6 Ways to Get Rid of Heartburn

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Nobody likes feeling heartburn, that burning pain in your chest after you eat acidic foods. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to alleviate the pain or prevent it completely. Keep on reading to learn six effective ways to get rid of heartburn.

Short-term relief

Antacids

The best way to fight heartburn in the short term is with a simple antacid. Keeping a container of Tums or Alka-Seltzer handy during meals can be a great way to provide quick relief if you do start feeling heartburn. These tablets can start working in mere seconds. They neutralize your stomach acid, which can also help with stomach discomfort and indigestion.

H2 receptor blockers

If you’ve tried antacids and other solutions and you’re still having troubles with heartburn, consider asking your doctor about H2 receptor blockers. They work because H2 receptors produce gastric acid, or stomach acid, which is what dissolves your food and what causes heartburn in many cases.

H2 receptor blockers like cimetidine, famotidine, or ranitidine – which is commonly known as Zantac – can help decrease the amount of gastric acid your H2 receptors produce. The result can be less heartburn if you take an H2 receptor every morning.

Chewing gum

This trick might not be your first thought when experiencing heartburn, but chewing gum produces more saliva in your mouth, which can actually help wash stomach acid out of your esophagus and back down into your stomach. Try to avoid peppermint-flavored gum, however, as peppermint can cause heartburn in some cases.

Long term 

Triphala

Triphala is a combination of Indian gooseberry, black myrobalan, and belleric myrobalan – three fruits that, together, are an essential medicine in the Indian healing tradition known as Ayurveda. Triphala can be found as a powder, juice, or pill, and it can help cleanse your system and alleviate heartburn. It may also be able to improve your gastrointestinal health and fight some bacterial infections.

Papaya enzymes

Papain, a popular papaya enzyme, may help combat heartburn as well as indigestion. Heartburn is often caused by digestive acid moving from the stomach up the esophagus as a result of indigestion, and papaya enzymes can help dissolve the protein in your food to help everything settle in your stomach.

Daily enzymes

Generic daily enzyme capsules can also help your digestive system break down your food better and decrease heartburn. A single “daily enzyme” capsule contains multiple different enzymes that can help you digest different types of food. For example, the lipase enzyme helps break down fat while the amylase enzyme helps break down carbohydrates. Getting all these enzymes in one easy dose can help provide an easy source of relief.

Avoiding foods that cause heartburn

The solution to your heartburn problem might also lie in a simple lifestyle change. Certain foods can aggravate the stomach and trigger heartburn in some people, so avoiding them may help reduce the problem. These foods could include spicy food, citrus fruits, onions, tomatoes, fried foods, and alcohol (and even some otherwise healthy foods). Try cutting different foods out of your diet one at a time to see if removing anything makes a positive difference.