Heartburn and Indigestion
If you have heartburn, you have likely been told to take antacids. However, this method, though helping the symptoms, will likely aggravate your problem and cause other issues. Did you know that heartburn, indigestion, diarrhea and constipation are usually caused by a lack of stomach acid? It seems counter-intuitive that a lack of stomach acid could cause heartburn, until you understand how the stomach works. When too little acid is produced (because of stress, poor diet, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, etc.) food sits in the stomach longer than it should because the acid is necessary for digestion. When the food sits in the stomach, it putrifies, causing it to produce acids which can bubble back up the esophagus. This causes the burning that you may be experiencing. Often, however, it causes problems on the other end, such as diarrhea or constipation, from slow transit of food through the digestive tract.