Coffee and heartburn have been related for so long that it goes without saying that chronic sufferers of acid indigestion usually have to give up this favorite beverage.

What is it that makes coffee so harmful for the digestive system? We all know the stomach needs acid to digest food, and we actually don’t feel anything wrong as long as this process operates normally.

But given the stimulation from caffeine, the stomach is forced to produce even more acid, which eventually culminates with a reflux in the esophagus. This is the “secret” mechanism behind the relationship between heartburn and coffee.

It’s true that decaffeinated coffee is not harmful for the digestive system, but many people usually drink coffee for the precise effect caffeine has on their blood pressure and brain stimulation. Are heartburn and coffee so closely associated that nothing could be done to have the good bits without the bad consequences?

First of all we should mention that those who suffer from coffee heartburns are chronic patients; unfortunately, studies show pessimistic results: in US for instance one in five coffee drinkers suffer from acid reflux. So is there a way for coffee to stop causing problems for people with heartburn?

In order to reduce the harmful effects of coffee of the digestive system, producers have come up with new technologies that made a successful attempt of breaking the connection between coffee and heartburn.

The secret lies in the coffee beans preparation process. Instead of roasting, a new method is used that involves passing the beans through high-pressured hot steam. Thus, the toxic substances that resulted after the roasting process, and which are the ones behind acid reflux stimulation, are completely eliminated. The technology is known under the name of Helva process and has been reported as a huge success on the market so far.

Doctors continuously warn against the dangers of heartburn in coffee drinking. Given the fact that heartburn has, as another underlying factor, the accumulation of stress and anxiety, this advice against drinking coffee is understandable.

Besides heartburn, coffee is said to contribute to the creation and maintenance of a stressful rhythm in the living conditions, hence, saying no to coffee means being free of several problems at once. Therefore, we could say that heartburn is only one of the many side effects to coffee drinking!