A Simple Fix for Heartburn Every Morning

One of the more rare ways acid reflux can manifest itself is via heartburn in the morning. While most people suffer from heartburn in the evening or at night, some people get heartburn every morning. This could be the cause of nighttime heartburn that does not wake the afflicted individual up, but also some people just have an upset stomach in the morning.

For those people who tend to have an upset stomach and heartburn upon waking and for the early morning hours, I have a simple fix for you: have a protein shake for breakfast.

Having a protein shake in the morning (with nothing else) first thing after waking is a great way to help reduce acid reflux. In particular, protein actually helps increase the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (the thing that seals off the stomach from the esophagus). Note: no reference to support this, but there is evidence out there – I had read through the entire study which had demonstrated that LES pressure increased on average by 8 mm Hg after eating protein in the test subjects, but it seems I deleted the .pdf file and cannot find it!

The routine is simple: take 20-50g of protein in a shake, right after waking. The amount used depends on body weight; if you weigh 100 pounds (45 kg), use 20 grams; if you weigh 200 pounds or more (90 kg or more), use 50 grams; everyone else can be somewhere in the middle.

Give yourself 20 minutes or so to let your stomach settle down before drinking any coffee or any more water. Do not drink any extra water with your morning protein until your acid reflux has calmed down. The reason for this is that extra water dilutes stomach acid and enzymes and makes it much harder to digest the protein. Use as little as water as necessary, and only drink water or coffee in the morning after your reflux has subsided.

Protein’s effect on the digestive system can be very positive, but you want to be sure to choose the right type. A lot of people think that protein powders can lead to an upset stomach, but that is simply because they chose the wrong powder type.

The best powder you can get is pure whey protein, filtered or processed as finely as possible. At a bare minimum, you will want a protein which has “whey isolate” written on the ingredients label. When you look at the nutrition facts, you want to find one that has no carbs, and if possible no fat as well. I prefer VPX’s Zero Carb SRO brand for this purpose (I have no affiliation with this company – it is just a great product for morning use if you wake up with reflux).

The reason you want this type of protein is because it is very easily tolerated and it mixes extremely well with even small amounts of water. You can easily mix 20g of this high-quality protein with just 4-5 ounces of water. Cheap protein might require 2-3x as much water to mix, and as such will not be nearly as beneficial as water.

Cheaper milk proteins (whey is a component of milk protein) will also contain lactose, dairy fat, and casein, all of which are things you want to completely avoid if you have acid reflux. You have to order higher quality proteins like this online unless you want to pay an arm and a leg, because they tend to be very expensive in supplement stores and are simply not available at big retailers.

As far as soy proteins go, most soy proteins are extremely cheap and I do not recommend them for anyone. If you are a vegan, be sure to avoid “soy protein concentrate” like the plague. Soy protein concentrate is extremely cheap, but is laden in chemicals that you do not want, particularly plant isoflavones (an estrogen-mimicking plant chemical) and even hexane (a neurotoxin used in processing of soy). Soy isolate tends to have most of these byproducts removed. Ideally if you insist on using soy, you want to only use organic soy isolate; anything else has too many impurities and potentially toxic chemical byproducts.

Having a protein shake for breakfast is a great way to eliminate heartburn in the morning. Just remember that the best quality proteins make the best heartburn home remedies; stick to whey isolate (or better) or organic soy isolate for best results. A a general rule of thumb, the lower the carbohydrate and fat totals a protein has, the higher quality it is.

My Top 4 Heartburn Remedies

In this article below, I will be revealing my top 4 heartburn remedies. These are things I have used time and time again and I have found that they really work!

A little backstory: I recently came down with a really bad case of the flu, complete with vomiting and just about every digestive problem you can imagine. Ever since then, I have had to deal with heartburn all the time. I have become a bit of a guru on heartburn remedies since then as otherwise I would be in pain all the time!

Top Heartburn Remedy: Gum

I would say out of all the heartburn remedies I have tried, my favorite is chewing gum. It is just so easy to do and you can do it anywhere, which is great for me as I am always on the go. After all, some of the other remedies can require a time commitment, or just aren’t easy for travel. Popping a stick of gum in after a meal is so easy and so effective. Nowadays every time I eat I make sure chew on some gum, and since doing this I have virtually no heartburn. I do have to be careful though as I do not want to injure my jaw from all the chewing!

#2: Walking

Whenever I have the chance (usually after dinner or lunch) I try to take a walk. This combats heartburn on multiple levels. First off, walking helps increase digestive motility, which is just a fancy way of saying it increases the rate at which the stomach and intestines move food along. This is great because food hanging out for too long in the stomach is one of the main reasons people get heartburn.

It also is a great way to lose some extra weight, and being overweight is a strong risk factor for getting heartburn.

#3 – New Toothpaste

Without fail, I had the uncanny ability to get heartburn right before going to bed. I knew laying down made heartburn often get worse, but this often started while I was still sitting up for no apparent reason. I finally figured it out: I was getting heartburn within 5-10 minutes of brushing my teeth!

It turns out that certain ingredients in toothpaste can act as a trigger for heartburn. I switched to one of those granola “natural” toothpastes, and while they feel a little gritty when you are brushing with them, it has certainly reduced my heartburn.

#4 – Mustard

I found out that mustard contains vinegar, and that vinegar is a great home heartburn remedy. Apparently vinegar stimulates the production of saliva, and saliva is great for combating heartburn. What I like to do is cook with mustard; I use it in many meat sauces and marinades and it works great. When I combine this with chewing gum and going for a walk, I can have a really tasty dinner without reeling in pain all night.

Try some of these heartburn remedies out, you won’t be disappointed!

 

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Top 4 Reasons for Heartburn

Acid reflux, and the heartburn that accompanies it, is a very uncomfortable condition which tens of millions of people around the world suffer from each day. In this article, you will find out what the top 4 reasons for heartburn are so you can avoid these in the future.

While we know that we get acid reflux when stomach acid leaves the stomach and enters the esophagus, and this occurs when the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (the band of smooth muscle which normally seals the junction between the stomach and esophagus) is not functioning properly.

The real question is – what causes this malfunction in the first place? What are the real underlying reasons for acid reflux?

Reason for Heartburn #1 – Obesity

The primary reason for the number of heartburn and GERD cases exploding in the last 20 years is due to the growth in obesity. Out of all the lifestyle factors linked to heartburn, obesity has by far and away the strongest link between acid reflux and heartburn.

Obesity causes more than just heart problems as it is one of the major heartburn causes. If you are overweight and you are getting acid reflux, that might be your body’s way of telling you it is time to lose weight.

Reason for Heartburn #2 – Diet

I do not think it comes to a surprise to anyone that the foods you eat may be triggering heartburn. However, you may be surprised to know that the perfect acid reflux diet is not just based on eating the “good” foods and avoiding the “bad” foods.

Everyone responds to foods differently, so a list of foods that are “safe” or “bad” will not be applicable across the board. There are huge variations between individual people. Some people get heartburn when eating fatty food while others get heartburn from sugary foods. Some people can handle spicy food and cannot have diary, whereas others are the exact opposite.

Perhaps the biggest way diet leads to acid reflux is in the amount of food you eat. Most people do not respond favorably to being very full. Overeating causes the stomach to expand, which increases the pressure inside of it, which leads to more pressure against the Lower Esophageal Sphincter as food tries to push its way out the top of the stomach and cause acid reflux.

On the plus side, adding in certain nutrients may actually reduce heartburn. Using supplements like fish oil in addition to make sure your salt is iodized may improve acid reflux over time. As mentioned in our article on heartburn every morning, a high protein meal can also help reduce acid reflux.

Reason for Heartburn #3 – Smoking, Alcohol, and Caffeine

These three substances are the vice of many (personally I love coffee – in fact I am drinking a cup as I write this!) but all three of them can lead to heartburn. There are some ways we can manage our vices and still reduce acid reflux.

Having a drink or two with dinner on Friday nights is not likely to give you heartburn that night, let alone all week. Alcohol becomes more of a contributor to acid reflux when drinking is regularly (a few drinks every day), excessive (a 8+ drink binge), or both.

Smoking will likely always be a problem and causes heartburn on two fronts: through nicotine (which is thought to stimulate acid production) and through cigarette smoke, which triggers inflammation.

Understand that nicotine is not a healthy substance and if you are a smoker you should look to quit immediately. However, if you have no intentions of quitting smoking, consider picking up an electronic cigarette. You can get these online and they are fairly inexpensive. While you will still get the side effects of nicotine, the lack of cigarette smoke will cut down on inflammation in the body and may help reduce heartburn related to smoking.

If I drink coffee on an empty stomach, I get acid reflux. However, I cannot give up on coffee so easily. I have found that adding in a positive factor, in this case a protein shake (protein tightens the LES), I can drink coffee with no issues. This may be something you want to try if you are not ready to give up on coffee.

Reason for Heartburn #4 – Medication, Illness, or Injury

While these may not seem related, these are three of the top causes of heartburn that appears “out of the blue”. It is not uncommon for example to get acid reflux as a side effect from medication. Alternatively, some people experience reflux after getting sick, particularly with a stomach virus, food poisoning, or the flu. A third option would be to have some sort of internal injury such as a hiatal hernia, which increases your chance of getting reflux significantly.

If you have no history of heartburn then all of a sudden you start getting very regular heartburn, you need to see a doctor and mention this immediately. Make note of any medications you may have started recently, including over the counter medications and even supplements.

There are a lot of reasons why people get acid reflux, but this top 4 list covers the usual suspects. You can reduce heartburn significantly just by losing weight (should you be overweight), getting your diet and vices under control, and paying attention to any sudden changes in your health. See a doctor if you get acid reflux two times per week or more.