Heartburn is as much a part of Christmas as the Strictly theme

I’ve got a friend who loves stuffing at this time of year.

Stuffing his face, that is.

He thinks that unless he’s got heartburn at the end of his Christmas dinner then he’s not eaten enough.

It’s his excuse for going back for second helpings of Christmas pudding, anyway.

Settling down to watch the Queen’s Speech with heartburn – also known as acid reflux – is quite a common experience.

With big cuts of meat, roast potatoes cooked in fat and everything swimming in gravy, it’s fair to say the festive meal is quite rich.

That can trigger acid reflux, but usually the main cause is the volume of food and drink.

Christmas is the time for indulging yourself and many people, like my friend, take it as the green light to eat several days’ worth of calories in one sitting.

Your belly is bombarded with a huge amount of this rich food and struggles to cope.

The stomach contains acid which helps to break down your food.

A sphincter, which is a circular band of muscle, normally prevents acid leaking up the way into your gullet. Swallowing a big pile of turkey and Brussels sprouts can cause this system to malfunction, and the stomach acid goes up the way.

This is what causes that painful burning feeling which rises from the abdomen up towards the neck.

It’s normally accompanied by tummy pain, nausea, an acid taste in the mouth, feeling bloated, belching and a burning feeling if you take a hot drink.

Ah, you can almost hear the Strictly Christmas special theme tune.

More unusually, the acid can irritate the airways and cause a cough, or may bring on bad breath.

Acid reflux can get so bad it can trigger a painful spasm in the gullet which can be mistaken for a heart attack.

If you’re prone to acid reflux, there are a few things you can do.

Smoking relaxes the muscle in the gullet and makes acid reflux more likely, so try to give up.

Aspirin or anti-inflammatory medicine like ibuprofen can exacerbate symptoms too.

Antacids and medicines such as ranitidine and omeprazole can help.

For most of us, though, the best way to avoid it might be to go easy on the stuffing in a couple of days.

Merry Christmas!