Heartburn is an unpleasant symptomatic sign that occurs during internal inflammatory processes of the gastrointestinal tract. The burning sensation is associated with an unhealthy diet, consumption of foods harmful to the digestive system, and the presence of addictions. The most dangerous causes of acid reflux are pathologies of the stomach, intestines, and esophagus. Treatment of constant burning involves complex therapy, including diet, the use of medications and folk remedies.
Benefits of using herbal remedies
Herbs for heartburn are a proven method available for self-treatment at home. The use of plants during a therapeutic course has advantages over the use of drugs:
- no contraindications other than a possible allergic reaction to the components;
- no side effects;
- unhindered access to ingredients;
- natural composition.
Herbal plants have no contraindications for use; they are prescribed to drink for heartburn with high acidity, even for young children. To avoid an allergic reaction in case of intolerance to the components, you should consult a doctor and undergo laboratory tests.
When properly prepared, effective herbs, infusions, decoctions, and teas do not have side effects on the functioning of the body. Medicinal plants are cheaper than medicinal analogues of domestic and foreign production. Herbs have a natural composition, so they will not harm your health.
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Herbal infusions have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiseptic effects. Therefore, plants are used as the main components of the treatment and prevention of internal pathologies associated with infections, malfunction of the digestive process, diseases of the pancreas and thyroid gland.
During heartburn, use useful herbs:
- plantain;
- linen;
- calendula;
- medicinal chamomile;
- aloe;
- calamus;
- yellow gentian;
- medicinal angelica;
- centaury;
- acacia;
- motherwort;
- Blooming Sally.
Plantain seeds and leaves are an effective medicine aimed at eliminating the burning sensation. The plant has an enveloping effect that protects the mucous membrane of the digestive tract from the effects of food, absorption of toxins, and harmful microorganisms. Ingestion of plantain helps neutralize pH acid when gastric juice levels are high.
Flax seeds contain oil and mucus, which envelop the inner walls of the stomach, preventing the negative effects of aggressive factors. Cereals promote the natural restoration of damaged mucous membranes and rapid renewal of the epithelium if heartburn is caused by pathologies of the digestive system: gastritis, ulcers, colitis.
Calendula has anti-inflammatory, soothing, healing properties. Taking the plant promotes healing, restoration of damaged mucous membranes, and elimination of the internal inflammatory process. Chamomile reduces high levels of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
Aloe is used for diseases of the digestive system. The juice of the medicinal plant enhances the effect of other natural components aimed at eliminating burning. Therefore, treatment of heartburn must be carried out with a comprehensive course of herbal use.
Calamus is a remedy that helps quickly eliminate heartburn. Yellow gentian normalizes the functioning of the digestive tract and increases appetite, but it is contraindicated for use during pregnancy and lactation. Angelica improves the process of digestion of food, speeds up the passage of food from the stomach to the intestines. Centaury relieves pain and reduces inflammation.
Yellow acacia helps restore damaged tissues of the gastrointestinal tract, eliminates bloating, belching, and spasms that accompany heartburn in internal pathologies of the digestive system. Motherwort has a calming effect. Ivan tea eliminates pain, heals the gastric mucosa, and has an enveloping, protective effect.
Medicinal preparations for heartburn have beneficial properties:
- envelop, protect the mucous membrane;
- neutralize the acid-base balance of the body by reducing the level of gastric juice;
- normalize the functioning of the digestive system;
- eliminate the burning sensation.
The use of herbs is aimed at getting rid of heartburn. If a burning sensation occurs constantly, it is necessary to undergo a medical examination to determine the cause of the regular occurrence of acid reflux.
Herbal medicine as the most accessible method of combating heartburn
Herbal treatment has a centuries-old tradition. It's effective, affordable, and appears safe. But herbs, like medicines, have contraindications. To choose a remedy for heartburn, it is advisable to know what causes it. If there is high acidity, then many herbs can be harmful. When choosing herbal medicine as a primary or additional treatment, you need to understand which herbs help with heartburn and which are harmful.
Flax seed
A unique product, a gift from nature. The components wonderfully protect the esophageal mucosa, envelop it and restore it. Remember that the medicine is prepared by infusing the seeds in cold water.
Preparation: a teaspoon of seeds is mixed in 300 grams of cold distilled water. After a few hours, filter through cheesecloth and take 150 grams before eating.
Calendula
Many call calendula - marigold, orange sun. The flower has a wound-healing, soothing and regenerative (restorative) effect.
Preparation: pour a tablespoon of calendula flowers with a glass of boiling water. Cover with a lid and leave until cool. Take throughout the day, periodically take a few sips of the infusion.
Aloe juice
If you don’t already have a magical Aloe plant in your home, it’s worth purchasing one. This is a mini medicine cabinet in a pot. It has anti-inflammatory, wound-healing properties, contains a natural antibiotic - barbaloin, oils, enzymes, vitamins. Some people note the bitter taste of aloe. But still, the benefits of the plant many times exceed this trouble.
Preparation: pick the lower, thickest leaves of Aloe. Rinse and squeeze the juice through cheesecloth. Take one teaspoon three times a day, before meals.
Plantain
But you need to be careful with this plant. The common “great plantain” is less effective than the “flea plantain” that grows in Central Asia. So, we need flea plantain seeds, which have an enveloping, soothing and anti-inflammatory effect. Due to mucus and phytoncides, they are good for heartburn and belching.
Preparation: crush two teaspoons of plantain seeds and add two tablespoons of cold water. Let it brew for half an hour. Add boiling water to half a glass. Mix well. Strain through cheesecloth. Drink a tablespoon 3 times a day before meals.
centaury
The name of the herb is associated with a medieval legend. One man was so sick that no doctor would treat him. An angel appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to reward the one who would cure him with gold coins. The only doctor who undertook to help him brought grass with pink flowers. The patient recovered and thanked the doctor, and the plant was named Centaury. It contains gentianine.
Preparation: pour two tablespoons of centaury into a glass of boiling water. Keep in a water bath under a closed lid for twenty minutes. Cool to room temperature. Restore the volume of liquid to a glass of water. Drink one third of a glass before meals.
Cargan arborescens
The leaves of this honey plant are used, which contain starch, glycosides, fatty oils, and vitamin C.
Preparation: pour two tablespoons of Cargan arborescens leaves with a glass of boiling water and leave for two hours. The container with the infusion must be hermetically sealed and wrapped. After two hours, filter the liquid through a double layer of gauze. Take two tablespoons before each meal.
Dill, fennel, anise
The seeds of these plants are used. They can be used either separately or in combination.
Preparation: seeds of dill, fennel and anise are crushed in a coffee grinder or mortar and poured with boiling water. The infusion is taken after cooling, a quarter glass before eating. You can sweeten it with sugar or honey.
Buckwheat
Surprisingly, buckwheat also helps with this problem.
Preparation: dry the cereal in a frying pan and grind it in a coffee grinder. Take before each meal on the tip of a teaspoon.
Herbs for heartburn and hyperacidity can be used individually or in different combinations.
Taking medicinal plants
To select herbal preparations in order to normalize the functioning of the esophagus and stomach, consultation with a specialist is necessary. The wrong combination of medicinal plants can lead to side effects that contribute to the progression of the pathology that causes heartburn.
The timing of the therapeutic course of taking herbal tea, infusion, or decoction is determined by the doctor. The gastroenterologist prescribes a list of necessary herbal components and dosage. To treat burning sensation, you should use the correct proportions of ingredients in recipes. If you feel better before the prescribed period of therapy, you must continue to drink herbs for heartburn.
Ineffective herbal ingredients
Folk remedies do not always have a positive effect. If you experience a burning sensation, you can drink infusions and decoctions only from certain herbs to avoid negative consequences. Ineffective herbal ingredients for acid reflux include:
- mint;
- Melissa;
- wormwood;
- calamus root;
- St. John's wort;
- licorice;
- marsh cudweed;
- yarrow.
Mint and lemon balm have a calming effect, but do not eliminate the burning sensation, and contribute to an increase in acidity in case of an overdose of components. Plants increase appetite, which leads to active production of gastric juice.
Wormwood is prescribed for gastritis with low acidity. The plant helps to increase the burning sensation. With a long therapeutic course, the herb causes convulsions and hallucinations. Calamus root enhances intestinal motility, increases appetite, and increases hydrochloric acid. St. John's wort and licorice are contraindicated for high blood pressure. Yarrow is not recommended for use if there is high blood clotting, problems with blood vessels, veins. The use of the herb leads to dizziness and rashes on the body.
It is not recommended to drink infusions from plants that enhance the functioning of the digestive tract and increase the production of hydrochloric acid. The use of ineffective herbs in combination with beneficial natural ingredients will not have a negative effect on the body.
Causes of heartburn with gastritis
Most often, heartburn worries patients who are diagnosed with:
- stomach and (or) duodenal ulcer;
- gastritis with high acidity.
Excessive production of gastric juice in combination with dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract (a person may experience reflux esophagitis, when, due to the weakness of the gastric sphincter, its contents move into the esophagus) leads to unpleasant sensations. The environment in the esophagus is neutral, in the stomach it is acidic, and when gastric juice enters the esophagus, it irritates its walls, causing an unpleasant sensation in the area of the esophagus, behind the sternum, a burning sensation.
Sometimes heartburn occurs when there is insufficient production of saliva and mucus by the esophagus, and the natural clearance (cleaning) of the walls of the hollow organ is disrupted.
With bile reflux esophagitis, the contents of the duodenum are refluxed into the stomach, and from there into the esophagus. Bile has an irritating effect on the mucous membrane.
If heartburn is felt frequently, regardless of the nature of what you eat, and especially when other symptoms are associated (pain in the epigastric region, belching, nausea, loss of appetite), you need to visit a specialist and find out what disease is causing it.
Traditional medicine methods
To get rid of heartburn, take medications or follow traditional methods. You cannot use medications and herbal ingredients at the same time. Herbs are used in the form of:
- collection;
- infusion;
- decoction
The choice of method depends on the type of medicinal plant, the method of its preparation for treatment of acid reflux, esophagitis.
Fees
The combination of plants enhances the effect of the components. Therefore, herbal tea is a way to eliminate heartburn. Popular combinations are a mixture of centaury and St. John's wort, chamomile; calendula and chamomile; plantain, St. John's wort and chamomile. The collection is poured with hot water and infused for several hours. To achieve maximum results, you can add honey.
Infusions
Recipes for preparing herbal infusions involve pouring hot water over the herbal ingredients and leaving them for a long time. After 2-3 hours, the drink is filtered, divided into several parts and drunk 30 minutes before each meal. Infusions can be single- or multi-component. The course of drinking a healthy drink ranges from 30 to 60 days.
Decoctions
Preparing decoctions involves boiling plant components in water. For the drink you will need crushed leaves and herbal rhizomes. A small number of plants are poured with hot water and simmered over low heat for 5-10 minutes. After time, the drink is filtered using a sieve or gauze, divided into parts and drunk several times a day before each meal. Decoctions can be prepared from one plant or with the addition of several beneficial ingredients. An effective combination is a mixture of plantain, St. John's wort and chamomile. The proportions of multicomponent decoctions are determined by the doctor.
We recommend: Is it possible to drink milk if you have heartburn?
Simple infusions for treating heartburn
There are also easier recipes that can relieve the symptoms of gastritis, including a burning sensation behind the sternum, in a short time. Treatment of heartburn with herbs, of course, cannot be carried out without the use of medications recommended by a doctor, however, you can add herbal teas to the prescribed medications. Then the result of the treatment will be noticeable faster.
chamomile herb
An excellent remedy is chamomile. The plant treats many diseases, from acute respiratory viral infections to otitis media and problems with the genitourinary system. It has a good effect on the body in case of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, accompanied by a burning sensation in the chest and pain.
Chamomile:
- relieves pain;
- accelerates tissue regeneration;
- relieves inflammation;
- acts as an antiseptic.
It contains many substances necessary for the body: organic acids, bitterness, tannins, healthy sugars.
In order to quickly say goodbye to heartburn attacks, you need to brew chamomile in the following proportions: a tablespoon of herb per 200 ml of boiling water. Drink 3-4 tablespoons. For taste, you can add honey to this infusion.
Air
Everyone knows chamomile, but calamus is not familiar to everyone. Meanwhile, the rhizome of this plant makes it possible to forget about heartburn for a long time after a few days of treatment.
The root should be ground, then take just a little (literally on the tip of a knife), chew and drink a few sips of water. If you are concerned about hypoacid gastritis, then you need to take the medicine before meals. If it is hyperacidic, then this is how you should end the meal.
Caraway
You can brew cumin. Taking a couple of tablespoons of seeds, pour 200 ml of hot water and leave for 15-20 minutes. You need to drink the infusion 3 tablespoons 5-6 times a day, before meals. Cumin helps well with gastrointestinal diseases accompanied by symptoms such as pain, heartburn, and flatulence.
centaury
You can brew centaury separately in the following proportions: a tablespoon per glass of hot water. After waiting 15 minutes, you can drink the medicine, guided by the principle: a third of a glass half an hour before meals.
Beans
You can prepare a healing infusion from ordinary beans. Taking 3 tablespoons of beans, chop them, then mix them with half a liter of hot water. Let it brew, and then you can drink - a third of the resulting volume a third of an hour before meals.
Blackberry
One of the “delicious” ways to combat heartburn is to brew blackberry leaves (a tablespoon of leaves per glass of boiling water).
It’s even easier for those who have their own dacha: you can make yourself fragrant mint tea by adding a little currant. It’s both pleasant and healthy to drink!
