They call it heart burn because acid indigestion causes pain in your chest right behind your heart.

Your heart is actually located in the center of your chest, right behind your sternum, it’s just that the upper part of your heart is turned a little to the left, even though we’ve been told it’s on the left side.

It’s not unusual for people experiencing chest pain from indigestion to panic, thinking it’s a heart attack.

When your stomach has difficulty digesting large amounts of food, it tends to stretch like a balloon forcing pressure on the large muscle surrounding it.

The chest pain from indigestion is sometimes from this larger muscle, called the diaphragm being forced outward. The chest pain can also be from your stomach being pushed upward toward the opening in the diaphragm where your throat is.

Sometimes the pushing is so strong the stomach literally escapes the surrounding diaphragm, near that opening causing a hiatal hernia . . .

Another cause of chest pain from indigestion is acid reflux, which is when the flap that seal the bottom of your throat, to protect stomach acid from passing upward, get’s over come with pressure.

This produces that burning pain you can feel right behind the heart in the middle of your chest, called heart burn.

All this indigestion and chest pain is from your inability to release pressure and digest food fast enough to empty your stomach.

You can either eat less over all or break your meals down into smaller meals throughout the day, or both.

Some people have chest pain from lack of digestive juices causing undigested food to pile up; others just eat too much through the day, or at the last minute before bed.

Your chest pain may not be a heart attack, but indigestion that triggers chest pain has been known to trigger heart attacks . . .

Also eating a large meal before exerting yourself can cause chest pain too.

So learn to relax, breathe deeply, eat small meals of diverse foods and try to go for a casual walk after eating. Chest pain is a serious issue whether it’s indigestion, poor circulation or a heart attack . . . always see your doctor if it recurs or won’t go away.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass

Health Advocate