Acid reflux causes are complicated and multiple. The disease of acid reflux, known also as GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease), comes about because of the coincidence of several medical and lifestyle factors. Physiological conditions that provoke reflux include LES (lower esophageal sphincter) hypotonia (the progressive weakening of the LES), together with the backwards flow of the contents of the stomach into the esophagus and the sensitivity to the reflux content of the mucus of the esophagus.

The food that you swallow moves down your throat and contractions of the esophagus muscles then push it further. In the area of the junction of the esophagus and the stomach, there is a valve-like mechanism which is the LES (lower esophageal sphincter). Closing this muscle stops stomach acid from returning or refluxing into the esophagus.

The problem with the LES is the first causal step to the disease of acid reflux. In a healthy person, the LES is only relaxed upon food moving from the esophagus into the stomach. When the food is inside the stomach, the valve shuts again to maintain stomach acid and content inside. When the LES is weakened however and fails to shut correctly, acid can be pushed back up your throat causing a painful burning feeling which is heartburn.

There are several conditions or factors preventing the LES from properly shutting. They include genetic weakness, being overweight and eating too much fatty foods. As well as those factors, the aging process undergone by humans tends to make all muscles sag, not just the LES.

The next factor or group of factors responsible for acid reflux disease are related to behavior and lifestyle. As already indicated, an LES that is already weak contributes directly to acid reflux disease at the physiological level. Various foodstuffs, drugs and processes of the nervous system can cause weakening in this muscle and exacerbate acid reflux. Foods possibly triggering acid reflux include orange juice, lemons and lemonade, grapefruit juice, tomatoes et their juice, fried potatoes, sour cream, tea and coffee.

There are several possibilities for dealing with symptomatic acid reflux. Nevertheless, the classic often used approaches, based on prescription and over the counter medication, only deal with the symptoms of chronic acid reflux. They may not be sufficiently effective to give long-term prevention of acid reflux. These classic approaches do not heal or protect the esophagus correctly and using these over the counter and prescription drugs, including antacid, over a long duration can cause multiple side effects ranging running the gamut from uncomfortable to dangerous.

Other than prescription medication, there is a large choice of alternative treatments including homeopathy, herbal remedies and all encompassing all natural holistic therapies that address your acid reflux problem while also resolving the internal causes of acid reflux and healing them rather than targeting only related symptoms that are external.