Herbal Medicine Center

Archive for February 15th, 2009

Conventional solutions only give short-term relief of heartburn at the price of multiple secondary effects and are not much more than a stop-gap for more effective and better options to really bring long-term results. Thankfully, home remedies are available to give immediate relief for the greater part of heartburn sufferers when selected and applied properly. So how can home remedies allow you to stop heartburn? Tens of millions of patients all over the world would love to know after disappointments by the ineffective classical medicine solutions.

Heartburn is the symptom of a feeling of pain or burning in the chest or the throat, often during or after eating. When this happens twice a week or more, it’s potentially a sign of GERD (gastro esophageal reflux disease) that is also called acid reflux.

It is the stomach acids that corrode the epithelial cells of the esophagus that cause the pain known as heartburn. GERD is the more advanced case of this problems when the muscle (the lower esophageal sphincter) between the opening between the esophagus and the stomach opens at the wrong moment and lets stomach acid “reflux” or flow into the esophagus backwards from the stomach.

Other than heartburn, acid reflux can also show up as a salty taste in the mouth, dry coughing, nausea, recurring hoarseness and nocturnal asthma attacks. Over time, chronic acid reflux causes sufficiently severe damage to the lower esophagus to turn into a condition called Barrett’s esophagus and even cancer. For this reason, a speedy intervention to treat GERD is imperative.

Elements contributing to GERD can include:

1. Incorrect eating including the ingestion of meals that are too big and which block digestion, also aggravates the build-up of toxins and gastric acids.

2. For obese people, the backpressure from the abdomen acts in turn on the stomach contents and forces this back towards the esophagus. With the negative effect on the immune system, Candida can then get out of control as yet another negative factor in your acid reflux problem.

3. Poor sleep hygiene also damages the immune system.

However, simple and easy to obtain home remedies exist to remove symptoms of GERD, even if they do not go as far as to eradicate fundamental causes:

1. 2 teaspoons of natural honey (pure, unprocessed and unheated) taken after a meal will relieve esophageal inflammation via the benefit of its documented properties as an antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, and antibiotic agent.

2. This will also assist in getting back the right acid alkaline balance in the intestines (acid reflux is often more pronounced when there is excess acidity in the intestines and the blood). On similar principles, organic apple cider vinegar (taken in a quantity of a tablespoon on an empty stomach taken once a day) will work with the intestines to get rid of toxins and impurities, thanks to its antiseptic and antibiotic nature.

3. Lowering the foot of your bed by six to eight inches will help to keep gastric juices out of your esophagus. You need to make sure that the entire surface of your bed is on a slight incline, either by replacing the legs at the far end with shorter ones, or by raising the head of the bed with wooden blocks, for example.

These methods can surely help to give immediate and safe relief, but they are not in themselves long-term solutions. The only solution for that is a full, holistic, all-natural treatment, to permanently eliminate your acid reflux ailment by addressing the root and often dissimulated causes of GERD.

Jeff Martin is an author of the best-selling e-book, “Heartburn No More- Open The Door To an Acid Reflux Free Life”. To Learn More About His Unique 5-Step Holistic Acid Reflux Cure System Visit: Heartburn No More. For further information visit: Heartburn and Acid Reflux