Does Vinegar have any place in your heartburn food plan? The choice of vinegars for western consumers is varied, but western medics and paramedics suggest that only one of them is suitable for heartburn sufferers. In this article, a qualified nutritionist tells you about the vinegars that are on no account to be used by heartburn patients, and another kind of vinegar that is not only a great addition to your diet, but that actually works to dramatically improve your medical state.

We can define heartburn as the sensation of burning in the area of the throat or the chest, often with a bitter or sour taste. Although this can happen to people who are quite healthy (but not more than once a week), chronic heartburn is taken to be a symptom of a disease known as acid reflux, or gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD). Other than heartburn, severe cases of GERD may also display symptoms of problems in swallowing, loss of weight, hoarseness and asthma. If neglected, GERD can then degenerate into a more severe condition called Barrett’s esophagus with the risk of cancer of the esophagus as well.

In a healthy organism, a circular muscle lets food and drink flow one way into the stomach, but closes to prevent any flow back in the opposite way. It is when this muscle is weakened due to certain factors discussed further on, that stomach juices can get back into the esophagus (this is the definition of acid reflux), damaging the interior and provoking heartburn. In medical terms, this circular muscle is the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), and the ailment is gastro esophageal reflux disease. The LES is the valve or circle of muscle closing off the esophagus from the stomach.

Factors responsible for GERD may be direct agents causing the condition, others worsening a condition that already exists. There are both principal and secondary factors that contribute to GERD, and there are also complex interconnections between them. These causative elements include:

1. Undue production of gastric acid. In many instances (often because of inherited characteristics), the human organism may over-fabricate stomach acid that then overflows back into the esophagus to corrode lining cells.

2. Excessive multiplication of Candida. In certain instances, Candida can demonstrate far too much growth, swamping out the immune system and generating over 79 varied toxins that can cause the body impairments in various ways, GERD being one of them. Candida is the mono-cellular fungus found in any case in the human body (mainly in the areas of the genitals and the intestinal apparatus) in amounts that are symbiotically controlled by the rest of the body’s natural internal flora.

It is a proven fact, in addition to the above, that a number of foods make the situation worse and stimulate Candida overgrowth. Together with white flour and sugar (and other refined carbohydrates of this type), these dangerous foods include most kinds of vinegar, including balsamic, wine, white and malt vinegar. The reason is that all these vinegars are acid-forming when consumed, thus pushing up the degree of acidity of the intestines and the blood. This then provokes acid reflux and worsens its level of severity.

However, organic apple cider vinegar is the exception. Not only can it alkalize your intestinal tract (it is the only vinegar to do this), but it can also considerably reduce inflammation of the esophagus and keep Candida down to the proper levels.

As an important remark, heartburn does not however lend itself to instantaneous solutions because it is triggered by a combination of many underlying causes. The only reliable way to inverse the tendency and prevent heartburn from recurring is to treat the inner environment that is responsible in the first place for acid reflux happening.

A full, all-natural, holistic program is the only solution for that.