Heartburn caused by acid reflux is a very common condition, many millions of people are affected all around the world. People from the Western world are more affected than in Asian countries.
The disease occurs when the acid content of your stomach goes back into the esophagus.
This is generally due to the low pressure of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), which is unable to prevent the reflux of stomach content.
This is the key. The ideal remedy for reflux is the one able to stop the root causes, not just the symptoms.
Unfortunately, when it comes to medications, they don’t help so much, just because they generally work on the effect of reflux.
For example, some prescription medications aim at creating a barrier to protect the esophageal linen, but this doesn’t act in any way on the root cause of reflux.
That’s why always more and more people are looking for alternative solutions.
Home remedies for heartburn are gaining a lot of popularity nowadays, and much more they’ll gain in the near future.
They are easy to use, quick to prepare and, what matters most, can be used with a generally lower risk of side effects, if compared with chemical drugs.
This doesn’t mean that people who are using natural, homemade remedies are 100% free from risks.
In fact, every natural principle may interact with other natural ingredients, or chemical drugs, that’s why you have to learn if and how a natural home remedy might be good for your specific case.
Let’s dive deeper into this essential topic.
Home Remedies For Heartburn
Before to start, we want to suggest you keep a diary which reports the following:
- Eaten foods, and
- When heartburn episodes/symptoms occurred
This is important because it gives a better idea of what are your triggers so that you can avoid them at best.
As you know, personal experience is important, and remember that you can’t refer to somebody else’s experience (even if they are in the same family). Everyone can experience different symptoms, with different triggers.
We want to group home remedies in two different categories. It will be a lot easier to remember all of them.
The main categories are:
Lifestyle Changes
The first category of solutions we want to consider is lifestyle changes.
They are extremely important because, by implementing them correctly, you can almost get rid of heartburn symptoms or, at least, make them much more bearable than it might seem.
They basically are the first line of intervention to win your battle against heartburn and acid reflux
Natural Healers
The second category of solutions we want to consider is natural healers.
They are the second line of intervention, meaning that you should use them to reinforce the action of lifestyle changes.
In fact, despite the adoption of a correct lifestyle, symptoms are expected to continue, for many people.
That’s why you want to introduce in your life some natural products, recipes, and solutions that really help you.
But for now, let’s get started with the first category of home remedies.
We report below a list of some of the most relevant lifestyle changes you should adopt as soon as possible to start working on your heartburn and reflux.
Their main purpose is to make symptoms less perceived, with a significant improvement in your quality of life.
Changing Lifestyles For Relieving Heartburn
For some people, this may be enough. We’re talking about people with low to mild reflux symptoms. However, the majority of heartburn sufferers will need to do something more.
Whatever the case, these below are the starting point for everyone.
Changing Eating Habits To Relieve Heartburn
How You Eat Is Important For Relieving Heartburn
There’s another diet with some controversial effects in the case of heartburn and reflux: it’s the “low-carb diet”.
According to some findings, it seems that acid reflux can be caused by poor carb digestion, with bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine.
Below you find a scheme of low-carb diet by the website Simply Stacie, as a reference.
The presence of so many undigested carbs in the digestive system leads to bloating and feeling gassy, and belching is a common symptom in such cases.
However, there are still a few studies to confirm that a low-carb diet is certainly beneficial, in the case of acid reflux.
Tobacco Is Always Bad For Heartburn
GERD treatment guidelines
According to the current trends, GERD treatment guidelines can be summarized as follows.
As you can see, there are three main steps, generally speaking:
- STEP 1: Lifestyle Changes
- STEP 2: Medical Therapy
- STEP 3: Surgical Therapy
- STEP 4: Endoluminal Therapies
By working on the first one, you can avoid the second and, as a consequence all other steps.
It’s extremely important to work well on that first step, by modifying your lifestyle and eating habits.
By doing so, you’ll avoid medications and, what matters most, surgical treatments.
On the contrary, you have the real possibility of using natural methods, which integrate perfectly with the correct lifestyles.
How To Get Rid Of Heartburn
This is the final goal of every person who suffers from heartburn and acid reflux.
Hard to say if this can become a reality, though.
In fact, it depends on the specific case, that’s why there is not a single answer to all, different and specific conditions that each person presents.
However, we can suggest what follows.
Lifestyle changes will allow you to make symptoms more bearable, which is already very important because it allows recovering a good quality of life.
The use of natural healers, or “home-remedies” will help you work on the root causes of your heartburn, which is even better.
This will lead to further reduce symptoms, and, even better, avoid medications.
This is not like “getting rid of” your problems, but for sure the quality of life will be normal, for most of the time (of course, it always depends on the specific case, that’s why you want to talk to a doctor when you experience continued troubles).
How to heal inflamed esophagus naturally
In the following list of natural healers, you’ll find, there are many natural remedies for the inflamed esophagus.
We can anticipate that ginger is one of the best ever.
But it’s not alone.
The point is: the role of esophagus inflammation is always more important with time. According to some findings, it seems to be much more important than previously thought for determining reflux.That’s why you must pay the greatest attention to the home remedies with good anti-inflammatory properties you’ll find below.
Acid Reflux Remedies At Home
There are so many natural, home-made remedies the people use to take for relieving heartburn and other symptoms of acid reflux.
We want to report some of the most effective, to make things clear and to help you decide which are the best for you.
This means that personal experience has to guide you in the proper selection of the best choice for your case.
Natural antacid remedies
This topic is about the integration in the diet of some foods, defined as alkalinizing vegetables, fruits, milk, and its products.
They show the capability to restore the natural gastric balance and function, curb acid reflux, aid digestion, reduce the burning sensation due to hyperacidity and soothe the inflamed mucosa of the stomach.
They are very helpful and should be introduced in the diet of all people who suffer from heartburn and reflux.
Among them, we remember broccoli, kale, radish, cucumber, lemon juice, cold milk, and curd.
A very little known antacid herb is Laportea aestuans, because it’s able to keep the acidity low for a long period of time if compared to many other antacid herbs.
Raw spinach juice is also a very good natural antacid.
Some little known remedies for heartburn
Herbs for heartburn
Fruits for heartburn
As you can see, well beyond what we know about the beneficial effects of some natural remedies, personal taste, and experience, are essential.
This means that, when it comes to relieving heartburn at home, you have to collect the right information first, then you must experience and decide what’s best for your case.
Don’t get overwhelmed by over-hyped claims you can easily find on the net.
There are still interesting and little known home remedies to deepen more about.
Other useful natural remedies
Home remedies for burping and heartburn
Belching is a common symptom of reflux.
If you want to experience relief, you must avoid all foods and habits that increase the risk of ingesting gas or air, including soft drinks, carbonated beverages, and sparkling water.
The same rule applies to chew gums. If you overdo, you’ll ingest air with subsequent belching risk.
One of the most interesting thing when it comes to belching is about a specific food, namely the onion (we refer to raw onions).
Avoiding onions is important, because of its high presence of fermentable fiber.
If we take 2 identical meals, the one without onion and the other with added onions, the people who eat the second one will present burping, reflux and heartburn more then others. And this is only due to the presence of onions, nothing else.
So, avoid onions and this will help you manage burps, a quite annoying symptom of acid reflux.
Home remedies for heartburn during pregnancy
Before considering the topic, we have to make an important premise.
Despite what you can find on the web, at this time there is not complete evidence that heartburn during pregnancy can be totally relieved by using drugs and/or prescription medications.
This is very important because it means that you have to work on lifestyle changes and eating habits as always.
The best recommendations we can provide are the following:
- Quit smoking
- Control your weight
- Wear the right clothes
- Eat six small meals per day
- Take your last big meal at least two hours before bedtime
- Don’t drink while eating
- Eat slow
- Make sure to stay upright while eating
- Avoid stress
- Drink something that does not trigger heartburn
- Eat foods that contain probiotics
- Eat low-acid fruits
You should also prepare a small “heartburn emergency kit” for rapid relief in the case of sudden symptoms.
It can be made of oatmeal, milk (almond milk if you can’t take cow milk), and/or herbal teas (consider ginger, fennel, in some cases peppermint and marshmallow root).
A controversial heartburn home remedy: milk
This topic still is quite controversial, even though many people report benefits from drinking milk for their acid reflux symptoms.
For some other people, on the other hand, the presence of some nutrients in milk, such as fats, leads the stomach to produce more acid. And this may even make the heartburn worse.
Once again, personal experience is essential. Not all people are equal, then we can expect different outcomes, even with the very same starting conditions.
In case you don’t eat milk, you can try almond milk, a great alternative.
It has a higher pH value, and it’s effective for people who suffer from protein allergies.
An interesting study reports a thing to know when it comes to possible interactions between milk and drugs.
Combinations of milk and antacid drugs seem to have higher buffering capacities than either the milk or drug alone.
We want to include in this part of the list also yogurt because it’s recognized as a good home remedy to try in case of heartburn and reflux.
It promotes a good microbiological balance and this may help a lot.
Whatever you take, it’s important not to overfill the stomach, because this could worsen heartburn.
Finally, an alternative, namely the kimchi.
It is a Korean fermented vegetable dish with several health benefits. For instance, it has a positive effect on cholesterol, and it’s also a good antioxidant.
Another interesting heartburn home remedy: baking soda
This is another great option to consider.
Baking soda contains carbonate (CO3), which helps restore the acid/alkaline balance in the digestive tract.
It’s a good option for temporary heartburn relief, and you can take 1 teaspoon of baking soda mixed in 1 cup of water, for no more than 7 doses per day.
Moreover, it’s one of the best home remedies for burning sensation in the throat as well.
Very important: please don’t forget to mix baking soda with the water (and mix it very well!), because taking it alone (raw) could lead to some issues.
Home remedy for acid reflux cough
We want to point out this specific symptom because baking soda can work well also in the case of cough caused by reflux.
In fact, as an antacid home remedy, it is one of the most effective available without the need to rely on any prescription medication.
What To Drink For Heartburn
There are so many liquids you can drink for relieving your heartburn.
The relationships between water and heartburn
Drinking a glass of still water may help to relieve heartburn.
However, there’s quite a lot of confusion, when it comes to the relationships between water and reflux.
Especially when talking about carbonated water and sparkling water.
In order to make things clear, we want to point out what follows.
Find below the composition of this type of water.
Coconut water is also very good for the purpose.
In fact, it has a high content of electrolytes and this helps the pH balance of the organism.
Chamomile tea for heartburn
We’ve considered it before, but it’s fair to spend two more words on Chamomile Tea.
It’s very good because it reduces stress levels, which can contribute to heartburn (anxiety is a factor).
You can take a cup of chamomile tea 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime.
If you want to make it on your own, the recipe is very simple.
Boil water, stir in chamomile petals and let them simmer for about 45 seconds. Strain them out and pour the tea into a mug. You can also add honey or lemon as preferred. Honey is probably best, because of its great properties that can enhance the beneficial action.Remember also that chamomile, as well as many other natural healers, can do a lot for your heartburn and reflux in the form of essential oil.
Fennel tea for heartburn
This is another good option to relieve symptoms of reflux.
Fennel is considered as one of the most useful natural healers, especially when it comes to some conditions of the digestive system.
It is an antispasmodic herb and it can also remedy indigestion after a meal. Moreover, it’s good for soothing other gastrointestinal problems, such as stomach cramping, nausea, and bloating.
You can prepare fennel tea by using seeds as follows.
Put 1/2 teaspoon of crushed fennel seed in water and allow it to boil for 10 minutes before drinking. Drink fennel tea whenever you experience indigestion-like symptoms. You could also chew fennel seed after meals if certain foods cause indigestion.A quick warning: fennel seeds have some side-effects, among them, there are nausea, vomiting and sun sensitivity.
That’s why if you’re already experiencing some of these symptoms regularly, it would be probably better for you to take other “teas” or herbal drinks.
Lemon water for heartburn
This is another option to consider with attention.
In fact, lemon water has an alkaline effect which neutralizes the acidity of stomach content. By doing so, it improves the digestion process.
You can take it as follows.
You can mix a tablespoon of lemon juice in hot or warm water, and drink this mix a few minutes before eating.Lemon water is a good source of vitamin C, even though it may present some side effects you definitely want to avoid.
They occur when you take too much lemon water, that’s why you must not exceed the recommended dose (see above).
Among these side-effects, we have tooth problems (enamel erosion). In order for you to avoid this problem, we suggest rinsing your mouth with water after drinking lemon water.
Another important side-effect to consider is the increased urination (very important for people who suffer from kidney or other urinary tract diseases).
Aloe vera for heartburn
This natural healer is one of the most used and probably one of the best for many conditions.
It can be applied to the skin, for instance, to soothe sunburns.
This because it has good action against the irritation, and this is also valid for the mucous membranes, not only for the skin.
In fact, you can take Aloe vera juice to relieve heartburn.
The likely best way of administration is to drink half a cup of juice before meals.
This will keep your stomach and esophagus soothed, for a longer benefit.
Vegetable juices for heartburn
They are important and useful, because of their alkalinity.
In other words, they act as a buffer for the acidity of gastric contents.
We’re talking about green veggies, such as carrots, radishes, cabbage, celery, or beets.
Alternatively, you could also eat them raw, in the case juicing is not an option you like.
The point is: vegetables help you keeping a lower pH, with expected benefits to your symptoms of reflux.
Slippery elm for heartburn
It has been used for a long time as a natural healer for various conditions.
In fact, it has good properties, like the following:
- its gel has the capability to coat and soothe inflamed tissues
- more than this, the same gel acts as a barrier for acidity (protective activity against the refluxate)
- it has been also noted that slippery elm can stimulate the intestines to produce mucus
That’s why it is considered as a good option for treating symptoms of reflux, including heartburn.
You can take it in various forms, such as capsules, powder, and lozenges.
Powdered bark is probably the most used. It’s good for making slippery elm tea.
If you plan to take it, the recommended usage is 1 tablespoon up to three times per day. You can mix it with tea or water, even though you must pay attention not to add too much powder to the mix. In fact, it may become too thick to ingest. If you want, you could add some honey.You can also take slippery elm in capsules form.
In these cases, the recommended dosage is about 400 to 500-milligram capsules up to 3 times per day.
However, because there is not a specific regulation on supplements yet, you should talk to your doctor if you plan to take it for a longer time and as a constant integration to relieve symptoms.
Best Home Remedy For Acid Reflux
It’s not so easy to pick the likely “best” home remedy when it comes to reflux and heartburn, because of the individual variability and, above all, the difference in symptoms.
However, we can select at least four comprehensive strategies that can really help.
The Proven Holistic 5-Step System
This is one of the best strategies to implement when it comes to heartburn and acid reflux. Its strength point is the holistic approach, which means that you’re not targeting the reflux only, but you’re going to care about all related aspects that may affect your organism.
Very important indeed.
The “commercial name” is Heartburn No More, you’ve probably already heard of that.
It’s really good, just because of this holistic approach.
In addition, it’s pretty clear and straight-forward. In fact, it gives you 5 steps to take in order for your heartburn to disappear.
And always because of this holistic approach, you’ll take care of many other digestive issues, at the same time.
The Three Everyday Ingredients
This is another good option to get rid of acid reflux ad subsequent heartburn. This strategy focuses the attention on some widely underestimated aspects, which however play a very important role in acid reflux. Only to make an example, the food combinations in your meals that are much more important than avoiding certain types of foods.
Or, another example, the vicious circle between stress and heartburn (you have heartburn, and you think you have stress, and so forth). All important things to know and control.
The “commercial name” is The Acid Reflux Strategy, and we want you to pay the greatest attention to this word: strategy.
It’ not a matter of some “tricks”, or eating the right foods only. It’s more like learning the deep reasons for your disease and act accordingly.
As you already know well, personal experience does matter a lot.
The Double Protocol for Reflux
This is the third option we suggest to consider with care. It’s quite unique because it targets two very frequent conditions at the same time: acid reflux and infection by H. pylori. In other words, this strategy covers two of the most common digestive disorders and helps you relieving not just symptoms, but the deepest causes of both of them.
A very special approach which deserves the greatest attention for sure.
The “commercial name” is Rapid Reflux Relief, and it looks like a program to follow.
Don’t expect a meal plan or a simple list of foods to avoid, this is not the case.
This strategy is more like training (for just a few days) to win your battle against heartburn and reflux.
The Reflux Remedy Kit
This is the final option we suggest to consider. It’s a very good integration for all the above-listed strategies and programs. In this book + kit combo, you’re going to find some little known, but highly effective natural home-made remedies to try in a very short time.
In addition, you can also find many remedies that work even if they are not officially considered as such.
The “commercial name” is Heartburn and Acid Reflux Remedy Report, and it looks like a series of tips, suggestions, and recipes you can try.
We really suggest considering it as integration, and also because of its amazing 365-day money-back guarantee.
This strategy is a more than good opportunity to add to your pipeline when dealing with heartburn and acid reflux.
We suggest the above four options because of our expertise and studies.
Feel free to come back on this page from time to time, because we ‘re going to update it with new effective possibilities and strategies.
Conclusions
There are some well known, as well as almost unknown, home remedies for heartburn.
We try to summarize the best options in the box below.
#2) When you sleep, you want to lie down on the left side.
#3) Elevate your bed with a wedge by about four to six inches.
#4) Deep breathing exercises (also called belly breathing) help in the case of belching and other symptoms of reflux.
#5) Avoid spicy and fatty foods, acidic foods, fried foods, and alcohol.
#6) According to some scientists, coffee and chocolate are not so “bad” when it comes to triggering reflux and its symptoms.
#7) Mint, and peppermint, or spearmint, can worsen reflux symptoms (but there’s a study that explains the opposite, instead).
#8) Avoid acidic juices, like citrus, orange and grapefruit juices.
#9) The Mediterranean diet can help to reduce symptoms of laryngopharyngeal reflux.
#10) Low-carb diet can also be helpful, even though there are still a few proofs to confirm this assumption.
#11) Small meals and losing weight can help a lot in reducing reflux.
#12) Avoid eating within 3 hours before sleep.
#13) If you chew well, your stomach will do less work, with a lower risk of reflux and subsequent heartburn.
#14) Quit smoking ASAP.
#15) Broccoli, kale, radish, cucumber, lemon juice, cold milk, and curd are very good antacids to try.
#16) A very little known antacid herb is Laportea aestuans.
#17) Raw spinach juice is also a very good natural antacid.
#18) Rikkunshito helps a lot of medications in becoming more effective and reduces significantly the risk of side-effects.
#19) According to some findings, Iberogast could be one of the best naturally-made solutions for GERD available now.
#20) Liquid calcium is good, even in the case of acute symptoms.
#21) The extract of licorice root is considered a good help in the case of reflux.
#22) Herbal drinks or “teas” to consider: turmeric tea, or ginger turmeric tea (very good and easy to prepare), as well as marshmallow tea, or slippery elm tea.
#23) Ginger is one of the best natural remedies to rely on when dealing with heartburn and acid reflux.
#24) There are some herbs, like fennel, dill, anise, or caraway seeds, you can chew for getting rid of heartburn.
#25) Artichoke can help in the case of nausea, bloating, and abdominal pain.
#26) Bananas are a true home remedy for heartburn, one of the best for sure.
#27) Along with bananas, other low-acid fruits like melons, apples (especially if taken a few hours before bedtime), honeydew, and cantaloupe.
#28) Papaya tea is considered as a good remedy, as well as eating it fresh.
#29) Many people prefer to take raw potato juice three times per day.
#30) Using chewing gums is a way to produce more saliva, and this is good because it contains bicarbonate, which neutralizes the acid.
#31) Apple Cider Vinegar is one of the best solutions to try.
#32) Mustard is good because it’s full of minerals and contains vinegar.
#33) Avoiding onions is important, because of its high presence of fermentable fiber.
#34) Milk can be very good for some people, while others may experience a worsening of symptoms.
#35) Almond milk is generally better for everyone (just like eating almonds).
#36) Yogurt is also very good.
#37) Kimchi is a great addition to the diet.
#38) Baking soda is a good option for temporary heartburn relief.
#39) A glass of still water is a simple, yet effective solution to everyday heartburn.
#40) Sparkling water by itself does not cause heartburn, however, it may get symptoms worse.
#41) Hydrogen carbonate-rich water shows good effectiveness in the alleviation of heartburn symptoms.
#42) Alkaline water is beneficial, and may even have therapeutic benefits for patients with reflux.
#43) Coconut water is good for heartburn as well.
#44) Chamomile tea is very good because it reduces stress levels, which can contribute to heartburn (anxiety is a factor).
#45) Fennel is considered as one of the most useful natural healers; drinking it as a tea (with seeds) is a great way to fight heartburn.
#46) Lemon water has an alkaline effect which neutralizes the acidity of stomach content, that’s why it’s a good remedy for heartburn.
#47) You can take Aloe vera juice to relieve heartburn, because it will keep your stomach and esophagus soothed, for a longer benefit.
#48) Vegetable juices are important and useful, because of their alkalinity; talking about green veggies, such as carrots, radishes, cabbage, celery, or beets (you also can eat them raw).
#49) Slippery elm is considered as a good option for treating symptoms of reflux, including heartburn.
And now, 3 special strategies to consider:
#50) You can try the proven holistic 5-step system to get rid of reflux in little time
#51) You can try the three everyday ingredients that will help you act on the deeper causes of your heartburn.
#52) You can try the double protocol for reflux that’s able to act on several digestive conditions at once.
Despite the long list of home remedies you can use, the topic is still evolving.
Come back on this page in a future for updates and new insights.
What To Do Next
No more words are needed.
Just check the strategies we recommended before, under the paragraph “best home remedies for acid reflux”.
You can also deepen more about the most important and the least known manifestations of reflux.
In addition, we suggest you to better investigate the reasons why this disease can affect you.
And start today, because your heartburn has to stop.
As soon as possible.
Thank you for your read!
Great website. Lots of useful info here. I am sending it to a few friends ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks for your effort!
As someone says… sharing is caring!
Thanks! A lot!
Whoa! This blog looks exactly like my old one!
It’s on a different subject because I was writing on fitness for women, but it has pretty much the same info for what concers digestive health.
Do you mind posting more about exercise and reflux?
Good job!!!
Yes, Hollis,
my plan is exactly to do that.
I’d like to do more, to be honest.
My plan is to create a short video series about the best exercises for reflux, with the help of some skilled personal trainer.
Keep following the blog for more info!