Have you felt the intense burning sensation that many of us know as pregnancy heartburn?

You pound your chest as the pain grows stronger. Your face morphs into strange, uncontrollable expressions that tells everyone around that you’re in pain.

Heartburn during pregnancy can be difficult to control, especially if you try to avoid conventional treatments. Even those who follow a Paleo diet, which already steers clear of heartburn-provoking refined carbohydrates, may still struggle with this uncomfortable and potentially damaging condition.

What Causes Pregnancy Heartburn?

First, let’s talk about where this issue comes from.

The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is the spot where your esophagus empties into your stomach. This doorway remains closed while you’re not eating or drinking. It keeps the contents of your stomach (foods and acids) from emptying into your esophagus.

The LES needs a certain amount of pressure in order to work properly. When pressure drops, or the sphincter muscle weakens, acidity gains access to the esophagus. This leads to painful burning and inflammation.

Hormonal Shifts Lead to Pregnancy Heartburn

Progesterone levels gradually increase throughout pregnancy. This boost in progesterone (which can happen alone or in combination with estrogens), causes lower pressure in the LES. This leads to pregnancy hearburn.

Gastrin is another hormone that affects pressure in the LES. The release of gastrin can help increase pressure, which helps keep stomach acids from coming up into the esophagus.

A high-protein diet stimulates the release of gastrin that relieves pregnancy heartburn. Choosing good sources of protein in your meals and snacks will help keep heartburn from launching a sneak attack.

Foods That May Cause Low LES Pressure

An intolerance to fatty foods can lower the pressure in your LES, leading to pregnancy heartburn. Unfortunately, dietary fat intolerance is common after you’ve followed a low-fat diet for many years.

Natural fats are critical nutrients for you and your developing baby. If you have trouble digesting fats and find that they seem to cause indigestion and heartburn, you can try taking a digestive enzyme.

Now offers a popular product called Super Enzymes, which contains digestive enzymes, ox bile, and HCl all in one capsule. It also contains magnesium stearate, but in the realm of digestive enzymes it’s difficult to find a product that’s effective. A lot of people have good luck with this one.

If you want a simple digestive enzyme supplement, Absorb Aid offers a basic digestive enzyme blend in powdered form with few added ingredients.

If you start taking a digestive enzyme and find that it causes you discomfort, stop taking it.

Try to Maintain Hormone Balance and LES Pressure

There are other ways you can try to get your pregnancy heartburn under control without supplements. Make a few lifestyle changes to see if they relieve you of this painful condition.

• Limit Caffeine

Caffeine is a common trigger of acid reflux. It lowers LES pressure about 30 to 45 minutes after you drink a cup of coffee or other caffeinated drink. It doesn’t lower the pressure all that much, but it also stimulates gastric acid secretion. The combination of factors work together to create miserable pregnancy heartburn.

• Limit Chocolate

What? I know, I know: this one might be rough. But even raw chocolate without the sugar and junk that we avoid anyway lowers LES pressure and can trigger a heartburn attack.

• Practice Stress Management

Stress can cause a lot of problems for you and your baby during pregnancy. It can also affect digestive function, which may lead to indigestion and heartburn.

• Wear Loose Clothing

Pressure on your abdomen can stop gastric juices from emptying properly. Bite the bullet and get yourself some maternity clothes, already!

• Elevate Melatonin Levels

Pregnant women with reflux issues often have low levels of melatonin. This hormone helps to regulate the balance of other hormones and keeps the body’s circadian rhythm flowing naturally.

Your body produces more melatonin in darkness, so keeping your bedroom as dark as possible helps.

You can also supplement with melatonin. It doesn’t take much. This is another one that’s difficult to find without a bunch of additives. Bezwecken makes a melatonin that contains only lactose and lactase (as opposed to magnesium stearate and vegetable oils).

• Avoid Pregnancy-Heartburn-Causing Foods

Peppermint and spearmint, known also as carminatives, lower LES pressure. Beware of teas, gums, and mints that could contribute to your heartburn rather than cool it off.

Acidic foods, like citrus fruits or tomato products, can irritate inflamed esophageal tissue. If heartburn bothers you on a regular basis, you may want to stay away from these foods so that you can heal and reduce your discomfort. 

Keep a food diary and take note of how you feel within an hour or so after eating certain foods. This is an effective way to pinpoint foods that could be causing your reflux.

Tips for Bedtime

Don’t eat within three hours of going to bed or lying down. Drink only water. This can be tough when you’re always hungry!

Sometimes elevating the head of your bed (not just using pillows to elevate your body) can help keep stomach acids down.

Steer Clear of Antacids

Antacids are never a good choice for dealing with heartburn. And during pregnancy, these products can interfere with iron absorption.

Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) should also be avoided.

I suffered with some extreme pregnancy heartburn myself. I took Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) and found that it was very effective in bringing quick relief.

DGL is licorice with a potentially harmful ingredient (Glycyrrhizin) removed. Glycyrrhizin is associated with elevated blood pressure, making the beneficial licorice not-so-beneficial. Once removed, this product can actually be quite helpful.

The post Pregnancy Heartburn: How to Deal With The Fires Within appeared first on Paleo Pregnancy Guide.