by Isabelle Esteves

Created on: April 05, 2008   Last Updated: November 28, 2011

Everyone has seen someone making that tell tale action, rubbing their hand from their breast bone to their throat repeatedly and having a pained look on their face. It's heartburn. When it happens more than two or three times a week it is called acid reflux disease or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux).  according to the Mayo Clinic,  the symptoms of GERD are a burning sensation in your chest (heartburn), sometimes spreading to the throat, alongwith a sour taste in your mouth, chest pain, difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), dry cough, h hoarseness or sore throat, r regurgitation of food or sour liquid (acid reflux) and the sensation of a lump in the throat

Stomachs are filled with acid to help digest your food. Stomachs are made to handle this acid, but your esophagus unfortunately isn't. With a healthy esophagus, the acid stays in the stomach where it belongs. There is a sphincter in the lower esophagus which keeps the stomach acid out of the esophagus. The problem in acid reflux is that the sphincter stops closing correctly or becomes loose. This allows the stomach acid, pepsin and bile to travel farther up into the esophagus. A burning sensation is the result. All you want to do is put the fire out.

The first treatment isn't "herbal",  it is common sense. Don't sleep lying flat. Gravity is your friend; you wanted to be propped up as high as is comfortable and still allow you to sleep. This won't help all suffers because many have more symptoms during the daytime.

Diet plays an important part in helping to control acid reflux. There are certain foods that are prone to trigger attacks. They include chocolate, peppermint, alcohol,  caffeinated drinks, fruit juices, smoking and fatty foods. Chewing gum may also help some people as it helps promote the creation of saliva which has natural bicarbonate in it. Try to eat smaller meals and also try to eat dinner early. Another thing to consider is loosing weight if you are obese, incidents of acid reflux are much more common in people with weight problems

Herbal remedies can included infusions made from chamomile, slippery elm, gingerroot, fennel, angelica root and aloe. They can be used alone but are most often used in combination. Orange peel extract has also been found to help by moving food more quickly through your system. Fresh pineapple has enzymes that help speed up the healing of the irritation caused by acid reflux. An herbal tea made from lavender, aniseed and peppermint

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