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Natural Heartburn Remedies More Effective Than Drugs
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Every month more than 60 million people in America suffer from heartburn. If you are one of the few people who has never had heartburn, it starts off as indigestion and leaves you with pains in your stomach, burning in your chest, and a sourness in your throat.
For most of the people who have regular heartburn, they feel they have no choice but to reach for any one of the many over-the-counter medications or prescription offerings to treat their condition. Some of the most common products include Tagamet, Zantac, Tums, and Pepcid.
While most of these products do treat heartburn effectively and fairly quickly, they have been found to have serious side effects. Some cause cancer while others can leave you with a heart attack. Instead of just resolving the problem, you may want to figure out what is causing your heartburn in the first place. Here are six ways that you can stop heartburn from affecting you in the future.
1. Cut out any foods that raise your stomach acid levels
There are a number of foods that can increase your chances of suffering from acid reflux. Some of these include: tomatoes, citrus fruits, fried foods, artificial sweeteners, garlic, onions, chocolate, coffee, and alcohol.
2. Cut down on the size of your portions
Whenever you eat too much at one time, your body increase the production of acid in your stomach to help you digest your meal. If any of the excess food leaks out, it could find its way back into your esophagus.
3. Don’t drink when you eat
Even though it is probably a habit, try to not drink any fluids while you are eating. When you do this, it dilutes the enzymes in your digestive track, adding to your stomach issues.
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4. Check any medications you are taking
If you are already taking several prescription medications, make sure to talk to your physician to see if any of them are causing you to suffer from heartburn as a side effect. There are certain birth control pills and blood pressure medications that could be increasing your chances of getting heartburn.
5. Reduce your stress levels
Studies have found a link between stress and reflux, GERD, and other stomach issues. The higher amount of stress you have, the more likely you are to suffer from these conditions. It increases their severity as well.
6. Switch to a Paleo diet
While the Mediterranean diet is an excellent program that has many health benefits to its credit, the Paleo diet has the same guidelines, except it does not allow grains or dairy.
If you are used to reaching for medications to eliminate your heartburn, you may want to think again. It has been found that many of the natural ways to deal with heartburn went up against the proven pharmaceuticals, and they were determined to be just as effective.
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Here are 8 natural products that will help you deal with your heartburn without having to use any medications.
1. Almond milk
If you suffer from heartburn, you may want to switch from regular milk to almond milk. Almond milk is able to neutralize foods that are acidic — meaning it will cut down on reflux issues.
2. Bananas
Instead of reaching for a pill, you should grab a ripe banana as it will adhere to the lining of your esophagus and calm down any irritation.
3. Ginger
A clinical study in India gave one group of patients Prevacid (lansoprazole) and the other group was given ginger. The ginger was found to be up to eight times more effective than the Prevacid.
4. Melatonin
A study in Brazil consisted of two groups of patients: one group took 20 mg of Prilosec (omeprazole) to treat their gastro-esophageal reflux disease, also known as GERD) while the other group took a supplement that consisted of melatonin, vitamin B6, l-tryptophan, vitamin B12, betaines, methionine, and folic acid. Within 40 days every one of the patients taking the melatonin supplement went into remission while in the Prilosec group only 65.7% of the patients found any relief from their GERD.
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5. Oatmeal
If you can abstain from adding heavy cream to your oatmeal, this is another great choice if you suffer from heartburn or acid reflux. It will put a coating on the lining of your stomach, soothing it and protecting it from any irritation.
6. Green vegetables
When you are choosing vegetables to balance out your dinners, select from green ones like green beans, broccoli, asparagus, celery, and cauliflower. They have been found to be soothing to the lining of your esophagus.
7. Aloe and kefir
If you ae looking for a winning combination that is simple, safe, and effective, add a teaspoon of aloe juice into a couple of ounces of Kefir, which is a fermented milk drink. The aloe juice cuts down on any inflammation and restores the GI tract. The kefir is alkaline and neutralizes the acid in your stomach. Keep this mixture to a minimum because taking in a large amount of aloe juice could leave you with more pains in your stomach than you started with, as well as diarrhea.
READ ALSO: The Dangers Of Heartburn And Acid Reflux Drugs They Never Tell You About
8. Water
Drinking a glass of water is the fastest way to get rid of your heartburn. Researchers in Greece put a seven-ounce glass of water against several antacids. The glass of water worked within one minute while the antacids — Nexium, Prilosec, Zantac, and Aciphex — took between 50 to 175 minutes to work.
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