For all practical purposes, summer is already here and many of us have already broken out the grills, bar-b-que and coolers full of meat.
But while most of us have a single reaction to summertime food: “Bring it on!” – we’re not talking about health food here. Nor is moderation the watchword for summertime cookouts or county fair stands. (Check out our reference chart on the nutritional value of the most common fair food.)
Gorging on summer food doesn’t just pack too many calories of too little value into our stomachs. Those of us who’ve overindulged know what gut bombs can set off: heartburn, bloating, and the general havoc in our digestive systems.
Nearly everyone has heartburn – that burning feeling right near the middle of the chest – once in a while. It has many causes, including too much spicy or greasy food, alcohol, caffeine, and smoking.
It can even be caused – really, this is true – by stuffing down a huge meal while wearing clothes that are too tight.
Gut check on symptoms
Heartburn may be more than a glutton’s just dessert.
Sreenivas Chintalapani, M.D. - Gastrointestinal Clinic of the Quad Cities
“Sometimes the feelings we typically associate with eating too much grill-out food are symptoms of more serious conditions,” says Dr. Sreenivas Chintalapani, M.D., a fellowship-trained gastroenterologist at the Gastrointestinal Clinic of the Quad Cities. “We’ve seen patients who were popping Tums all day not realizing they were having a heart attack.”
It’s often hard to tell if chest pain is simply heartburn or something more serious. Here’s your gut check: if heartburn is accompanied by a sour taste and comes right after eating, it’s likely the aftereffects of overgrazing. If it comes after exercise, though, and especially if there’s neck or left arm pain, it’s likely time to call 911.
The differences can indicate a heart attack.
“Occasional heartburn shouldn’t be much of a worry. But if you’re over 50, it’s persistent, involves after-exercise pain or if you’re having unplanned weight loss, it’s time to see a physician,” says Dr. Chintalapani.
The general recipe for heartburn
A muscle stands as traffic cop at the stomach’s entrance, to keep your favorite cookout food going the right direction to the stomach. Heartburn happens when the food sneaks the wrong way, from your stomach into your esophagus. And, the food can bring acidic irritants along with it. The esophagus isn’t built to handle that kind of traffic, meaning your esophagus can get burned, much like your skin is burned when you touch something hot.
Heartburn shows up as one of the symptoms for any number of serious and not-so-serious conditions. “Chronic heartburn is often caused by gastro esophageal reflux disease – which can create real problems in your esophagus if it’s left untreated,” says Dr. Chintalapani.
Sometimes the stomach’s top bit can slide up through the ring of muscle that’s supposed to prevent acid reflux that causes GERD. Once the stomach shoves past that muscle – a condition called a hiatal hernia – it’s easy for that stomach-acid to bring on the burn.
Maintaining a healthy weight will help prevent heartburn, too. Obesity creates pressure in the stomach, and the fat can put enough pressure on the stomach to force some heartburn-inducing acid where it doesn’t belong.
