Natural remedies for acid reflux

Acid reflux has been on the rise over the past twenty years and occur most often in people of Caucasian descent. Four to five million Americans seek medical advice each year for acid reflux. Acid reflux is caused by stomach acid backing up into the esophagus. The esophageal sphincter is supposed to keep the stomach contents in place, but if the sphincter relaxes, acid can push up into the esophagus. The most common symptoms are heart, and a sour taste in the mouth. For most people, acid reflux is a mild, self-limiting problem, yet for 20 percent of those affected, it becomes a serious health problem.
Although some foods have been found to contribute to acid reflux, acid reflux is rarely seen in people eating high fiber diets. Some drugs can cause acid reflux, including birth control pills, diazepam, nicotine, nitroglycerine, progesterone, provera, and theophylline. Acid reflux is also common among pregnant women whose organs are squashed in a most peculiar way. Stress plays some part in it. Other triggers include wearing tight-fitting clothes, lying down, bending over, and eating large meals or specific foods. If you experience acid reflux in the middle of the night, be sure to eat at least four hours before going to bed.
The first step in acid reflux treatment is to discover what your trigger foods are so that you can avoid?
Although not everyone reacts the same to these substances, all of them have been found to contribute to acid reflux in some people:

· Alcoholic beverages

· Fried, greasy, or fatty foods

· Chocolate and cocoa

· Coffee, both regular and decaffeinated

· Mints, including peppermint and spearmint

· Citrus juices or fruits

· Tomato products including tomato sauce and ketchup

· Carbonated beverages

· Mustard

· Onions, raw or cooked

· Garlic, raw or cooked

· Vinegar, especially vinegar-laced sauces and dressings

· Spicy foods, including pizza, chili, salsa, and curry

General considerations:
Make dietary changes. Eat healthy foods. Increase fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, and high-fiber foods. Foods that are more acidic, like tomatoes and citrus, are more likely to cause acid reflux. Dairy products have been shown to trigger symptoms, but more symptoms were provoked with milk with higher fat contents, suggesting that fat was the culprit, rather than the milk. Alcoholic beverages, coffee, and to a lesser extent, tea provoke acid reflux, as well as high-fat, fried, and spicy foods; onions; and chocolate.
Trigger foods are individual—you need to discover what yours are. If you are overweight, lose weight.
Drink plenty of water . Some people find that increasing water consumption up to a gallon of water a day resolves acid reflux.
Place a six-inch beam under the head of your bed. If you suffer from nighttime acid reflux, raising the head of your bed can alleviate symptoms. Although you might think that raising your bed would feel strange, the difference is barely noticeable, and the acid reflux improves.

Natural remedies:
Drink cabbage juice. Cabbage juice has been a long-standing folk remedy for acid reflux. Its high glutamine content is probably the key to its success. Cabbage juice has a strong fiavor, so dilute with other vegetable juices.

Try slippery elm bark. Slippery elm bark has demulcent properties, and it’s gentle and soothing to mucous membranes. It has been a folk remedy for both acid reflux and ulcers in European and Native American cultures and was used as a food by Native Americans. It can be used in large amounts without harm. Drink as a tea or chew on the bark. To make a tea, take 1 teaspoon of slippery elm bark in 2 cups of water. Simmer for twenty minutes and strain.
Sweeten if you want, and drink freely. You can also purchase slippery elm lozenges at health-food stores and some drugstores.

Use lobelia.Massage tincture of lobelia externally onto the painful area and take 2 to 3 drops internally. This is a remedy recommended by Dr. Christopher, one of the greatest American herbalists of our times.

Use ginger . This root can provide temporary relief in a tea. Steep 1½ teaspoons of powdered ginger or a few slices of fresh ginger per cup of boiled water for ten minutes and drink. If you like, sweeten it with honey. Use freely.

Try meadowsweet herb. Also a demulcent, meadowsweet soothes inflamed mucous membranes. To make a tea, steep 1 to 2 tea-spoons of the dried herb in 1 cup of boiled water for ten minutes. Sweeten with honey if you like. Drink 3 cups daily.

Heartburn foods

Heartburn foods
You learn rather quickly by experience that when you eat or drink certain things in certain amounts, your heartburn acts up. Wouldn’t you like to know what those foods are right away, so you can be forewarned and perhaps forearmed (with medicines if need be)? The following is everything you need to know about how what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat can influence your heartburn.
What are the foods I need to be careful of now that I have heartburn?
Twenty years ago, the standard anti-reflux diet called for restricting foods that seemed to bring on or aggravate heartburn symptoms—spicy foods, acidic foods, fatty foods, as well as coffee, tea, and cola drinks. Two extra foods were also on the list of food “no no’s” because they were thought to lower the esophageal sphincter pressure, which would encourage stomach acid to reflux into the esophagus. What are those two foods? Get ready, because I can guarantee you aren’t going to like this…peppermint and chocolate.
So is this 20-year-old anti-reflux diet still the gold standard? Yes, with some modifications. These are the foods/drinks that act up heartburn by either weakening the lower esophageal sphincter, increasing the acid content of the stomach, or bloating up the abdomen, causing pressure up toward the esophagus.

Foods that weaken the lower esophageal sphincter muscle encouraging heartburn and should be eaten in smaller portions or limited:
* Fried or fatty foods.
* Coffee (including decaffeinated coffee which increases acid content in the stomach).
* Caffeinated tea and cola drinks (increase acid content in the stomach).
* Alcoholic beverages. (Although some studies have shown that small amounts of alcohol may actually protect the mucosal layer.)
* Chocolate.
* Peppermint and spearmint.
* Garlic.
* Onions.

Foods that increase the acid content in the stomach and should be limited or consumed in small portions:
* All caffeinated drinks (coffee, tea, soda with caffeine).
* Coffee (including decaf coffee).

Foods that can irritate a damaged esophageal lining and should be limited or eaten in small portions:
* Citrus fruits and juices.
* Tomato products.
* Chili peppers.
* Pepper.

Foods that can bloat up the abdomen causing pressures that force acid to back up into the esophagus:
* All carbonated beverages.

I know the list above looks rather ominous. If you like Italian food, how can you get through a meal without a ton of garlic, onions, or tomato sauce! And if you are like most red-blooded Americans, how do you get through the morning without a cup of coffee? And what about alcohol? If you enjoy having a drink every now and then, does this mean you need to stop that, too?
It all depends. How severe is your heartburn and which foods/drinks tend to cause problems for you personally, in what amounts, and during what time of day are you most susceptible?