Natural Ways To Treat Heartburn In Pregnancy
Are you tired of just popping Tums to suppress your heartburn symptoms instead of actually treating the problem? If so and you are interested in making some easy diet and lifestyle changes that can actively keep your heartburn away, keep reading!
Why Heartburn Occurs In Pregnancy
Nearly 50% of all pregnant women experience heartburn in their pregnancy. Heartburn often begins within the second month of pregnancy and unfortunately usually lasts throughout the rest of the pregnancy. There are multiple factors that play a role in why heartburn occurs, but the main reason it is so common in pregnancy is because of the hormonal changes.
Beginning in the first trimester, your body starts producing larger quantities of the hormones progesterone and relaxin. Relaxin helps to relax the smooth muscle tissues in your body, including those in your gastrointestinal tract. When these muscles are relaxed, the movement of food into your stomach and how fast your stomach takes to empty starts to slow down. This results in indigestion issues, including: feeling bloated, gassy, and experiencing heartburn. While this is uncomfortable for you, this slowing down is actually good for your baby, because it allows for better absorption of nutrients through the placenta and into your baby.
Aside from the slowing down of food in and out of your stomach, heartburn also occurs due to stomach acids becoming backed up into the esophagus. In normal digestion, your food moves down the esophagus and passes through a valve called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and into your stomach. Imagine this valve as a door between the two that opens to allow food down into your stomach, and closes to prevent stomach acids from creeping back up. The increased levels of relaxin also affect the LES by causing it to relax so much that it remains open, making it incredibly easy for stomach acids to back up into the esophagus. The stomach acids cause irritation to the esophageal lining, which results in heartburn.
Natural Ways To Treat Heartburn
First off, there are several foods that, whether you’re pregnant or not, will make you more prone to experiencing heartburn, these include: fatty/fried foods, caffeinated beverages, chocolate, peppermint, spicy foods, onions, citrus, and tomatoes. In pregnancy, it is better to eat smaller, more frequent meals and drink water 30 minutes after you finish eating. When eating, try to chew slowly and thoroughly before swallowing, keeping a steady pace rather than shoveling down your food. Taking a walk after eating, especially if you ate a big meal can help aid in the digestive process as well. Avoid eating right before bed if you can; you want to try to eat several hours before going to sleep or lying down. When you do sleep, sleeping on your left side is better because when you’re on your right side, your stomach is higher than your esophagus, which makes it easier for stomach acids to make their way back up, which results in heartburn. Another helpful way of ensuring that your stomach remains lower than your esophagus is by using pillows to help keep your upper body slightly propped up while you sleep.
Finally, here are five foods that will help you keep you treat and prevent heartburn:
1. Papayas. Papayas contain the papain enzyme, which helps improve digestion and neutralizes acidity.
2. Ginger. Ginger is anti-inflammatory and great for relieving heartburn. Try chewing ginger snaps, sucking on ginger candies, or brewing your own ginger tea.
3. Almonds. Raw almonds are excellent to chew on after your meals because they neutralize and help absorb stomach acids.
4. Gum. Chewing gum after you eat will increase your saliva production and help neutralize any acids that are working their way back up. As I mentioned, peppermint can cause heartburn so if your minty gum seems to do more damage than good, try opting for a non-minty flavor.
5. Yogurt. Yogurt soothes your esophagus and provides your digestive system with necessary probiotics.
Heartburn is uncomfortable and disruptive to every day life, but it doesn’t have to rule over you. Employing these easy diet and lifestyle changes can drastically change the frequency and intensity at which you experience heartburn. Now of course taking an antacid such as Tums every once in a while is perfectly fine for providing quick relief, but unlike these natural remedies, it will only suppress your symptoms until next time, rather than treat the problem. Treat your heartburn so that you can spend more time enjoying your pregnancy, rather than being subject to it’s symptoms.
You Can Do This!
Take the stress out of trying to decide what to put on your birth plan by filling out my editable PDF to with all of your birth preferences. It’s easy to read format makes your do’s and don’t clear and comprehensive for your birth team to follow!
