "shouldn't have". This always seems to do me very well in terms of preventing heartburn. I have read on another site that this is because the act of chewing seems to increase the production of saliva and speeds up the process of digesting.

If you didn't know, a sluggish digestive tract really can increase your heartburn, so anything that improves gastric motility is good in my book. It's not a coincidence that individuals who suffer from GERD also often suffer from constipation. For more information on GERD, check out this video: