Does Being Overweight Cause Heartburn?

In short: Being overweight does not necessarily lead to heartburn, but it can increase the risk of that painful burning in the oesophagus — especially when the excess weight sits around the stomach. Excess weight presses on the valve between stomach and oesophagus, and an unhealthy diet often drives both problems. Losing weight and adjusting your diet can help.

The link between overweight and heartburn

Overweight can cause heartburn because the excess weight presses on the stomach. This puts pressure on the sphincter muscle between the stomach and the oesophagus, called the lower oesophageal sphincter (LES). The sphincter eventually gives in to the pressure and the stomach contents, including acid, return to the oesophagus — causing heartburn.

For this reason, people whose excess weight is concentrated in the abdomen are more at risk of heartburn than people who carry a few extra kilos on their hips, for example.

Pressure on the sphincter can be caused not only by being overweight, but also by tight-fitting clothing that presses on the abdomen or narrows the abdominal cavity. Look for well-fitting skirts and trousers that do not restrict you, and don't tighten your belt too much — or preferably not at all.

Eating as a common cause of heartburn and obesity

In general, the higher the number of excess kilograms, the greater the risk of heartburn. However, obesity is rarely the only trigger for problems associated with acidity.

Rather, there is a common feature between overweight and reflux disease. Both can sometimes be attributed to the same factor: a wrong way of eating.

Everyone is surely aware that unhealthy and large meals — especially fatty foods, but also sweets such as chocolate — manifest themselves primarily in weight gain. At the same time, they are also considered typical triggers of heartburn, with or without existing overweight. It may even be the case that heartburn is primarily caused by diet and not by overweight.

What are the typical causes of overweight?

We know that being overweight is a risk factor for heartburn. But how do the extra pounds come about in the first place? There are a number of causes. Most of the time, the following factors play a role in addition to poor diet:

1. lack of physical activity
2. metabolic diseases such as hypothyroidism
3. genetic predispositions
4. psychological factors such as depressed moods
5. eating disorders

To help address overweight, it is important to work with your doctor to find out exactly what has caused it.

How high is the individual risk of heartburn due to being overweight?

In general, the more overweight you are, the higher your risk of heartburn. The body mass index (BMI) is used to assess how overweight you are — a value that indicates the ratio of body weight to height.

However, the body mass index has its weaknesses. For example, it does not take into account that athletes have a lot of muscle mass, and muscle is heavier than fat — so athletes often have a high BMI but are not overweight in the sense of excessive body fat. BMI is also not relevant for children, as they are still in the growth phase.

But if you suffer from heartburn frequently, your BMI can give you a clue as to whether overweight may be the cause.

What helps with heartburn caused by being overweight?

Being overweight is one of the risk factors for heartburn that sufferers can control themselves. Reducing weight can significantly reduce the pressure on the stomach and sphincter muscle.

A combination of exercise and dietary change is considered promising. But how does weight loss actually work — and when do we gain weight?

Every body needs a certain amount of energy to function. It gets this energy from food in the form of calories. How many calories we need each day varies from person to person.

Ultimately, it depends on how much muscle mass is in the body and whether you exercise regularly, so calorie consumption can be influenced by exercise. If you eat more calories than you burn, the excess is stored as fat. Conversely, fat stores are used when the body gets less energy from food than it needs.

Tips against overweight and heartburn

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that heartburn will ease after losing excess weight. However, weight reduction often improves well-being and fitness. If you want to lose weight, try these measures:

• Keep a food diary. A small bar of chocolate here, a tasty snack there — many people don't realise how much they eat during the day, and calories add up quickly. A food diary helps you keep track. If this seems too time-consuming, at least write down snacks between meals.
• Avoid crash diets. Tempting ads promise "five pounds in fourteen days," but such diets rarely deliver. The body mainly loses water, not fat, so the lost pounds are quickly regained. In the long run it is healthier and more effective to lose weight slowly — a good guideline is about half a kilo a week.
• Create a diet plan. Overweight usually results from a long period of poor eating, and these habits cannot be reversed in a few days. Many people fall back into old patterns despite good intentions. A weekly meal plan helps avoid this.

Even this advice cannot guarantee that the pounds will fall off and the heartburn will disappear — but losing weight is worthwhile in any case. By reducing excess weight, you also counteract secondary diseases such as type II diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

Tips against acute heartburn

Weight loss is a good long-term solution, but it usually takes some time for the first results to show. For acute heartburn, you can try home remedies such as chewing gum or drinking a glass of water. Medicines that neutralise excess stomach acid can also sometimes bring relief. See more in home remedies for heartburn.

Frequent heartburn with no obvious cause? It can be worth ruling out a Helicobacter pylori infection with a simple home test — then discuss the result with your doctor.

FAQ: heartburn caused by overweight

Sources: list of used literature · image via Pixabay