Heartburn Acid Reflux

Q: I am having a lot of trouble with drinking coffee.This is also my favorite beverage However, I am suffering from sleeplessness. Anyone get a bad tummy or anything from their coffee? I am drinking like 3 double shots a day, 2 in the AM and one in the PM, and get periodic heartburn. Is this a coffee side effect? Can anyone help me find out the difference between heartburn and acid reflux?

A:Heartburn/Acid reflux is often a sign of chronic dehydration. Coffee is a diuretic and unless you are drinking lots of non caffinated beverages in addition to the coffee you drink you will become dehydrated. I very rarely get heartburn, and when I do it has always been a sign of dehydration. I never take antacids. I always recognize my heartburn/acid reflux for what it is the body screaming at me for not drinking enough water. Much of America suffers from chronic dehydration due to an excess of caffinated drinks with an insufficient intake of water or at the very least non caffinated beverages. If you are going to drink coffee, you MUST drink lots of water, or suffer the consequences. I know from experience that when I have had heartburn/acid reflux it has always been due to chronic dehydration. By cutting out or at least lowering my caffeine intake

for a while and drinking copious amounts of water I bring my body back to a healthy balance. I know it so well infact that I always try to avoid that situation now, I rarely drink caffinated soda, or other caffinated drinks, just a little coffee in the morning and that is it. The more caffinated (or alcoholic) drinks you consume, the more water you have to consume in addition to overcome the dehydrating effects of these substances. So if you do go on a caffeine or alcohol binge and get yourself all dehydrated (who me?) the trick is drink lots of water. If you do it soon you will only reach the headache/feeling shitty stage. If you wait too long you will get the heartburn too.