Is Chewing Gum Effective for Heartburn Relief?

This article will talk about chewing gum as a remedy for heartburn problems which most of us might not be aware of. Understanding how a simple gum can reduce heartburn problems will shed light to some of your queries.

Introduction
Heartburn is a digestive condition that can give discomfort and uneasiness to one. One common cause of heartburn is eating highly seasoned, fried and fatty foods. The stomach secretes acids to help food be properly digested and eating fatty foods tends the stomach to increase its acid production in order to digest fat. Fats are way harder to digest than other foods and sometimes if there is too much acid produced by the stomach it refluxes back to the esophagus thus the heartburn. Heartburn is usually described as that painful burning feeling that extends from the stomach, chest to the throat. As such chewing gum has been found to help relieve heartburn.
Chewing Gum-Heartburn Remedy
A study conducted by students of London’s Britain Kings College tested 21 volunteers. Each were given meals that are high in fats for 2 days. After their meals, volunteers were handed out chewing gum on their first day and then esophageal acids were measured. On the second day, no gums were given just their fatty meals, the esophageal acids were also measured. In the conclusion of their study, it was found out that acid levels measured on day one was far less than day two, thus suggesting that chewing gum administered after eating meals can really help reduce stomach acids resulting to heartburn prevention and relief.
Chewing gum makes one secrete more saliva and saliva incidentally has alkalizing effects that helps in nullifying acids produced by the stomach. Anything that makes one secrete more saliva is as effective as chewing gum. However, it also depends on the gum, a sugar free gum is a lot effective and does not cause any tooth decay or cause heartburn problems.
Chewing gum remedy is not effective to all as one might expect. People have different salivary glands and some may produce more compared to others and small amount of saliva produced cannot be effective enough to neutralize stomach acids. When chewing gum, one can feel that more air is swallowed every time and to do this every meal could make one feel bloated and stuffed of air.
Related Remedies
There are also other remedies for heartburn. Cold milk for instance is a good remedy for instant relief from heartburn especially skimmed milk types only since the calcium in it is effective for reducing acid production because it is alkaline based but one should understand that other types of milk only acts as a buffer to the stomach acids hence it does not lessen their level of acidity. Changing one’s lifestyle may also be a good idea to avoid heartburn like eating healthy fruits and vegetables and avoiding vices such as smoking and drinking alcohol. If any of the aforementioned remedies does not work then its best to see a doctor for a thorough examination and recommended medications.


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