Heartburn is sure a miserable sensation, and more and more people suffer with it.

The Mayo Clinic describes heartburn as “a burning pain in your chest, just behind your breastbone. The pain is often worse after eating, in the evening, or when lying down or bending over.” Heartburn symptoms may also include a bitter or acidic taste in your mouth.

Some heartburn may indicate a serious health problem, such as a major heart complication, so if you suffer with it at all regularly, get checked out by your doctor.

What causes heartburn?

The most common explanation for heartburn is that it happens when stomach acid backs up into your esophagus.

What’s supposed to happen is that your lower esophageal sphincter, a band of muscle located around the bottom of your esophagus, relaxes to allow food and liquid to flow down into your stomach. Then, it tightens again.

But if the lower esophageal sphincter isn’t working right, stomach acid may flow back up into the esophagus (which is a reflux event) and cause heartburn. If you’re bent over or lying down, it may be even worse.

Not everyone agrees that a sphincter misfire is the only cause of heartburn, however.

Gastrointestinal motility, like all the body’s processes, has nuances and complexities. Your bio individuality influences which foods may trigger a reflux event. Other factors, like overall gut health, medications, and stress levels, to name a few, may also trigger a reflux event.

Over the last several years there’s been a big push to reduce the acidity of the stomach, including by drinking alkaline water, but I couldn’t disagree more with this line of thinking.

What you’ve gotta understand about your stomach acid is that it’s potent. If it regularly touches a part of your insides it’s not meant to touch, it can seriously damage them, and possibly lead to a condition known as Barrett’s esophagus, aka precancerous changes in the esophagus.

What you’ve also gotta understand about your stomach acid is that it’s supposed to be potent. It’s supposed to break down the food you eat, so your body can properly digest it and absorb nutrients from it.

Proton pump inhibitors and antacids work by either reducing the amount of stomach acid you produce, or they decrease the acidity of your stomach acid.

But when you have less stomach acid, or a less acidic stomach, your food doesn’t get properly digested, which causes further damage to your digestive system, and may lead to nutrient absorption issues.

Your assumption that your stomach being TOO acidic is the problem seems to make sense, but in reality,  your stomach not being acidic enough is more likely to lead to heartburn.

Will Code Red get rid of my heartburn?

Most people who join Code Red and correctly, consistently follow the lifestyle do experience heartburn relief.

For one thing, we avoid processed junk food, chemical-filled beverages, and sugar in the amounts most people eat it, which all disrupt your body’s digestive processes. They’re extremely harmful for the good gut bugs in your stomach that help you break down and digest food.

For another thing, high-carb foods – which we also avoid – are more likely to sit in your stomach and ferment, especially if you eat them AFTER fat and protein, which take longer to digest.

If you’re obese, the extra fat tissue you’re carrying puts undo pressure on your organs, including your stomach, which may further interfere with digestion and lead to heartburn.

If you’re struggling with miserable heartburn pain, bloating, burping, and/or feeling like there’s something stuck in your chest or throat, the key to eliminating your heartburn isn’t to disrupt your already disrupted digestive system by suppressing or reducing stomach acid.

Getting rid of your heartburn in a way that’s safe and long-term requires cleaning up your diet, getting sleep, and drinking water. When you’re physically able to do so, a little movement after you eat, like a walk, facilitates digestion. (Remember, we don’t use movement or exercise for weight loss on Code Red. This is about facilitating digestion.)

If you do all this and STILL have heartburn, it could be an individual food you’re eating. It could be that your gut’s so damaged, it needs extra support (like a probiotic) to recover.

Also, remember that heartburn is sometimes a sign of a more serious medical condition, so get checked out by your doctor if it STILL won’t go away, even with diet changes, lifestyle changes, movement after you eat, and eliminating certain foods to see if they’re the cause.

Whatever you do, don’t dismiss your heartburn. It’s a sign something is wrong, and just like ignoring the check engine light on your car is dangerous, so is shrugging off your heartburn as “no big deal.”

Have you created your free Code Red Lifestyle™ network account yet? If not, here’s how to get your account!

1) On your computer, create your account at www.CodeRedLifestyle.com/App.

2) If you want the network on a mobile device, go to the App Store or Google Play Store and search for Code Red Lifestyle.