Astrid/ March 21, 2019/ Natural Remedies/ 2 comments

If you’ve dealt with acid reflux and indigestion (or think you have) severe digestion issues, you may be interested in any of these three natural remedies to help restore your gastrointestinal and overall health.
Gastrointestinal distress can be caused by a myriad of circumstances including poor diet, stress, chronic use of antibiotics, medications, drugs, alcohol, and even parasites among others.

Natural remedies and other protocols have been proven to not only provide relief but often times reverse the conditions altogether. Studies like this one and this one have proven that Complementary and alternative medicines are effective in treating irritable bowel syndrome. Also, in treating many
Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders.

Symptoms and GI conditions

• Acid reflux
• Ulcers
• Lack of or excessive acid
• Severe indigestion
• SIBO
• Leaky Gut
• Parasites
• Candida among others.

Oftentimes, many of these conditions are the result of an imbalance in the microbiome, poor diet and some of the removed circumstances. For example, the risk factor for intestinal parasites includes eating raw fish, meat or other proteins, living in or visiting an area known to have parasites, poor sanitation, poor hygiene, exposure to child and institutional care centers, and having a weakened immune system. Acid reflux can be the end result of years of poor eating habits (including eating right before bed or eating too fast) and when eating processed foods daily.

1. Cranberry-Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) Metabolism Booster 

This natural remedy was originally shared by doctor Eric Berg in his youtube video below–” The REAL Reason Apple Cider Vinegar Works for Losing Weight”. It combines the amazing benefits ACV and lemon plus no sugar-added cranberry juice– you are going to love it. Here’s why:

Why is this Combination Powerful?

According to Dr. Berg most bodies are way too alkaline– yep, you read that right. It turns out that every part of our body has a different PH (urine, saliva. The real indicator of body’s PH is in our blood, but keep in mind that the PH oxidises and changes as soon as you take the blood out of the body.
The key here is to go by symptoms– excess acid vs low acid levels. excess acid symptoms:

Low stomach acid

• Bloating, belching, burning sensation, wind after meals.
• Feeling particularly full after eating.
• Indigestion/heartburn/acid reflux.
• Bloating.
• Burning sensation 30-40 mins after eating.
• Diarrhea/constipation.
• Food allergies/intolerances.
• Nausea.

Excess Stomach Acid

• Bloating
• stomach discomfort
• Bloody or black stools or bloody vomiting.
• Burping.
• Dysphagia — a narrowing of your esophagus, which creates the sensation of food being stuck in your throat.
• Hiccups that don’t let up.
• Nausea.
• Weight loss for no known reason.

Taking just 5 or 10 minutes to enjoy this elixir will boost your metabolism, get your GI tract ready for the day, get rid of acid reflux, assist in bowel movement, and most add some of the good acids our digestive system yearns for and needs.

You can make 5 mason jars of this fabulous natural digestion booster ahead on Sundays if you are super busy. However, if you can spear 5 minutes out of your time every morning make it fresh for the day (3 servings)– after all, it has lemon and vinegar in it, and vinegar will only get stronger.

If you’ve dealt with acid reflux, indigestion (or think you have) severe digestion issues, you may be interested in any of these three natural remedies to help restore your gastrointestinal and overall health.

Gastrointestinal distress can be caused by a myriad of circumstances including poor diet, stress, chronic use of antibiotics, medications, drugs, alcohol and even parasites.

Symptoms and GI conditions

• Acid reflux
• Ulcers
• Lack of or excessive acid
• Severe indigestion
• SIBO
• Leaky Gut
• Parasites
• Candida among others.

In many cases, many of these conditions have been caused by an imbalance of friendly bacteria, poor diet or some of the aforementioned circumstances. For example, the risk factor for intestinal parasites includes living in or visiting an area known to have parasites, poor sanitation, poor hygiene, exposure to child and institutional care centers, and having a weakened immune system.

Acid reflux can be the end result of years of poor eating habits (including eating right before bed or eating too fast) and most importantly eating processed foods daily.

Recipe
(Servings 1)

• 10 Oz of filtered water (I use this filter)
• 1/2 lemon juice or try Italian Volcano lemon (Dr. Ber’s recommendation)
• 2 tbsp of no sugar added cranberry juice
• 1 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients into water. Enjoy!

Note: Remember to always use a straw when drinking ACV or acidic drinks to protect enamel. I use a glass or metal straw.

Natural remedies and other protocols have been proven to not only provide relief but often times reverse the conditions altogether. Studies like this one and this one have proven that Complementary and alternative medicines are effective in treating irritable bowel syndrome. Also, in treating many Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
Here are three of my top natural remedies for your to try!

2. Ginger-Aloe Vera Shots

Ginger has been well-known for alleviating symptoms of gastrointestinal distress, and aloe vera has been deemed the food of the gods by South American indigenous tribes.
In herbal medicine, ginger is highly regarded as an excellent carminative (a substance which promotes the elimination of intestinal gas) and intestinal spasmolytic (a substance which relaxes and soothes the intestinal tract). [2]

Recent research has revealed that ginger possesses several therapeutic properties including antioxidant effects, an ability to inhibit the formation of inflammatory compounds, and direct anti-inflammatory effects.

Health Benefits Of Ginger

Ginger is a versatile healing spice that we should all include into your diet . Plus, it has excellent health benefits including :

• Gastrointestinal relief
• Relief of Nausea and Vomiting During Pregnancy
• Anti-inflammatory effects
• Protection against Colorectal Cancer
• Ginger Induces Cell Death in Ovarian Cancer Cells
• Immune Boosting Action [2]

Recipe
(Servings 5 Shots)

• 1 large piece of ginger (5-6 inches or more)
• Aloe vera plant leaf crystals (1 leaf)
• Water (optional to dilute shots)

Instructions:
Use a vegetable peeler or knife to carefully peel away the green portion of the leaves. Be sure to cut through the inner white layer to the gel underneath. Peel off all of the skin on one side of each leaf.

if you have large leaves, it may be helpful to cut them into smaller pieces before peeling. Discard the skin as you go so it won’t get mixed in with your gel{the green part is bitter}.

Scoop the gel out with a spoon or knife. The clear, soft gel is easily scoopable. Scoop it all out into a clean bowl until there’s nothing left in the leaf half. (You may rub the leftover gel from that leaf on your face for an instant glow facial 😉
Finally, add ginger and aloe crystals to a blender or nutribullet and blend until you get a paste.
Strain using a clean stalking or fine mesh stainless steel strainer.

Store in a glass jar in the fridge, and consume a shot or two every morning. Or if you’d like you can add a shot to a glass of water and enjoy it like that.

3. Fennel, Licorice Root Tea

The combination of this fantastic tisane will keep your digestion and GI tract running smoothly.
Fennel is an excellent source of vitamin C. It is also very good of dietary fiber, potassium, molybdenum, manganese, copper, phosphorus and folate. In addition, fennel is a good source of calcium, pantothenic acid, magnesium, iron, and niacin. [3]

Menopausal Symptoms

Only one study by Shirazi et al. assessed the effectiveness of fennel combined with Officinalis (Melissa) in treatment of sleep disorder.
Two studies investigated fennel effect on atrophy vaginal. One study evaluated oral fennel effect on atrophy vaginal.  Three studies investigated the effect of fennel on sexual function and sexual satisfaction.

Based on the findings via trials on three different databases, researchers determined in 2017 that fennel is important in the relieving of vasomotor symptoms, vaginal itching, dryness, dyspareunia, sexual function, sexual satisfaction, and sleep distribution. [4]

Both placebo and treatment groups revealed significant improvements in the hot flush score, night sweats, symptoms of anxiety, feeling depressed, and impatience with other people.

Natural Sleep Aid

The treatment of 12 weeks with fennel caused a slight effect that did not reach to significant. These findings should be considered cautiously because of small sample size, short-term follow-up and subjective measure of sleep quality.

When Fennel was combined with officinalis it is more effective in the attenuating of sleep disorders compared to Citalopram. [ 6]

Recipe
(Servings 3-4)

• 1 cup of fennel
• 1/4 o a cup licorice root tea (1 leaf)
• 24 oz of filtered Water (I use this filter)

Instructions:
Boil water, then add fennel and licorice tea. Steep for about 5-7 minutes. You may use an infuser kit for the licorice tea. Also, I like to use a fine mesh stainless steel strainer.
Let tea cool off and put in the fridge. Drink throughout the day or with meals.

Your Turn. Have you tried any of these natural remedies? What’s your favorite. Share in the comments below.

Sources
https://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=72 [2]
https://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=23 [3]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5949311/ [4]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6085528/ [5]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6336564/ [6]