Heartburn. Acid reflux. Whatever you wish to call it. It's really not nice. So what I'd like to make you aware of is how you can help relieve the symptoms at home*, with something you probably already have in your fridge or pantry. You may already be aware of this tip, and if you are... fantastic! But for those of you who aren't. I'd like to tell you about the experience that Ben and I have had with this ingredient. Let's go!
So what is it that you can find in your own house that can naturally help heartburn? Lemons! Now these citrus fruits have a number of potential benefits, being rich in Vitamin C n' all. But the one I want to focus on today is how it's helped my husband and I with our heartburn issues. Hopefully our experience can help you out too!
I really have my now sister in law to thank for this really. When Ben and I were still going out, she was kind enough to order a introductory kit of doTerra essential oils for me (upon request from Ben) in the hope that they would help me with some of my chronic fatigue symptoms (more on that another time). One of the oils in this pack was the lemon essential oil. Now I can't remember exactly how we found this out, it was either through talking to her, or our own research online. But we read that lemon can help alleviate some symptoms of heartburn. So I started to add one drop of the essential oil to a large glass of water once or twice a day, and the burning in my throat was soothed. Repeating that every day has helped ease the burning and for the most part keeps it away altogether! Unless we have a rare day when we eat more unhealthy food that is. But with the balanced diet we usually try and keep, this has really helped us.
Something I should say is that essential oils are very concentrated, and the internal consumption of them should be used with care. If you'd rather not use essential oil then hopefully this next part of our experience will be of use to you.
After the lemon essential oil had run out (sad face), I wondered what I would do from then on. At the time I was still living in England and doTerra products are not available in the UK. I wasn't about to buy a different brand as I hardly knew anything about the use of essential oils, or if other brands would be alright to take internally. So I came to the conclusion that as lemon essential oil is cold pressed lemon rind, why not use the actual fruit instead? So my friends, what I do on a daily basis now is always have a glass of water handy with a (chunky) slice of lemon in. If you can't do this every time you have a glass of water, just do it once a day in the morning or another time of day when you're home. Or better yet, if you're out and about and the top of your water bottle is wide enough, stick a slice of lemon in there to infuse. If the bottle is not wide enough to cope with a nice juicy slice, then pour some squeezed lemon juice in there. Either way it's a refreshing drink when you're on the go! During colder months (if you get them that is, we don't here in Georgia), it's a really tasty and warming alternative to pour freshly boiled water onto a slice of lemon. If you add a small slice of fresh ginger too, that'll really warm the cockles of your heart!
If you end up trying this yourself, or have a natural remedy which you find helps you with heartburn, let me know in the comments section below!
Until next time, take care folks!
Kathryn.
*Note: This page just contains a quick tip on how you can help manage heartburn naturally at home based on our experience, without the use of heartburn products you can buy in a shop. If your heartburn symptoms are severe, you've had them for a while, or you're just concerned about it, go and visit your doctor. I do not claim this to be any kind of cure.