Despite the name, heartburn has nothing to do with your heart. It’s about your stomach.
What Heartburn Feels Like
Heartburn is a burning feeling behind your breastbone that can creep up toward your throat. Some people also get a sour taste in their mouth or food coming back up. It’s often worse after big meals, lying down, or bending over.
What Is GERD?
GERD, or reflux, affects about a third of Americans at least once a month, and 10 percent deal with it weekly or daily. It happens when stomach acid moves up into the esophagus and irritates it. Over time, that irritation can damage the esophagus badly enough to become precancerous, a condition called Barrett’s esophagus. GERD can also cause enamel decay, bad breath, coughing, and asthma-like symptoms — and it can feel enough like a heart attack to be scary.
Why I’m Cautious About Heartburn Medication
Most people with GERD get prescribed a PPI — think Nexium, Prilosec, or Prevacid — or an H2 blocker like Pepcid or Zantac. These drugs block acid production, and they do bring relief. But long-term use has been linked to real risks: nutrient deficiencies, gut infections, pneumonia, and even kidney and liver damage. More importantly, they don’t fix why you have heartburn in the first place — many patients are told to take them forever.
We Actually Need Stomach Acid
Here’s where I take a different approach. Stomach acid isn’t the problem — it’s essential. It kills off harmful bacteria and helps you absorb nutrients like B12, iron, and calcium.
I believe most GERD comes from too little stomach acid, not too much. Acid naturally drops as we age, and coffee and poor diet lower it further. Low acid actually causes the valve at the top of your stomach to relax, letting acid splash upward. Healthy acid levels keep that valve tight. It sounds backwards, but boosting stomach acid is often how we fix reflux.
Natural Remedies That Help
Diet changes alone resolve GERD for a lot of people. Cutting out dairy, citrus, tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine, peppermint, fatty foods, and alcohol is a great place to start. I also recommend testing for food sensitivities or trying an elimination diet.
A few of my go-to natural tools:
- Betaine HCl — adds acid back to tighten that valve and stop reflux
- DGL licorice — soothes and heals the esophagus
- Digestive enzymes — help you break down food better
- Marshmallow root, slippery elm, plantain, and aloe — coat and protect the esophagus
- Visceral manipulation — gentle bodywork that can ease symptoms, especially with a hiatal hernia
Let’s Get to the Root of It
GERD deserves a real treatment plan, not a lifetime prescription. I use botanical medicine, homeopathy, physical medicine, and elimination diets to help patients heal for good — and get off PPIs.
Schedule your first visit today, and let’s get you started on the path to healing.
— Dr. Faith Christensen