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You are not alone if you have experienced burning in your chest after eating a chocolate bar or drinking a chocolate milkshake. Chocolate has a bad reputation for causing heartburn, also known as pyrosis or acid indigestion. Most gastroenterologists advocate the elimination of food triggers such as chocolate to alleviate heartburn. However, removing this delicacy from your diet will not necessarily end your indigestion woes. Researchers have shown that chocolate is merely a contributing factor in the development of heartburn due to its effect on the upper digestive system.

Upper Digestive System
To understand what causes acid indigestion, you must first know how the upper digestive system works. As you swallow, the food and liquids that you eat travel through your esophagus, a tube that leads from your mouth to your stomach. A ring of muscle at the bottom of your esophagus called the lower esophageal sphincter, or LES, opens and closes to regulate passage of food and beverages into your stomach.

Heartburn and Gastroesophageal Reflux
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, heartburn is a common manifestation of acid reflux or acid regurgitation. Gastroesophageal reflux, or GER, is a clinical term for stomach acids "refluxing," or flowing backward, from the stomach into the esophagus. Ordinarily, the lower esophageal sphincter relaxes and constricts synchronously with movements of the esophagus to facilitate digestive efficiency. Acid reflux occurs when the LES malfunctions. While occasional incidences of GER can be expected, frequent reflux indicative of a more serious, chronic problem such as gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD.

Heartburn
From the 1970s until the 1990s, gastroenterologists advised heartburn sufferers to control their conditions with dietary restrictions. In 2006, Dr. Lauren Gersen of Stanford's Esophageal and Small Bowel Disorder Center and two of her colleagues studied the supposed link between food triggers--chocolate, spicy foods, wine and coffee--to symptoms of acid indigestion. They examined thousands of research studies to see if such an assumption was scientifically valid. The doctors discovered a stronger case for advocating non-diet lifestyle changes--weight loss in overweight individuals and elevation of the head while sleeping--than they did for diet changes. However, Gersen's study identified chocolate's connection to heartburn--an unusual physiological effect of chocolate and carbonated beverages on the upper digestive process.

Chocolate's Effect on Digestion
Gersen's research showed that previous heartburn studies focused on whether certain foods increased stomach acid production or elicited a relaxation response from the lower esophageal sphincter. None of the studies examined the actual effectiveness of food trigger withdrawal in reducing heartburn symptoms. Chocolate and carbonated beverages were among the foods proven to reduce constriction of the LES muscle. By allowing the LES to slacken, chocolate permits gastric juices to regurgitate into the esophagus causing the familiar burning sensation of acid indigestion.

Prevention and Solution
If you suffer heartburn every time you eat chocolate, consider eliminating it from your diet altogether. On the other hand, there are many over-the-counter medications for acid indigestion that you could take before you treat yourself to an occasional indulgence. Heartburn can cause serious complications if left untreated. If frequent heartburn is an issue for you, seek a professional diagnosis.

References
Medline Plus: Heartburn
National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse: Heartburn, Gastroesophageal Reflux and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
Medline Plus: GERD

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/141654-chocolate-heartburn/#ixzz2h0Q26sfR

My housemate gets heartburn when he eats Gummie Bears….. Some sweets treat sweep people with aggravation aka heartburn.  I suggest baking soda and water…..