Acid reflux – a condition where stomach acid backs up into the esophagus – is a growing problem.? With the number of acid reflux sufferers on the rise, many people are searching for a more natural solution to frequent heartburn.? Taking medication every day for the rest of their lives is not appealing to some, so here are some things that may help relieve frequent heartburn in a more holistic way.

Chewing gum encourages you to swallow.? The excess saliva in your stomach acts as water flushing things through your system, not allowing pressure to build and backups to occur.

Apple cider vinegar can be used during a heartburn attack or to help prevent one.? If heartburn has already settled in, try 2 to 3 tablespoons of undiluted apple cider vinegar.? Or dilute the same amount in warm water about 20 minutes before eating to help prevent the onset of heartburn.

Aloe Vera juice may also help.? It has been widely used in Europe for years as an agent that soothes heartburn.? Try drinking about a quarter of a cup before meals to prevent reflux.? However, use caution.? If you own an aloe plant, do not consume the gel inside the leaves.? They contain a powerful laxative.? Only buy Aloe Vera juice, meant for drinking.

Ginger is a powerful digestive aid that’s been used for centuries to settle an upset stomach.? It can help with everything from sea sickness to heartburn.? In pill form, 1 to 2 pills taken 20 minutes before eating may help.? You can also consume it in tea or candied form if you prefer.

An amino acid called glutamine may also help in the long term.? It promotes healing and disposes of damaged cells in the esophagus, helping repair damage and prevent further episodes of reflux.

Chamomile or fennel tea has also been found to help soothe heartburn.? However, to be effective it should be sipped at a warm temperature, not drank too quickly when very hot.

Papaya enzymes may help some people, however those with latex allergies should use caution as a similar reaction has happened in a few people.? Papaya contains digestive enzymes that help break down food.

The natural oils found in almonds have also been found to help relieve symptoms of acid reflux.? Try a handful after meals, chewed completely, to help soothe heartburn.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away!? Some people have found with just a few slices of apple heartburn symptoms can be alleviated.

Unflavored yogurt contains helpful bacteria that have been shown to tighten stomach walls, preventing acid from getting where it doesn’t belong.

If all else fails, drink a glass of water.? The liquid will help dilute the stomach contents and flush irritants through the system.

For more natural remedies, read our Reflux Remedy Report.

You have muscles that protect you from one of the most dangerous caustic acids in the world?your stomach acid.

Gastric acid, or stomach acid, is so dangerous it can actually burn glass, so imagine what gastric acid is doing to millions of people who suffer from gastric reflux.

Another word for gastric reflux is Laryngopharyngeal reflux.

People, who suffer from acid indigestion, heartburn or gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) in fact, usually suffer from a mineral deficiency which leads to a gastric acid shortage. The ironic thing is that people who suffer from a gastric acid deficiency are hard to tell from people who suffer from an over production of gastric acid. The root causes are different; however the damaging effects remain pretty much the same.

Before gastric reflux can fully develop, a build-up of gastric acid eventually weakens the muscles that protect the throat and vocal cords from the gastric acid reflux.

The gastric reflux happens because as a result of a gastric acid deficiency the food in the stomach becomes stagnant and piles up to the roof of your rib cage where the muscles of the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) are trying to protect you.

Because of the lack of stomach acid, food remains undigested and goes through a toxic form of fermentation. As these toxins build-up the starving body desperately strives to produce random spurts of corrosive gastric juices. These gastric juices are released at the top of your stomach lining and sit there bubbling and churning away at a massive amount of fatty foods and all the rest of it.

Unfortunately the gastric reflux builds-up in the LES muscles, weakens them and is forced upward. Gradually the same thing happens to your larynx, or voice box, this is the stage defined as gastric reflux.

Basically the flow of gastric acid and powerful digestive enzymes becomes reversed as gastric acids are allowed to reflux upward . . . chemically basting the once sensitive lining, tissue and muscles of your throat, voice box and mouth area.

This degenerative process is also called GERD, or gastro-esophageal reflux disease. It is from the build-up of gastric acid in your larynx which causes Laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPR).

When LPR is persistent enough it can cause a non-cancerous growth on the back of your vocal cords, called a granuloma.

Symptoms of LPR can include:

• A choking sensation
• Sore throat
• Voice changes
• A sensation of something caught in the throat
• Frequent coughing and throat clearing
• A sour or bitter taste in the mouth

Those symptoms of acid reflux, acid indigestion and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), such as heartburn, burping and chest pressure are not always experienced as symptoms of gastric reflux, or LPR.

To avoid build-up of gastric reflux on your vocal muscles don?t start treating just the symptoms, learn how to address the root cause.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologist

Acid reflux, sometimes called heartburn, happens when stomach acid is allowed to flow up into the lower esophagus.? This can cause discomfort and pain for the sufferer.? Although there is no one sure and fast cure for heartburn, there are many ways to alleviate its symptoms.

Medicine

• Over the counter medications like Tums or Mylanta may help by neutralizing stomach acid. However, they can also have some nasty side effects, like constipation or diarrhea when over used.

• Prescription medicines can help attack heartburn in many ways.? Some, called foaming agents, help prevent heartburn by coating the stomach.? Others, known as H2 blockers (like Pepcid and Zantac) and proton pump inhibitors (like Prilosec and Nexium), prevent production of acid in the first place.? Prokinetics (like Reglan) can help strengthen the muscle that prevents acid from moving into the esophagus (called the lower esophageal sphincter), as well as help push food through the system faster ? preventing pressure buildup and reducing acid reflux.

Natural Remedies

• Apple cider vinegar has been found to be very helpful in relieving and preventing heartburn.? As little as 2 to 3 tablespoons can help relieve acid reflux, and when added to a cup of water, can help prevent future attacks.

• Ginger is also a widely used remedy.? It can be found in many forms ? pill, candied and tea ? and, like apple cider vinegar, can help alleviate heartburn, or prevent it when taken before a meal.

• Among the helpful bacteria in yogurt, unflavored yogurt is said to contain the kind that helps tighten stomach walls.? This in effect, prevents acid from backing up into the esophagus.

• Drinking chamomile or fennel tea may also help.? However, it should be sipped at a warm temperature, not gulped while hot.

• If nothing else works, drink a glass of water.? It will help flush the system and dilute the acid in the stomach.

Daily changes

• Smoking has been shown to aggravate acid reflux.? Quitting may help soothe symptoms.

• Wear loose fitting clothes.? Wearing tight clothes puts pressure on the abdomen causing acid to back up.

• Sleep with a few pillows under your head, and take naps in a more vertical position, like in a chair.

• Eat smaller meals more often.? Also, avoid eating right before going to bed.

• Extra weight can put pressure on the stomach, so overweight people may try losing a few pounds.

• Monitor consumption of over the counter pain medications and supplements.? Some NSAIDS ? like aspirin and ibuprofen ? as well as vitamins ? iron, calcium and potassium for example ? have been shown to exacerbate heartburn and acid reflux.

Surgery

Generally, surgery is not necessary and used as a last resort.? However, if dietary changes and medications are not helpful, a procedure called fundoplication may be necessary.? It involves wrapping part of the stomach around the lower esophagus, tightening the muscles there and preventing acid backups.? The procedure can be done laparoscopically as well as through an open incision in the abdomen.

For more information on finding relief for acid reflux, please read our Reflux Remedy Report.

For more than 5000 years raw apple cider has been used as a natural remedy for many ailments, especially heartburn, acid indigestion and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Did you know archaeologists recovered apple remains in Swiss Stone-Age lake dwellings and at a dig near Jericho in Jordan dating to 6500 BC? They also discovered dried apple rings in the tomb of Queen Pu-Abi (2500 B.C.E) in Southern Iran.

If you didn’t know about the powerful medicinal and healing qualities found in natural apple cider vinegar and you suffer from heartburn, it’s time to get with the program.

Apples are often overlooked like many of Mother Nature’s remedies because they are so common.

It is no coincidence that raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar contains a valuable nutrient rich base called “The Mother.”

“The Mother” of raw apple cider vinegar helps people with heartburn and acid reflux because it is naturally rich in readily available vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids, for starters.

The truth about heartburn, as with most dis-ease, is its root cause can be traced back to simple under-nutrition.

That’s right, your heartburn, acid indigestion and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), may be caused from simple nutritional deficiencies, which means your heartburn is NOT a drug deficiency.

Modern society differs from ancient times in fewer ways than you may first think. If we were to take away all the refrigerators, commercial farming practices and chemical food processing, you and I would find ourselves having to eat and live much like our ancestors did, depending on natural cures and wholesome home grown foods to provide us with everything we need.

Yet even if you unplug your refrigerator and stop buying commercially processed foods raised on artificial fertilizers, you still have to take the time to cultivate rich soils to produce the nutrient rich foods the ancient ones enjoyed.? It has been long known that artificial fertilization sterilized American soils to death about 80 years ago.

That is why you have heartburn and that is also why raw apple cider vinegar is so amazing. Even though apple farmers have been hybridizing apples and growing smaller less nutrient rich versions of the “original” apples, apple cider vinegar still contains “The Mother.”

Apple cider vinegar is a “super food” chocked full of the goodness of Mother Nature.

There is a new science of healing is called epigenetics. This new science is resurrecting the ancient ways of healing mind and body by simply reconnecting us from the DNA and cellular level to the environmental level and back again.

There is a built-in intelligence within you, which has hidden connections to the world that seems to be outside of you. When heartburn, acid indigestion or gastroesophageal acid reflux plague your daily life, that means something important has fallen out of balance.

Raw apple cider vinegar contains a perfect balance of fiber, flavonoids and antioxidants so vital for staying healthy and slowing down the aging process.

The pectin in the apple peel provides galacturonic acid, which reduces your body’s need for insulin.

In addition, apples are high in vitamin C and free-radical fighting Queretin beneficial for healthy cells.

French researchers found a flavonoid called “phloridzin” that may help protect post menopausal women from symptoms of osteoporosis and boron which strengthens bones.

So keep in mind that organic raw apple cider vinegar not only helps you defeat heartburn, acid indigestion and esophageal reflux diseases (GERD), it also helps restore and empower the hidden connections you have from the DNA , cellular level to “The Mother,” naturally . . . without drugs.

“To eat an apple going to bed, will make the doctor beg his bread.”

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologist