What home remedies are available for heartburn?
A self-treatment of heartburn (reflux) with home remedies is only recommended if the symptoms are mild and do not occur regularly, otherwise it must be assumed that heartburn is caused by an organic disorder that must be treated appropriately by a physician. As a guideline, if the symptoms persist for more than two days, one should consult a doctor. First of all, one should ask oneself whether one eats a lot of sweet or fatty foods, eats foods that are too hot or too cold, drinks a lot of alcohol, takes too much at once, eats something just before going to bed, is overweight and/or smokes.
If you have to answer “yes” to one or even more of these questions, the treatment of heartburn should begin by eliminating the corresponding risk factor. In addition, there are various home remedies that can be used very effectively to treat heartburn. These include above all plant extracts.
However one should not take these also not carelessly and keep in each case to the dosages of the package insert. Chamomile and ginger have proven to be very helpful and will be discussed in more detail in the following sections of the text as remedies for heartburn. Caraway can also be taken in as a tea or as a spice on food.
Linseed, on the other hand, is ground and then mixed with water to form a pulp. Linseed contains many mucilage substances that practically form a protective layer in the stomach and are thus able to alleviate the typical symptoms. Other substances containing mucilage include mallow blossom and marshmallow root, which can therefore be used in the same way as linseed. Other substances that are used are also the healing earth and a mixture of bases containing sodium, potassium and calcium.
Tea
For mild heartburn, various teas can provide relief. On the one hand, special gastrointestinal teas have proven their worth. On the other hand, teas with contents such as chamomile, fennel, aniseed or caraway can calm the stomach and alleviate the symptoms of heartburn.
Camomile tea in particular has a calming effect on the stomach and esophageal mucosa. The tea has an anti-inflammatory effect and can calm the mucous membrane damaged by stomach acid. In addition, chamomile tea contains so-called mucilage, which lies protectively on the mucous membranes of the stomach and oesophagus and thus protects them from further attacks of the acid.
Another ingredient of the camomile flowers is the so-called bisabolol. Bisabolol has an inhibiting effect on the digestive hormone pepsin, which increases the production of stomach acid. As a result, less acid is produced in the stomach.
Caraway, fennel and aniseed have more of an antiflatulent effect and thus reduce the pressure on the stomach and esophagus. As a result, less acid is pushed from the stomach into the esophagus. In addition, these three teas increase digestive activity and bring food from the stomach into the intestinal tract more quickly. This also means that the stomach is less bloated and reflux is reduced.
