When you eat large meals, the production of stomach acid increases and when you lie down immediately after eating a large meal to go to bed, your body is in the perfect position for the stomach acid to reflux or come in contact with the esophagus. Hiatal hernia is another cause of heartburn. This condition is a result of a weakening of the tissues that supports the digestive tract. Heartburn is basically a digestive illness that can be prevented or least lessened in its frequency through lifestyle modifications. Heartburn happens when our stomach acid refluxes and comes in to contact with our esophagus. This irritates our esophagus and causes us to feel a burning sensation starting from the diaphragm all the way behind our breastbone. So, here are some of the ways on how you can prevent heartburn from happening during nighttime. The first is to avoid eating large meals during dinner. You have to remember that big meals mean that the stomach has to work harder to digest the food you eat. This will also mean that the stomach will take a lot longer to digest what you eat and it has to produce more acid to digest the food. Stress will also cause heartburn as this increases acid production and slow down the emptying of the stomach. So, in order to manage heartburn, you may want to start by making some lifestyle changes. This means that you have to try eating frequent smaller meals rather than three large ones. Eating slowly can also help as well as avoiding going to bed right after having a big dinner. People who suffer from moderate cases of heartburn can use these methods to find relief from heartburn. However, the mentioned remedies will only give partial or temporary relief to people suffering from severe or chronic heartburn. The main cause of heartburn is when the stomach acid backs up or refluxes to the esophagus. This is because chronic heartburn may indicate that you may be suffering from other medical conditions that are far more serious, such as Barrett s esophagus, Hiatal hernia, esophagitis, or GERD. In rare and extreme cases, chronic heartburn may also be caused by esophageal cancer or cancer of the esophagus.