Heartburn

Heartburn develops when the muscular opening from the esophagus into the stomach doesn’t work properly. This set of muscles–the lower esophageal sphincter (LES)–opens to allow food into the stomach but then closes to keep stomach acids from washing up into the esophagus. In heartburn, the LES doesn’t close completely, and the burning feeling in the chest is actually acid burning the esophagus.

Heartburn is very common. An estimated 30 percent of adults experience it at least once a month. Diet and lifestyle often contribute to it. Heartburn is more likely to develop when you eat hurriedly, on the run, standing up or wolfing down your food without chewing it thoroughly. Fried foods, saturated fats, sugar, alcohol,  cigarettes and coffee have all been associated with heartburn.

To help prevent it, try to have meals and snacks when you’re relaxed instead of on the go. It also helps to have a diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grains and avoid fried foods.

Angelica (Angelica archangelica) and relatives. Aromatherapists wisely suggest oil of angelica as useful for heartburn in adults and colic and gas in children. Angelica is a member of the carrot family, and many members of that plant family seem to have a soothing action on the digestive tract, a quality that herbalists call carminative.

Camomile (Matricaria recutita). Joe and Terry Graedon, co-authors of The People’s Pharmacy and Graedon’s Best Medicine, share my opinion that camomile is the first-choice herb for heartburn and stomach distress.

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra). I agree with Michael Murray, N.D., co-author of Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine and several other scholarly books on nutritional and naturopathic healing, that deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) successfully treats both heartburn and ulcers of the stomach and esophagus.

Many studies show that licorice is an antispasmodic and that it reduces production of stomach acid, thereby decreasing heartburn.

Peppermint (Mentha piperita). A while back, my daughter spent a vacation week with us, and we celebrated by grilling up big slabs of spareribs, which gave me heartburn. So I headed out to the garden and grabbed two handfuls of peppermint and one each of spearmint, lemon balm (also known as melissa) and bee balm, along with some basil, sage and oregano, and brewed up a tasty tea that helped. I know you might prefer a more specific recipe–one teaspoon of this, two teaspoons of that–but I never measure herbs that are generally regarded as safe.

Traditional cultures from ancient Egyptians to present-day Icelanders use peppermint for all sorts of digestive problems, including heartburn. A few esteemed herbalists, however, contend that peppermint can aggravate heartburn. If that happens to you, don’t use this herb, but personally, I doubt that you’ll have problems. Many, if not most, mints have the ability to ease digestion, with peppermint and spearmint.

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) and cinnamon (Cinnamomum, various species). Both of these herbs help eliminate gas. When Mrs. Duke suffers occasional heartburn or acid indigestion, one thing she does with my blessing is sprinkle one or the other of these two powdered herbs on her toast. (We rarely have cardamom around the house, though; it’s too expensive.)

Dill (Anethum graveolens). Dill has been used to soothe the digestive tract and treat heartburn for thousands of years. If I had heartburn, I’d try crushing a few teaspoons of seeds and making a tea with it. (If you are pregnant, using dill in medicinal amounts could cause problems. You should reserve it for occasional, moderate use.)

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). Fennel has been used as long as dill, and for the same reasons.

Gentian (Gentiana officinalis).  Gentian has a long history as a digestive herb.

papaya (Carica papaya) and pineapple (Ananas comosus). These fruits are loaded with digestive enzymes and have been widely used to relieve heartburn and indigestion. papaya with a little honey may even prevent it if eaten before a meal or between courses. Some nutritionists suggest that kiwifruit might help as well.

mention antiacids but also the difficulty to maintain acid low all day long