What foods can help with acid reflux?

Casie Becker wrote:Here's a couple questions for those of you having good results with the apple cider vinegar. Could another high acid food be substituted? I didn't like the flavor of the vinegar, but I am fond of citrus. Lime juice is actually more acidic than stomach acid, so if the the vinegar works by increasing stomach acid content, I suspect lime water might be a good alternative.

Also, if I add honey, then I have limeade that will also help ameliorate my season allergies. That would be my second question, would adding honey destroy the good effect of the acid?

I can't explain the health benefits from using apple cider vinegar.  I read a book years ago about Vermont folk medicine and have been using apple cider vinegar ever since.

I believe in using what works for you so if the lime juice works, then great.

I wish you would try this: take a small amount of apple cider vinegar, maybe a 1/2 teaspoon and mix it with the same amount of honey.  then taste it.  I find that the taste is much better than some medicines.  I keep a jar on my kitchen counter that is apple cider vinegar and honey mixed 50/50 and just take a swig when I have a cough or allergies.

Maureen Atsali wrote:  I don't know what switchel or ACV is,

ACV is apple cider vinegar and switchel is a drink made from it.  In the old days farm wives took switchel to their men in the field while working.  It probably helps replace electrolytes.


I never have had acid reflux but that maybe due to my long term use of apple cider vinegar.  DH has a hiatel hernia and eats lots of spicy food, but he is on medications for this.  DH would never try a home remedy.

Like I said above, I wish I knew how to explain the benefits of apple cider vinegar.

Maureen Atsali wrote:  But I am with Casie... I really don't like fermented foods, particularly drinks.  I feel bad that I miss out on all that probiotic goodness, but the only ferment I like is yogurt.  

I hear this quite a lot and I can sympathize with the sentiment.  I'd like to suggest that it's worth building a taste palate for fermented stuff.  A while back I had a run-in with my own mortality and I had to be on antibiotics for about a month.  Aside from the illness almost killing me, the medicine of course killed all of my body's good and bad bacteria to damn near extinction.  I was a mess, but at least I was alive.  Cures don't come without a cost.   Fortunately, I also knew that I had a lot of healing work to do with my inner biome and that a lot of that could be accomplished by reestablishing all of my bacterial colonies.

I bought every fermented- live cultured- food or drink that I thought I could stomach.  At the time I was not much of a fan of fermented things either, but I had work to do and I wasn't going to get my health squared away until I found a way to swallow it.  Over the next month or so I incorporated a little something "alive" into every meal and tried to drink at least one beverage with the good guys inside, per day.  I don't like to waste food.  Especially the expensive foods from the hippy store. (all due respect to the hippies out there)    So after a couple of months of doing this, I was feeling back to my old self. . .mostly.  What I found out was that I really do like a lot of fermented foods, and some of them are very powerful boosts to my body and brain health.  I also found that a lot of them are very easy to make for at home.  I've really gotten hooked on doing my own fermentation at home.   I've got at least 5 jars of "stuff" on my counter all bubbling away right now.  

I think there's a couple of lessons I learned through this experience.
- fermented foods are powerful helpers in health.
- some of them smell or taste like ass at first, but once you consume them a few times, you start to crave them.  The gut knows what it wants/needs and it will convince your tongue to oblige...sometimes.
- learning the process of fermenting foods allows you to have more control over the recipes and tastes of what you make. There's nothing like homemade.  A lot of commercial stuff is garbage.
- Starting with things like switchel or apple cider vinegar is a good primer before you get into things like kimchi or sauerkraut. All of these things are very easy to make.  

Now everyone in my house has a favorite fermented side dish that they like to eat with dinner.  It just took a little experimenting and persistence to find what we all like.  

I'd encourage everyone to try to eat more live foods, even if it's a little bit at a time.  Your tummy with thank you.  Maybe start with  a Ginger Bug.



edited for spelling and grammar

So I've mixed up a batch of switchel today. It seems a lot stronger than I remember it being at Jocelyn's table. It seems like some additional water will be in order, but I am liking the flavor more than I remember.

I used local wildflower honey, which I've noticed in the past is darker and more flavorful than most honey I see for sale. Even the honey from the Texas Gulf coast isn't as dark as that we produce in the hill country. I suspect this a large part of the flavor difference today.

sometimes I add a little seltzer to it to make it less potent without making it flat.

I don't need it to be fizzy. In my mind it tastes close enough to lemonade that I'm not expecting fizz. I do wonder how important using filtered water is when making it, though. Typically I use tap water around the house. Filtered water would be bottled water or waiting for ice to melt from our fridge.

edit:

At the strength it has right now I bet it would make great popsicles. Which also probably gives you an idea of how strong I'm finding it.