Natural Remedies for Acid Reflux (GERD & LPR)

Himalayan Salt

Posted by Kennywally (Midwest) on 06/07/2016 46 posts
★★★★★

I used to carry a small container of himalayan pink salt, to instantly knock out acid reflux. I was at a transformational workshop and folks seen me taking a pinch and wondered what I was doing, so I shared that with them, of course it worked great. I rarely get the reflux, but am not sure why, I'm just glad it worked, and fast too!

Acidophilus

Posted by Mckenzie (Charlotte, NC) on 04/06/2013

James, How much acidophilus are you taking per day? How many million or billion CFUs in total?

Is it a single strain or a multi strain probiotic??

Thanks!

Sugar Tea

Posted by Brook (Birmingham, Alabama) on 03/28/2013
★★★★★

This is going to sound weird, but I tried all of the remedies above and nothing helped me long term except sugar. My grandmother, an 80 year old woman told me to put a table spoon of sugar in a cup of hot hot water and drink it like a tea. The first time I took it I heard a gulp in my stomach. I did it for a few days and no acid reflux. Now, I don't wake up with acid burning in my throat anymore. If I eat something acidic, I just make sure to drink my sugar tea. I also lost a couple of pounds. But, I try not to do that often. Trust me it works!

Avoid Non-Fat Dairy

Posted by Tracy (Charlotte, Nc) on 12/31/2012
★★★★★

I stopped having acid reflux episodes when I stopped consuming non-fat dairy products. Try going to 1%. If that doesn't work, go to 2%. 2% works fine for me.

I used to think the episodes were a result of eating acidic foods (e. g., tomato sauce, etc. ), but found that consumption of non-fat dairy actually was the underlying cause that made my system intolerant of those foods. I can eat the other foods now with no problem.

Be sure to read labels, because skim milk and skim milk powder can be found where you least expect. I rarely get reflux now, but can trace it back to accidental ingestion of non-fat dairy every time it happens.

Hope this helps someone.

Gum

Posted by beverly (Texas) on 11/03/2022
★★★★★

I will have to agree with you. I have a number of things I try...celery...alkaline water and aloe vera, and gum is one of the more effective ones.

Celery

Posted by Sammi (Flowery Branch, Ga) on 06/02/2009
★★★★★

I have learned a lot after reading all of your comments. This is the first time I have seen this web site and reading it mentioned in passing on Dr. Mercola's web site. My husband used to get acid reflux painfully bad, but after he gave up drinking quarts of tea a day (hey, he's a southern boy!), he very rarely gets it. He avoids bad eating, but sometimes (and it's usually some kind of fast food) he weakens and pays for it. He used to use baking soda, but found it was slow to work and sometimes didn't. Our son-in-law has BAD problems with it and found only eating celery (don't know if he knows about the other recommendations) could fix it. Hubby tried celery and has stuck with it as it works on the rare occasions now when he's affected. I can't get him to try the ACV. He thinks my son and I are crazy using it. Thanks for this site and all the fine input.

Slippery Elm

Posted by Lenore (Chicago, Illinois) on 05/23/2009
★★★★★

Slippery elm bark cured my acid refux.You can buy slippery elm bark powder in most health food stores. I found out about it while researching for a cure for acid reflux, made the tea by adding 1 heaping tablespoon to one pint of boiling water- let steep one hour then simmer a few minutes - strain( or not) and drink. Prior to this I took tums, prisolec and other otc and prescription meds to no avail. After using this remedy I have no more trouble, I was also informed that tums and other drugs taken over the long haul begin to cause the problem they were originally meant to cure. I had acid refux so bad it burnt my throat and I had to try to sleep while sitting up. Amazingly I only had to take it 2x in a whole year and otherwise have not even modified my diet at all. Slippery elm bark is also very nourishing and is said to heal anything it comes into contact with.

Warnings

Posted by Joyce (Joelton, TN) on 05/04/2008 489 posts
★☆☆☆☆

WARNING!

Hello Erik from Pittsburgh,

Hopefully anyone intelligent enough to use the internet has enough intelligence to reject the idea if someone should be idiotic enough to recommend that they take strychnine or cyanide or some other poison! First off, I seriously doubt that anyone has written in recommending something that they haven't tried themselves.

I fully agree that these claims have not been evaluated by orthodox medicine studies or the FDA, but God forbid that I ever have to rely solely on the FDA's "GRAS" ratings or take every word spoken by a doctor as the gospel truth. But let's take a look at some of those that were. Remember the thalidomide that orthodox medical doctors prescribed for the normal nausea of pregnancy? How would you like to have been one of those infants born with severe deformities (the pictures of these babies, some with hands attached to shoulders instead of wrists because they had no arms or missing both arms and legs and worse) were heart breaking. I believe the FDA approved of this medication or at least passed it after taking the word of some doctor or doctors who performed a study paid for by the pharmaceutical company that produced it.

Or take a look at a more recent one called Viox. One of my aunts is one of those unlucky ones prescribed the latest thing for her arthritis pain - she has had a stroke, myocardial infarct, and a pacemaker implanted, thanks to this wonder drug that was supposedly FDA rated safe after the proper studies were done. This aunt had a lovely garden (vegetables) prior to this fiasco - I don't think she will ever be able to tend her garden again. I was raised to believe that pokeweed berries were poisonous, but after a very good friend and neighbor told me to take them for severe arthritis and she didn't back down when threatened with having to finish raising my 4 children if it killed me, I started taking them and am still taking them 40+ years later. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Viox was some substance isolated from pokeberries, and a synthetic version produced so it could be patented and make a fortune for the pharmaceutical company. I have come to the conclusion that one should never try to improve on God's product. I kept the "fail safe" by taking the pokeberries instead of a depleted synthetic version of what was found to be detrimental to the arthritis. Of course I had to work out how much and how often to take them myself, since she didn't know how her aunt took them. I do know that orthodox medicine was performing studies on pokeberries (as well as many other herbs/plants) since the 60's and 70's. We were told in a physiology lecture in l977 (at a prestigious southern medical school) "that we don't know why, but from a study we have going here, we know that pokeberries throws the immune system into gear to fight". I had already been taking them about l0 years at the time, so I just sat there & grinned. If you have a problem with herbs & plants, which I call "God's medicine", there is a wealth of information in the federal government's botanical data base, if you can find your way into it. If you can't find your way into it, James (Jim) Duke, retired PHD botanist, who amassed much of this information, has written a book titled "The Green Pharmacy" which is very informative. I own a couple of copies of it myself and have given some to my children.

Or how about the one (I forget the name) that was finally outlawed in this country after several years because too many of the ones taking it were developing irreversible blindness? The pharmaceutical company just continued selling it in other countries. This is not malpractice or neglect - it is criminal behavior secondary to greed!

I also find it amusing that many doctors are getting smart and passing up chemotherapy themselves when they develop cancer. Google Lorraine Day for a great & successful example of this.

If you are in the medical field, I am sorry if the job security is getting shaky, but I will have to "fess up" that I started taking vitamins, minerals, and supplements because I knew they worked. If I hadn't already been convinced of their effectiveness before, I would have been positive after seeing the AMA try to gain control of them by striving to make them available by "prescription" only and that prescription would have to be written by a doctor. Unfortunately Big Pharms and AMA haven't given up on this yet. Frankly, The FDA has been almost worthless and hasn't been earning the salaries that the taxpayer's money goes to pay over the past few decades. Apparently they find bigger money from lobbyists for the AMA and Big Pharm and court battles easier to win against the little guys who are selling us the vitaminsm, minerals & supplements.

It is way past time that the FDA admits that they goofed when they rated monosodium glutamate and aspartame "GRAS" but it may be too late to avoid many of us from developing Diabetes Mellitus, type 2, Parkinsons' disease, alzheimers and many other problems. I urge everyone to research these two toxins that permeate our foods and start fighting these in our foods, because the FDA is not going to do it. The latest thing I read on alzheimer's disease is that it is much more prevalent, striking at a younger age and in those without a genetic predisposition, than previously thought. That tells me that it is what they are putting in our food.

Blackstrap Molasses

Posted by Kita (Detroit, Michigan) on 08/19/2007
★★★★★

I had acid reflux bad for the past two years. Oneday my aunt went to a health food store. Her and a lady got to talking about blackstrap. The lady had tried everything for her acid reflux so the doctor finally told her about blackstrap molasses. My aunt brought some for me and within days the acid reflux started to go down. Now I have been taking it for4 months now. It is just about cured! It is the best thing for acid reflux. I took two teapsoons of it everyday in april and now I take less because it doesnt bother me. One or two teaspoons will help get you through the whole day.

Olive Oil

Posted by Terry (Mount Vernon, Illinois) on 05/26/2007
★★★★★

HI, I lived in the south of France for many years. I am a massage therapist and use aroma therapy and plants. What works the best FOR ME to decrease the effects of acid reflux is 1 tablespoon of OLIVE OIL every morning and evening. There might be a little discomfort the first few times, but the results, for me, were well worth it. My old 30 day supply of pills lasts me all year now. I haven't tried the ACV remedy, but yes, the apples help me a lot too. But we are all different. I find that the Olive oil works best in my case.

Banana

Posted by Sean (Seattle, Wa) on 10/15/2009

How much water do/have you been drinking? The one thing that I have noticed about people with acid reflux...Not enough water and not enough fibrous foods. Cut out bleached white flower products and bleached white sugar/corn syrup products. They can easily account for 1/2 of your caloric intake if you don't wage a war on them. I feel that we are in the midst of a nutritional holocaust. Stick to natural foods. I know a lot of people that don't like water! They even go YEARS without getting enough. -Just a thought

Betaine Hydrochloride

Posted by Katzie (Canada) on 11/18/2022

OR - you could try Manuka Honey, which is great for acid reflex and heartburn. Many Naturopaths prescribe it for same.

And since HCL is what you have used with success, wouldn't ACV be cheaper and work just the same?! ; also its easier to find!

D-Limonene

Posted by Devorah (NyC) on 03/27/2023
★★★★★

Just discovered d-limonene for acid reflux..seems great..will report back. For some reason no one seems to have Jarrow formula d limonene..anyone know why?

Ginger

Posted by Erin Olsen (United States) on 05/23/2020
★★★★★

I tried just about everything, chewing on a piece of fresh Ginger from the root, calmed me reflux instantly. I am off PPI's now for about a week. Ginger worked better than they ever did.

Sea Salt

Posted by Kennywally (Midwest) on 01/29/2017 46 posts
★★★★★

I just wrote about my experience with reflux and sea salt, any type, I love himalayan pink. I used to carry around a small 15-ml container so it was ready as I needed it, it worked instantly! I used it for a few years til I just no longer needed it!

Sea Salt

Posted by Ken (Midwest) on 01/29/2017 46 posts
★★★★★

FWIW, sea salt, any kind will also give instant relief to acid reflux. I stumbled into a few years ago, and brought a small container to a weekend seminar in Albuquerque in 2012, and folks seen me using it and they wanted to try it too, lol, but it was good for all interested. I carried it in a small 15-ml nalgene bottle on the ready at a moments notice. I no longer need it, cuz I got a hold of some of my dietary issues. Anyways, others had relux and needed the salt and so were grateful, and I was glad to share.

Blackstrap Molasses

Posted by Becca (Colorado) on 06/06/2016
★★★★★

Blackstrap Molasses works immediately for acid reflux. Now let's see how long it lasts...

Blackstrap Molasses

Posted by Norma (Tennessee) on 10/06/2015
★★★★★

I just wanted to say that blackstrap molasses helps with acid reflux, about 2 tablespoons and take that either before or after eating, works either way. I think it has to do with potassium that helps with the acid reflux the same as with the banana I believe that's why it works....

Baking Soda in Orange Juice

Posted by Charity (Faithville, Usa) on 06/28/2017

I watch a lot of informational videos . If I am remembering correct, Eric Berg was teaching on how stress produces cortisol and cortisol alkalized the body and when the body is alkaline the flap at the top of the gut, the esophagus I presume does not close and stomach acid comes up into the throat, like heartburn.

Dhea helps with cortisol balancing, depending on your age, b vitamins in nutritional yeast, minerals in balance and hydration with water, extra magnesium for stress or epson salt baths, walks, fresh air and loving self talk.

Cabbage

Posted by Connie (Youngstown, Oh) on 07/16/2012
★★★★★

I was having stomach pain for 3 months now. At times it would feel like I had a knot under my breast bone. The pain would go from mild to severe and there was one time I almost went to ER. I was treated with previcid for the attacks. After reading on this site, I began to eat raw cabbage leaves on July 5. Just tried to eat 4-5 leaves throughout the day. the first day or 2 I noticed some relief. I did notice more heartburn for the first few days - but I felt that something was improving pain wise. by day 5 I noticed a significant difference. Here I am 10 days later and I have not had pain for over a week. I am amazed. I started adding cabbage to all my sandwiches and salads. In addition my constipation has drastically improved. Cheap and works!! I am sold!! Thanks and good luck

Artichoke Extract, Aloe Vera

Posted by Maryb (Virginia Beach, Virginia / USA) on 06/20/2012
★★★★★

I cured my acid reflux in 5 weeks. I had gone the route of apple cider vinegar (hated the taste and burning in my throat), then Prilosec, and Nexium. Then I met an Herbalist. She had me go to GNC and get the Artichoke Extract. I took two capsules right when I finished breakfast and two capsules right after dinner every day. She also had me get Aloe Vera juice extract (wildberry is my favorite). I would take two shots right when I woke up an two shots right before I went to bed. Sometimes I would take a shot mid afternoon ( not very often).

I quit the Nexium after being on the artichoke and aloe for 24 hours and had no burning I still followed the bland acid reflux diet. But at five weeks I forgot to take the artichoke one morning and had no burning, so I decided to back off the artichoke and aloe Vera in the next couple of days. Then quit it. I slowly started eating spicy foods again and had no issues. It has been a year now. I told one of my husbands customer about it. (she had been on Nexium for around a year). She called me the next morning an said she slept all night for the first time in ages, she stopped the nexium that day and was cured in 5 weeks with no more issues. My daughter told a coworker about it and hers is cured too. The artichoke help control the bile. Please try it. IT WORKS!!