How to treat heartburn and GERD? You can use remedies, such as peppermint, chamomile, lemon, licorice and traditional Chinese medicine.
Heartburn is not related to heart, but just a burning sensation in the chest. Heartburn is also known as pyrosis or acid indigestion. It is usually associated with gastric reflux which is the major symptom of GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).
Heartburn can be caused by several conditions. The chest pain caused by GERD has a distinct burning sensation after eating or at night, or in pregnancy. And it may also be triggered by consuming large quantities of foods, or spicy foods, or high acid foods or drinks.
According the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), heartburn is a symptom of stomach fire, which may be due to the excessive heat of stomach itself, or caused by the invasion of liver fire. TCM has different treatments for heartburn:
1. Using cooling herbs to reduce the heat in the stomach, such as Bai Hu Tang (白虎汤).
2. Using moisturizing herbs to relieve the fluid-deficiency of the stomach, such as Mai Men Dong Tang (麦门冬汤).
3. Using herbs to reduce liver fire, such as Zuo Jin Wan (左金丸).
4. Using herbs that has downwarding properties to guide the uprising Qi down out of the stomach, such as Da Huang Gan Cao Tang (大黄甘草汤).
When using home remedies to treat heartburn, we can also consider the above four approaches.
1. Cooling. Peppermint is a cooling herb. Drinking peppermint tea or eating peppermint candy can reduce the heat in the stomach.
2. Moisturizing. Rock sugar, white sugar, honey, pear, strawberry, watermelon, and licorice can be used to increase the fluids in the stomach and relieve fluid deficiency.
3. Cleansing. Chamomile has cooling and cleansing properties and targets liver, can be used to cleanse liver heat. Papaya, dang gui (dong quai), berberine, can be used to treat liver fire as well.
4. Downwarding. Lemon, orange, cumin, ginger and rhubarb have downwarding properties and can guide the uprising Qi down out of the stomach, and relieve the symptoms of full stomach and gastric reflux. But lemon, orange, cumin and ginger have drying properties. Using them for long time can cause fluid-deficiency of the stomach. Especially ginger, which is a hot spice. If your heartburn is caused by liver fire, ginger and cumin should be avoided. Lemon, orange can redirect the uprising qi drived by liver fire down out of the stomach, but using them for long time without combined with moisturizing herbs can cause fluid-deficiency of the liver and eventually increase liver fire.
Please note, due to the different causes, a remedy of the above may be effective in treating someones’ problems, but may not be effective to others. You should check with a doctor to find out the real cause.
For more information about natural remedies for stomach disease, go to Natural Remedies Center: http://www.naturalremediescenter.com/treat/stomach-disease/
