Smoking, Heartburn, and GERD
You already know that smoking is bad for your lungs, but did you know it might also be giving you heartburn? Learn more about how heartburn and smoking are linked, and why quitting smoking could resolve your GERD symptoms.
6 Ways Smoking Causes Heartburn
- Reduces saliva production: In addition to making less saliva, which helps wash food down into your stomach, research has shown that the saliva of smokers contain lower levels of bicarbonates, chemicals that naturally help neutralize stomach acids.
- Increases acid production: If you smoke, you may have more stomach acid in your body than a non-smoker, which makes it more likely that these digestive juices can flow back into your esophagus and cause heartburn.
- Makes stomach acids more damaging: In addition to increasing the production of stomach acids, smoking also makes the acids in your stomach even more damaging by causing bile salts to move from the intestine into the stomach.
- Weakens the LES: Your lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is the muscular valve between your stomach and esophagus that is supposed to prevent reflux, but an LES weakened by smoking may not be able to perform this function as effectively.
- Damages the esophagus: Smoking can cause damage to the esophageal tissues, which may not make you more likely to have acid reflux, but can make the reflux more painful and potentially dangerous to your health.
- Slows digestion: Because smoking slows down the entire digestive process, your food sits in your stomach and small intestine for a longer period of time, giving it ample opportunity to reflux back into your esophagus and throat.
The bottom line is, quitting smoking has many potential health benefits, including reducing your risk for frequent heartburn.