This post is about my personal experience with reflux and home remedies. Your experience could be different. I always say, if the same thing worked for everyone, we’d only need one of everything. I will cover some of the things that worked for me, as well as some of the conventional wisdom that did not work.
Natural Home Remedies covered in this article:
Decrease Water With Meals
Don’t Graze
Avoid Trigger Foods
Food Combining
Cultured Vegetables
Don’t Gain Weight or Wear Tight Clothes
Don’t Eat Before Bedtime
Apple Cider Vinegar
Aloe Vera
Baking soda
Celery Seed
Pulsatilla
Carrot Juice
Kangan Ionized Water
Elevate Head of Bed
Sleep on Left Side
Chiropractic Adjustment
Take Your Vitamins
I was officially diagnosed with reflux in November of 2003. This was after waking with coughing, gagging and sputtering spells a minimum of 3 to 5 times a night for 9 months. The diagnosis was so difficult because at the time, I seldom if ever had gastrointestinal symptoms. My symptoms were like sinus symptoms, primarily post nasal drip and coughing. These symptoms are actually most consistent with larygotracheal reflux (LTR) or extra esophageal reflux. You can read more about LTR at Dr. Kurt Barrett’s website and blog. Also look for my upcoming hub, Reflux- The Second Time Western Medicine Failed Me.
I started out taking Prilosec, a proton pump inhibitor, and Zantac, an antiacid, to treat my reflux, which were very effective. Two years later I had a cascade of symptoms, diagnoses and prescriptions. I wound up on 11 prescription and over the counter drugs, and 3 supplements for clinical deficiencies. I felt awful and barely had a life. Who’s to say which symptoms were a direct result of medication side effects? By this time, I was having heartburn and other more classic reflux symptoms along with my usual cough and throat clearing. In my desperation I found Alternative Medicine and started eliminating prescription meds. I started taking a betaine hydrochloride supplement for my reflux, and was able to eliminate Zantac, and cut my Prilosec in half.
For those of you thinking that betaine hydrochloride sounds like acid, or making my stomach more acidic, you are correct. It’s fairly unanimous among Alternative Medicine providers that reflux is not caused by too much stomach acid, but too little.
I had gotten down to half my original Prilosec dose, and was taking the half dose 4 days a week. At 4 Prilosec a week, and daily betaine, I had good symptom control, but I could not seem to break through to decrease and eliminate Prilosec. I could tolerate reflux symptoms during the day, but the nighttime cough, interrupting my sleep, I could not go there again. Armed with my understanding of the Alternative Medical view of reflux, and a little info from The Bottom Line that made total sense to me, I tried a few home remedies.
Decrease Water With Meals
My dad is a fan of The Bottom Line, and has numerous books and reports around the house, as do I now. I was home on leave, and grabbed a couple of his books to occupy myself on a road trip, making notes in a little notebook. The Bottom Line not only stated the problem with reflux is too little stomach acid, but also proposed that the less and less young we get, we have adequate quantities of stomach acid, but it is dilute, and therefore not potent enough to adequately digest food. This would be especially true for meat protein, and for me, at least partially explains deficits in iron and B12 (both of which I had). Then the bombshell. You know how experts for years have touted that we should drink a large glass of water before meals, so that hopefully we won’t eat as much? Guess what? By drinking all that water, we have just further diluted our stomach acid!
The Bottom Line suggested minimizing fluid intake immediately before, after, and during meals. I was drinking a liter of water with meals, taking my fistful of supplements. I started spreading out my supplements over a period of 1 to 2 hours, taking a few at a time with sips of water.
Don’t Graze
The Bottom Line also cautions against grazing. The rationale is that eating constantly throughout the day constantly takes from your available amount of stomach acid. When you eat a full meal, you won’t have your full compliment of digestive acid needed for meals. In general, I agree with this, but recommend taking apple cider vinegar with meals when you’ve been guilty of grazing. Dilute 1/2 oz of vinegar with the mother with 1 1/2 to 2 oz of water and drink.
Avoid Trigger Foods
Most experts agree on a basic list of foods that likely trigger reflux, but acknowledge this is highly variable among individuals. Some typically cited trigger foods:
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| Caffeinated beverages are common triggers of reflux symptoms. |
Caffeinated beverages
Chocolate
Alcohol
Spicy foods
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| Tomatoes, onions and garlic are frequent triggers of reflux |
Garlic and onions
Tomato-based foods like pizza and spaghetti
Fried or fatty foods
Milk and dairy
Citrus
I definitely have to say coffee aggravates my reflux. For years I thought it was a good expectorant because of the throat clearing and coughing it triggered. Oh well. I was not safe to drive without my coffee when I was working. Now that I’ve retired from the Air Force, I have vowed to avoid any activities that require me to rise at 6 a.m. on a regular basis. I have been “off the coffee” since my retirement.
I’m not sure about alcohol in general, but from the minute I found out I had reflux, it ruined red wine for me. I used to love it, now I can hardly even say it. Red wine and reflux clearly don’t go together in my mind. When I occasionally have red wine, I drink at least twice as much water along the way as I do wine. I have given up alcohol in general. I occasionally have an ounce or two of white wine, but most of the time, I think about the possible reflux symptoms, and it's just not worth it.
I’m not a milk drinker. I can say though that the occasional Dairy Queen Banana Split Blizzard, which has vanilla ice cream, strawberries, pineapple, banana, and chocolate syrup, always triggers my cough and the need to clear my throat. Yet I can have the same thing at Culver’s, made with chocolate custard, and have no symptoms. I can also eat chocolate ice cream, made with “natural and artificial flavors”, and have no problems.
I only occasionally eat fried foods, or fatty foods, and rarely eat fast food. This has been the case for 20 or 30 years. Is it because the reflux trained me this way years ago? I now suspect I’ve had reflux all of my life. I’ve never had any tolerance for hot spicy food. Again, never liked it, but is that because of the reflux? I like citrus fruit, but never crave it, and historically have eaten it only sporadically.
I don’t have any problems with onions, garlic or tomatoes, and in fact eat lots of them. I always liked Italian food, then when stationed in Turkey, Turkish food, for which these are common ingredients.
Food Combining
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| Combining meat protein and starch may aggravate reflux symptoms. |
Donna Gates, of the Body EcologyDiet, cautions about food combining. She recommends not eating starch and meat protein in the same meal, because the digestive processes are so different. I had to concede that even junior high biology seems to support this. Starch digestion is through enzymes, starting with salivary enzymes, and meat is more dependent on stomach acids. This is an incredibly hard rule for me to follow, but I do think there is something to it. While I can eat spaghetti okay, pizza now gives me heartburn every single time. Sandwiches seem to be okay. Other meals I can get by with mixing meat and starch, if I also consume substantial portions of vegetables. When I skip vegetables in any meal, I almost always have reflux symptoms.
Cultured Vegetables
Donna Gates of the Body Ecology Diet also recommends cultured vegetables, as a daily part of a healthy diet. Fermented and cultured foods are chock full of healthy bacteria. They assist in making the body more alkaline, which is a less hospitable environment for diseases including cancer.
Most European and Asian cultures regularly eat such foods. I tried several commercially produced cultured vegetables which I ordered from the internet, but found the texture not to my liking (read disgusting). The Immunitritionvegetables were the best, though sometimes the texture was softer than I like. I finally got brave, and my sister and I made our own. The texture is soooo much better. The best recipes are from Miranda Barrett’s The Food of Life: The Versatile Vegetable.
Donna recommends ¼ to ½ cup of cultured vegetables with every meal. I add a little Bragg’s apple cider vinegar and a healthy omega oil like flax, hemp or pumpkin seed oil, which boosts the health benefits as well as enhances the taste. I also add a little stevia sweetner. I kinda got out of the habit of eating these the last few months. At best, I was eating a ½ cup serving after my evening meal. I’m convinced eating cultured vegetables reduced my reflux symptoms.
Don’t Gain Weight or Wear Tight Clothes
Another common recommendation for clients with reflux is to avoid weight gain. Like any of us gain weight on purpose if we’re already on the “fluffy” side! Before my reflux was diagnosed, recall my sleep was interrupted for 9 months. This impairs metabolism, particularly carbohydrate metabolism, and I gained weight. This causes additional pressure on the stomach, with the abdominal organs pressing upward toward the diaphragm. This increases reflux symptoms.
Of course the weight gain also made my BDUs (military uniform) too tight. This creates a banding effect with the trousers, further aggravating symptoms.
Don’t Eat Before Bedtime
Experts typically recommend not going to bed for 2 to 3 hours after eating dinner. I would say at least 2 to 3 hours, since I usually have some kind of meat with dinner, and meat takes 4 to 5 hours to digest. So 4 to 5 hours would be even better, but 2 to 3 hours is okay. When I was still working full time, I usually got home pretty late, therefore ate pretty late. When I went to bed less than 2 hours after eating, I had a lot more nasal secretions on waking. This is consistent with laryngotracheal reflux. According to Dr. Barrett (see intro), the production of mucous is the body’s attempt at protection, to prevent acid from getting to the lungs while laying down to sleep.
Things You Can Take for Symptom Relief
There are things you can take for relief of reflux symptoms such as heartburn and indigestion. My problem, is nothing seems to work for me long term, so I tend to rotate remedies.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Many sources endorse taking anywhere from 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegarwith meals to fortify your stomach acid to aid digestion. This too is based on the premise that reflux is caused by deficient stomach acid. I started keeping ACV in my office. If I had heartburn or other reflux symptoms after eating, I would take a tablespoon of ACV.
With implementing just these two strategies, being more careful of my fluid intake around meals, and taking apple cider vinegar after meals, I was able to get off the Prilosec completely!
Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is often recommended for the treatment of reflux. You can find capsules, but the juice is better. There are numerous brands and varieties. The flavored ones aren’t bad, but plain is tolerable. There is one I don’t care for, I think it is the “inner fillet”, and it has a lumpy texture that I do not like. For me personally, I don’t get immediate symptom relief from aloe vera. I think it’s better for long term use effects. I try to drink 2 oz at least once a day.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is my “when all else fails” reflux treatment. I think it’s better to prevent the symptoms through natural strategies, but…When I have bad heartburn, especially at bedtime, I make myself a “GI cocktail” with ½ teaspoon of baking soda and 8 oz of water. Baking soda is a buffer, meaning it can adjust whether your stomach pH is too acidic or too alkali. I have used this remedy for over 20 years. It works better for me than Alka Seltzer, Rolaids, or Tums. It also works for intestinal discomfort.
Celery Seed
My naturopath recommends celery seed for reflux symptoms. I get Solaray celery seed, 505 mg, and take two after meals, per my naturopath when I have symptoms. Celery seed is convenient to carry in my bag, and seems to help.
Pulsatilla
My naturopath (also a homeopath and herbalist) also recommends pulsatilla. I get this homeopathic remedy from his office. It is a liquid, so not as convenient to carry with me as capsules, but I do tend to carry a small bottle of this in my purse. I use 9 drops after meals. Currently, this is one of my favored remedies.
Carrot Juice
Carrot juice is my other favored remedy right now. My chiropractor told me to try it, and it really does work for me. I drink two to four ounces after meals, especially my evening meal, or when I have eaten meat, or mixed meat and starch in one meal.
Kangen Water
About a year ago, I bought a Kangen water ionizer. There are plenty of nay sayers, but the Japanese use water ionizers in their hospitals. Ionizing microclusters the water molecules, making the water easier to absorb on a cellular level. Ionizing also gives water antioxidant properties, which helps neutralize free radicals and helps fight disease. Finally, with an ionizer, you can produce alkaline water. Drinking alkaline water makes your internal environment more alkaline, and less acidic, and therefore a less inviting place for diseases including cancer.
Kangen proponents report numerous and diverse health benefits, including resolution of reflux symptoms. My reflux was better, but I still had episodes that made me want to make a baking soda cocktail. After discussion with my naturopath, he asked me to try an "experiment" of using the acidic 6.0 pH water for my reflux symptoms. This seems to do the trick!
Elevate Head of Bed
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| Elevate the head of the bed. Put a wedge or books between the mattress and springs. | |
Most experts recommend elevating the head of the bed. I can’t swear it makes any difference for me, but intuitively it makes sense. I never liked the idea of putting wood blocks under the headboard legs, which is commonly recommended. This always seemed like it would stress the bed frame. A physical therapist colleague told me to put phone books and other thick books between the mattress and box springs, which I did for a couple years. When my sister moved to Texas, she built me a wedge to put between the mattress and springs.
Sleep on Left Side
I recall from my training as an x-ray tech that lying on the left side is better for digestion. It is a common recommendation for reflex sufferers to sleep on the left side. I can’t really say that I can tell a difference with which side I sleep on.
Chiropractic Adjustment
Chiropractic adjustments to the thoracic region is supposed to have a beneficial impact on gastrointestional function. When I have had consistent chiro adjustments every one to two weeks, I think my reflux symptoms were not as bad.
Take Your Vitamins
This is my way of saying: Do everything you can to maintain your overall health. Take care of your “temple”. I have been on a supervised comprehensive program of natural supplements for over 3 years. It takes a lot of effort to organize my daily supplements, and to take them correctly. Sometimes I go AWOL. When I’m not following my program, skipping one or more weeks of supplements, my reflux symptoms are worse. My thyroid symptoms are worse. My knee pain returns. You get the idea.
Sometimes I’m convinced my reflux symptoms have little to do with what I do or don’t eat. On these occasions, I think my symptoms are more related to my general health and imbalances in my system.
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