At Home Remedies For Acidity

At some point in time, we must have felt a burning sensation beneath our chest with slight heartburn. This is generally called among us Indian Acidity and is mostly, triggered by spicy food. This common problem is often experienced when extra gastric juice is secreted and pumped up in the esophagus which is the main cause of heartburn. 

Symptoms of Acidity Are

●      Pain and burning sensation in the chest, stomach, or throat

●      Flatulence or Gas

●      Indigestion

●      Bad Breath

●      Constipation

●      Nausea or feeling of vomiting

●      Heaviness in the stomach after eating

●      Frequent burps

●      Regurgitation of undigested food coming back in our mouth

Common Causes of Acidity:

Over-eating. Eating at odd times or skipping meals. Unhealthy eating habits like having too much tea, coffee, cold- drinks, junk, spicy, oily food, etc. Stomach conditions such as Ulcers, Gastro-oesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), etc. A poor lifestyle like taking too much stress or sleeping less, smoking, drinking alcohol, etc.

Home Remedy for acidity

• Fennel or Saunf: You can have one tablespoon of saunf powder with some warm water. It will help you reduce acidity, and bloating and improves your bowel movements.      

• Black Cumin Seeds:  Either you can directly chew the seeds or you can boil 1 tablespoon in water and drink it. They are considered to be very effective in acidity and relieving pain, nausea, bloating, and constipation.

• Cloves: You can keep a clove within your teeth. It helps relieve the acidity slowly and also helps with flatulence, indigestion, nausea, gastric irritability, etc. 

• Lukewarm Water: Drinking a glass of warm water on an empty stomach and before going to sleep helps relieve acidity.

• Keep a food journal and avoid trigger foods: Certain food triggers your acidity flux. To avoid that you can keep a log of those foods and try avoiding them as much as possible.

• Resist the urge to overeat or eat quickly: When it comes to heartburn, the amount of food you intake must be kept in check. Eating too much puts pressure on the valve which keeps the acid flux going into the esophagus causing heartburn more likely. If you are most likely to get affected by heartburn then you can have small meals over a period of time. You may also chew the food more than usual and drink soft beverages.  

• Avoid late meals, and snacking before bed: Try to eat before going to bed late into the night. Ideally, you can eat at least 3 hours before going to bed. This will give you sufficient time to relax and empty your stomach. 

• Adjust your sleep position: Keeping your head and chest above the legs helps avoid heartburn and prevent acid reflux. You can do this by raising the bed level by stacking one side of the bed over wooden blocks. But be careful to avoid piling pillows as it only worsens the situation. 

• Stop smoking if you smoke: Smoking reduces the amount of saliva produced which affects the working of the valve in the stomach and thereby likely may cause heartburn. 

If heartburn is severe or frequent?​​​​​​​

If the frequency of the heartburn or acidity is more than often then you must consult a doctor before taking any medication.