Heartburn occurs when the lining of your esophagus becomes irritated by escaped stomach acid or bile. The sensation can range from a mild irritation to severe pain in the throat and chest regions. If left untreated, prolonged stomach acid burns can have long-term negative effects.
But don’t feel scared and alone. Heartburn is an extremely common disease that affects 60% of the population at varying degrees.
There are many over-the-counter and prescription drugs that can be used to relieve heartburn, or even reduce it from the body all together; Acid reflux has been traditionally treated with proton pump inhibitors. Great at reducing heartburn, but they’ve also been linked to bone loss and vitamin B12 deficiency when taken consistently.
If you’re looking to relieve heartburn in a safer, more natural way, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for 17 amazing natural home remedies for heartburn:
1. Eat an Apple or Banana
Unfortunately, an apple a day does not keep the doctor away. While that rhyme may not be entirely true, apples could help keep your heartburn at a distance. Bananas too! These tasty fruits both contain natural antacids that work wonders relieving your heartburn pains. Preventing them too!
2. Apple Cider Vinegar
I know, I know. It seems like this is the opposite of what you want, but acid reflux is often caused when someone doesn’t have enough acid in their stomach. One of the best ways to introduce acid into your stomach is with raw apple cider vinegar. And you don’t have to drink it straight from the bottle. It can be used in dressings and marinades.
Apple Cider is amazing!
Read more here…
3. Sleep on an Incline
Let’s do a little thought experiment. Think about a bottle filled half way with water. When the bottle is set on it’s bottom, the water remains on… well, the bottom. However, if you were to lay the bottle on it’s side, the water will slosh around and even extend all the way to the bottle’s mouth! Do you see the picture I’m painting here?
When you’re standing, the stomach acid remain at the bottom of your stomach. When you lay down to sleep, that acid sloshes around and extends across your stomach, and sometimes can escape. Sleeping on an incline can help reduce this from happening.
4. Ginger Tea
Ginger is one of those super-powered foods that’s just marvelous for all kinds of different health related issues. For this list, I’ll focus on its ability to relieve you from heartburn or acid reflux. It’s so simple too! Take a few thin slices of ginger root tea and place them in a mug, then fill the mug with hot water. Let the ginger slices soak for about 10-20 minutes, then drink.
5. Lemon Juice
As wonderful as apple cider vinegar can be to relieve heartburn, lemon juice has a pH of around 2, which makes it stronger than the acid in vinegar. Lemon juice also contains a lot of other nutrients than apple cider vinegar, so it’s great for most internal pains.
However, due to organic lemon juice being so acidic, some worry that it can harm the enamel of our teeth. That can be a problem, but only drinking it daily for a long time. If this is a deal breaker for you, don’t worry, there are still so many great options on this list for home remedies to relieve heartburn.
6. Baking Soda
Because of baking sodas high pH level, it helps neutralize the acid in your stomach. If acid does begin rising from your stomach into your esophagus, the baking soda will keep the acid from burning the lining. All you have to do is swallow a teaspoon when you’re experiencing pain.Baking soda is truly one of the home remedies for almost everything. Since it is a base, not an acid, swallowing some of it will neutralize the the acid in your stomach before it burns the lining of your esophagus.
It is non-toxic, so don’t worry about any health issues. It’s not my first choice for relieving heartburn, but if it’s all you’ve got on hand, you can’t go wrong.
7. Some Milk
If you’re like me, you’ve heard that drinking a glass of milk can relieve you of heartburn. It’s true that milk can buffer stomach acid for a short amount of time, the fatty nutrients in milk can actually stimulate the stomach to produce even more acid.
It’s not the most effective heartburn remedy, but if it’s all you’ve got in the house, I say try buying fat-free skim milk. And don’t overdo it. Too much could increase your heartburn. Don’t drink more than 8 ounces at any given time. Try having it as a snack between meals.
8. Chewing Gum
This one does sound a little weird, but trust me. Chewing gum stimulates the production of saliva in your mouth. When you swallow this excess saliva, it helps clear and dilute any acid from unwanted areas. This significantly reduces the symptoms of acid reflux.
9. Stop Smoking
Do you love smoking, but hate having acid reflux? Well, I may have some bad news for you: nicotine, while causing your body to relax, causes the valve separating your stomach from your esophagus to also relax. This can lead to stomach acid escaping and I think you know the rest.
10. Wear Loose Fitting Clothes
Tight clothes can look really nice, but when they cinch your waist this can press on your stomach and cause acid to rise. Makes sense, when you squeeze your stomach in with tight jeans, belts, or corsets the acid has no room and so it rises to the only available space: your esophagus.
Instead, try wearing looser fitting clothes that won’t press in on your stomach as much, even when you sit down.
11. Fermented Foods
I’ve talked about the amazing benefits of fermented foods before, like kimchi, and the good things keep coming. Fermented foods, known as alkaline foods, occur when raw veggies are broken down into amino acids and peptides. This process raises the pH level has been shown to relieve inflammation in your stomach. They can actually heal your stomach’s lining!
Want to know more about the great benefits of fermented foods?
Check this out…
12. Avoid Alcohol
Just like cigarettes, alcohol weakens that important valve separating your stomach and sensitive esophagus. Alcohol also causes your stomach to produce a large excess of acid, which causes severe stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.
13. Almonds
There are no studies revolving around whether or not almonds help relieve acid reflux. However, many patients see significant benefits from snacking on almonds. The best results most likely come from consuming raw, organic and salt-free almonds. This way you’re not also consuming any harmful chemicals.
14. Mustard
Mustard is another one of those alkaline foods I talked about earlier. Mustard is loaded with healing minerals and just the right amount of acid from vinegar. Swallowing a spoonful during acid reflux can soothe your heartburn by balancing your stomach’s pH levels.
15. Aloe Juice
When you think of aloe, you probably picture rubbing it on a sunburn for that sweet, soothing relief. But guess what? It works just as well on the inside of your body too! When you drink a glass of aloe vera juice, your esophagus will relax, which helps avoid irritation and limits inflammation.
16. Chamomile Tea
Another great way to balance out your stomach’s pH levels is drinking chamomile tea. Another great bonus to this drink: if you drink it before bed, it provides a soothing relief that helps you sleep through the night.
17. Stay Away From Spicy Food
This one seems a little obvious, which is why I left it for the end. Think about how your tongue burns when you eat an extremely spicy pepper. The same thing happens in your stomach. This burning sensation can trigger acid reflux symptoms, which can be painful and uncomfortable. Here’s a small list of some of the spicy foods that are more commonly known to cause acid reflux:
- Hot peppers
- Hot sauce
- Horseradish
- Wasabi paste
- Red chili pepper flakes
- Cayenne
- Chili powder
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