Baking Soda Recipe For Heartburn Sufferers

Baking soda is one of the most popular household products used nationwide to clean, scrub, polish, wash, cook, bake, deodorize, and yes, even use to neutralize the unpleasant burning sensation of heartburn.

Just open the fridge of about any American citizen living in the United States, and you will probably discover, discreetly hidden behind the groceries, the well-known orange box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda.

This product increasing popularity for multiple uses goes way beyond eliminating fridge orders.

Nowhere on this planet will you find a cheaper price for a product that will effectively whiten your teeth.

If you want whiter teeth just sprinkle the powder on top of your tooth paste and brush.

You will immediately experience a feeling of cleanliness in your mouth and within a few days of repeating this process you will notice your teeth getting whiter. Please note that, Arm & Hammer sells a formulated whitening toothpaste. But for myself, I have found it more effective at whitening my teeth by sprinkling the powder on top of my favorite tooth paste when brushing.

It' s also a great product to use when heartburn occurs.

I remember after eating breakfast in a restaurant, I started to get heartburn. Feeling uncomfortable, I immediately walked towards the front counter asking the waitress if they had something to soothe the pain of heartburn.

The cook kitchen who overheard the conversation, concocted a drink and told me to drink it slowly. After only a few minutes, my heartburn disappeared.

When asking him for the recipe, he told me that he simply mixed 1/2 tablespoon of baking soda in a glass of water and added carrot juice to enhance the flavour.

Since that episode, I experimented with several different mixtures. I have notice better results when combining the Baking soda recipe for heartburn with natural vegetable juice like carrot, broccoli, celery or spinach instead of mixing it with fruit juices like orange, banana, strawberry and apples.

I prefer using this product instead of antacid tablets because it' s far less diluted with chemical preservatives. Baking soda is a natural heartburn home remedy that effectively encounters the pain caused by acid reflux.

When talking to my doctor about the effectiveness of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda for my heartburn, he mentioned that it' s not recommended for people with high blood pressure because it contains too much sodium to be taken regularly. WARNING: if you have high blood pressure or any medical condition, do not use baking soda for heartburn before consulting with your doctor.

By Mike St-John

Causes, Symptoms and Natural Remedies For Gastritis

Gastritis is a disease characterized by irritation and inflammation of mucosa or stomach lining. Our stomach lining secretes certain enzymes, acids that aid digestion. It also secretes mucus that saves the stomach lining from the corrosive action of acid. Inflammation of stomach lining or gastritis lowers the production of digestive enzymes and acids jeopardizing the process of digestion. Acute gastritis is caused due to sudden and severe inflammation of the stomach lining. If gastritis continues for a prolonged period, it becomes chronic in nature. Erosive gastritis is a type that results in loss of stomach lining due to erosion or wearing out. Erosive gastritis may be acute or chronic, and may result in severe ulcer formation. Erosive gastritis caused due to some surgery, illness or injury is also known as stress gastritis.

Causes of Gastritis

1. Helicobacter pylori infection
2. Other bacterial, fungal, parasitic or viral infection.
3. Prolonged intake of non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
4. Excessive alcohol intake
5. Swallowing corrosives
6. Swallowing foreign bodies
7. Chemotherapy
8. Endoscopies
9. Potassium supplements and iron tablets.
10. Traumatic injuries
11. Severe burns
12. Critical illness
13. Surgery
14. Heavy meals
15. Autoimmune disorder invading healthy cells of stomach lining.
16. Diseases like Crohn's disease, pernicious anemia.

Symptoms of Gastritis

1. Upper abdominal pain or dyspepsia
2. Nausea
3. Vomiting
4. Belching
5. Acid reflux
6. Bloating
7. Indigestion
8. Loss of appetite
9. Bad breath
10. Feeling of fullness in upper abdomen
11. Concentrated burning sensation in upper abdomen
12. Passing of blood in stool
13. Blood vomiting
14. Passing black, tarry stool.

Natural Remedies for Gastritis

1. Consuming two plantains early morning and then drinking a glass of milk after 30 minutes should be practiced every day to get rid of gastritis.

2. A glass of orange juice with some roasted cumin seeds and a pinch of rock salt added in to it is a quick natural relief from gastritis.

3. Lightly chewing and sucking two pieces of clove can give relief from gastritis

4. Drinking a glass of milk every night before going to bed helps one to deal effectively with gastritis.

5. Four crushed cloves of garlic may be consumed every morning in empty stomach. This is an effective gastritis remedy.

6. If one takes a heavy meal, to eliminate the possibility of gastritis, one may take a glass of water mixed with 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar and one teaspoon honey.

7. Sucking a piece of jaggery after meals is a cure for gastritis.

8. Fennel seeds may be boiled in water, strained and sweetened with honey and then drunk frequently to tackle gastritis.

9. Two teaspoon of white vinegar may be taken after every meal to control gastritis.

10. Drinking ginger tea or spearmint tea frequently is a good natural remedy for gastritis.

11. Drinking a glass of water by adding powdered, roasted cumin seeds in to it is a gastritis cure.

12. Coconut water should be drunk frequently to check gastritis.

13. Cabbage based diet is good for gastritis patients. It ensures passing of clear motion and expulsion of gas from body.

14. Taking two or three big gulps of curd mixed rice can minimize gastritis symptoms.

15. Avoid heavy meals, take fiber rich diet, food rich in flavonoids and antioxidants should be consumed.

16. Refined food items are to be avoided and healthy cooking oil like olive oil should be used while cooking.

By Dr Andrew Napier

Suffering From Bad Smelling Gas? It Could Be Lactose Intolerance

Have you ever noticed that milk has an inherently mild sweet taste? If you never had plain milk, you may not have noticed. Try plain milk and observe the taste.

This is because milk has a type of sugar called lactose. Lactose is one of the many types of sugars or simple carbohydrates that are found in different food sources.

Lactose cannot be absorbed during digestion as it is. It needs to be broken down The human small intestine produces an enzyme called lactase. The function of lactase is to break down lactose into glucose and galactose. Both of which are simple sugars, which can be easily absorbed through the small intestinal wall.

About 10% of the population do not produce enough lactase to properly digest a glass of milk.

When you don't have enough lactase, residual lactose makes its way to the large intestine. There unfriendly bacteria feed on lactose and produce lots of gas. This could easily turn into foul-smelling gas.

Along with gas, it will also produce bloating, stomach discomfort and other symptoms. Many times it can cause diarrhea also, because the large intestine reacts to the large amount of lactose with releasing lots of water.

The symptoms usually appear anywhere between 1 to 4 hours after consuming the milk or dairy products. It takes about that much time for the bacterial fermentation or the colon reaction to start.

Lactose is present in milk and any product that is derived from milk. Lactose is present in milk, yogurt, cheese, kefir, sour milk, buttermilk, butter, whey, curd, milk solids, dried milk and anything else made using milk. The amount of lactose will vary. Hardened cheese has less lactose, butter has less lactose and milk has the highest.

Many people are tempted to self-diagnose lactose intolerance. It is recommended that you see a medical professional to confirm the diagnosis. Typically you will be administered a certain breath test. Diagnosis is done using the breath test results in conjunction with the observable symptoms with the dairy products.

Lets say that you are suffering from foul-smelling flatulence and you found that you have lactose intolerance. What do you do now? Do you give up dairy completely? You have a few choices.

There is a debate raging in the scientific community about whether we should be consuming any dairy at all. Some people believe that although human milk is essential for infants, we should not consume cow's milk. They believe cow's milk is for calf and not for humans.

This article is not the place to settle this debate. I will make some concrete recommendations for you.

If you have consumed dairy for calcium, you don't need to. We don't need dairy products for our calcium requirements. It is possible that consuming dairy products can make you lose more calcium.

Best source of calcium is leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale, collard greens and okra. It is best to limit just the milk or cheese for special occasions. It may be helpful to consume dairy products with live cultures, like yogurt, kefir and buttermilk more often.

You should check with your parents and grandparents. Find out in your culture or family history how dairy was used in the past. There are some ethnic groups who use dairy more than others and have done for ages. They probably have good genetic buildup to support dairy use. In general dairy is not for everyone.

As indicated above, you have an option to give up dairy. If you decide to give up dairy, make sure you get enough vitamin D from other sources. Dairy products are fortified with vitamin D and are a big source. But you don't have to worry about calcium and never need to take calcium supplements.

Another option is to go for lactose free dairy products. The recommendation is to use it sparingly.

You can also try a lactase supplement that you can use right before consuming dairy.

Do not use dairy products by itself. Rather consume dairy products along with the meal or other food that have some fat and protein. The idea is that if you drink milk by itself, you overwhelm the areas in the small intestine responsible for lactose breakdown.

But if you consume milk with other foods that have protein and fat, you slow down the digestion process and the small intestine has to deal with a gradual load of lactose rather than a sudden dump.

Lactose intolerance usually means you don't produce enough lactase for lactose processing. You still produce lactase. Lactase production never completely stops in anyone. This means you can tolerate small amounts of dairy. One has to experiment, but usually less than 4 Oz is okay without any discomforting symptoms.

In summary if you are suffering from frequent foul-smelling gas, it is likely that you may be lactose intolerant. You should rule out this possibility. If you happen to have this intolerance, I have provided with you few options to deal with the condition.

By Rimas Sony

Home Remedies For Gas in Stomach

Build up of gas is a common problem for everyone. Gas in the GI tract consists of mainly oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.  When stomach acids mix with pancreatic juices and the bile, carbon dioxide is produced.

Causes

Gas usually occurs due to fibrous foods, malt extracts, consuming food and water which is contaminated. Other causes include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and gastroenteritis.

The most important home remedy for gas is garlic soup. Garlic soup not only reduces intestinal gas but also helps to increase digestion. Grind together little garlic with little cumin, black pepper and coriander seeds. Add water, boil and take in two divided doses.

Chooran powders and pills, which are various combinations of common spices improves digestion after having fried foods.

Small pieces of asafetida dissolved in water (half cup) helps to overcome gas trouble. Asafetida is considered as a good carminative and antiflatulent. To one teaspoonful of roasted cumin, add two cups of water and boil for 5-10 minutes till the water quantity reduces to 1 cup. This preparation may be taken once a day to decrease flatulence.

Herbal Home remedy: Decoction of Ajwain ( Carom Seeds ), an anti-flatulent herb, may be prepared like cumin decoction. Soak pineapple pieces in the decoction overnight. Squeeze pineapple pieces next day morning in order to extract its essence in to the decoction. After filtering, the decoction may be taken to decrease overproduction of gas. But pregnant women should avoid pineapple as it is a strong abortifacient.

Take a mixture of crushed fenugreek seeds and sonchal, a pink colored rock salt which is naturally occurring.

By Ben Branklin