Acid Reflux Treatment / Acid Reflux Home remedies

How kefir helped heal my Heart burn/Acid reflux/GERD/Gastric Symptoms I suffered for more than 2 decades?

I am so very excited to share my very 1st blog post, about my experience with this very amazing Kefir milk that helped heal my 2 decades of severe chronic Acid reflux/GERD/Gastric symptoms, and most importantly improved my gut health with good flora and probiotics in the most desired natural and holistic way, with no fear of any side effects, whatso ever,  avoiding popping all kinds of antacids, over the counter acid reducers and prescription medicines!!! 

And I am really happy to spread this message to as many people out there suffering with this problem day in and day out, so they can give this a try and gradually reduce and avoid popping all kinds of antacids, Over the counter acid reducers and prescription medicines, that has so many other hidden side effects. 

Yes, for almost about 2 decades I have suffered and dealt with severe heart burn symptoms day in and day out after every other meal. I have tried several over the counter and prescription medicines such as Prilosec - 24 hour acid reducers, Omeprazole, pantoprazole, Tums, Digene and what not, that only gave short term relief, and the symptoms resurfaced over and again! I could not eat one single snack or meal, be it anything, without having to go through acidity symptoms, so always had to pop these 24 hour acid reducer pills, without which I would feel stomach acid coming up my mouth, causing pain in stomach, heart burn, so much discomfort every time! More so, if I eat any oily or heavy and or creamy food!

From past 4 years one of my daily morning rituals was to take the 24 hour acid reducer first thing empty stomach, so that I can happily enjoy my food the entire day for the next 24 hours, so I don't experience any heart burn symptoms. For quite some time I was very happy that I found a remedy for my problem for rest of my life!!! But then, eventually I started realizing that, as and when age advances, my body would get immune to this medicine, and that these acid reducers are not a solution or treatment but just short term temporary relief to my problem that just suppresses my symptoms and moreover have unimaginable bad side effects! It was actually disturbing my stomach acid levels that has a very important role to play in killing bad bacteria and maintaining my good gut flora which in turn helps in absorbing the right nutrients I consume. 

I started thinking of a holistic approach that can help heal my gut health, reduce these symptoms and that any medicine consumed for longer periods will only become immune and will stop working some day soon and I would always dread that thought! Also, I started realizing that I find myself naturally and constantly leaning towards researching, reading health and nutrition related articles, watch doctor shows, nutritional & diet shows for a healthy twist and alternative home remedies for any health problems that my family or any of my friends and relatives experience. And now, this has become my passion and all time favorite time pass to keep exploring and thinking healthy home remedies and using healthy twists and alternatives in my recipes. I would say I am rather leaning towards, living the Holistic life style and this journey will continue for rest of my life....!

How I started my journey with Kefir and how it helped me? I remember one of my friend talking about Kefir and that he had started consuming it instead of yogurt since Kefir almost tastes like yogurt and also had more probiotic goodness compared to yogurt. I did a lot of research, saw many YouTube videos. And one very convincing video was by Dr. Mandell, that caught my true attention about this Elixir's magical healing properties.

This was the very moment I thought I should not waste any precious time in checking this out. I rushed to  Wegmans and I found this Lifeway kefir milk there and bought it home!

I started off simply by diluting Kefir milk I got readily from the store, like for 2 spoons of kefir milk I added 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt to taste. This thin drink I find it very refreshing and works like magic for me. I slowly reduced taking the Prilosec to alternative days instead of taking them daily. I started feeling good and found that it was working slowly and steadily in the right direction for me. After a week or so I then discontinued taking Prilosec completely since February 2021 which I also journaled in my personal notes, I maintain on my phone, because I was so very thrilled about the results it was giving!

Now it is June 2021 and since February I have completely stopped buying Prilosec, however now Kefir has become a daily ritual for me. My first chore I do when I come to the kitchen in the morning is to make kefir butter milk drink for myself and my husband. I just add 2 spoons of fermented Kefir about 2 -3 cups of water and some salt to taste. And this is a great drink I only enjoy every single day. I make sure I make 2 -3 drinks like this and have it the entire day.

Sometimes when I eat some heavy oily and creamy food, I experience the symptoms, but then I make sure I have some extra kefir butter milk, within the next 1/2 hour the symptoms vanish and I am not joking! It works like magic and has been so far, truly! And I am so grateful to all those friends, Dr. Mandell and all those videos I learnt from, about the goodness of consuming Kefir. I am completely ok to have Kefir for rest of my life instead of popping those antacids that creates side effects in the long run.

How kefir helped my close family and friends? Recently in May 2021, one day, all of a sudden my very own daughter complained that she suffered from heart burn symptoms for about 2-3 days. Since I already was consuming kefir and seen good results I recommended her to take Kefir in any form she preferred. In a day or 2, all her heart burn symptoms had vanished. This clearly indicates that we should keep replenishing our gut with good bacteria/flora frequently available in this amazing kefir! Well there are many other probiotics other than kefir and yogurt like Sauerkraut, fermented pickles.. etc., but that's totally a different topic!

After starting to consume Kefir milk, I have true evidence that it helped improve bloating and GERD symptoms and worked wonders for 3-5 close friends and relatives of mine in early 2021!!

Did you know? Kefir Milk is an amazing and super probiotic, powerhouse of good gut bacteria that has about 30 good live bacteria and virus as compared to yogurt/curd that has about 7 good bacteria. 

There is also this Water kefir that is dairy free, which is another probiotic rich beverage you can consume and reap the benefits. But I haven't tried this so far, so can't speak about this yet! 

Why are we comparing Kefir with Yogurt/curd? Well, because Kefir Milk can be cultured very similar to yogurt in taste and texture that coagulates as a result of the fermentation process and can be easily cultured/fermented at home. Both are good probiotics! And also, since we consume yogurt on a daily basis and the closer probiotic similar to yogurt is Kefir Milk, which has much more health benefits. Not that Yogurt does nothing good! Yogurt is also a great probiotic, but just that this post is giving you that healthy twist! 

How to easily ferment/culture Kefir Milk in your very own home? In a cup of warm milk of your choice, be it cows milk or goat milk or coconut milk or almond milk, etc., just add 1-2 tbsps. of Kefir milk as a starter. You can get plain (not flavored, I don't like the flavored ones with strawberry,...etc., with sugars in it) kefir milk from Wegmans or Walmart, etc or may be any other stores doesn't. Allow this mixture to ferment in warm room temperature for about 24-48 hours and you get cultured Kefir milk that you can consume and this tastes almost like yogurt/butter milk.

How Kefir is fermented/cultured traditionally? There is traditional/conventional way of fermenting /culturing milk using Kefir milk grains that is used as a starter as well, that you can buy online. You just add the kefir milk grains into warm milk of any type leave it for 24-48 hours in warm room temperature for it to ferment. But then you have to strain the grains to get kefir Milk that you can consume which is what is generally followed and time consuming. There are several YouTube videos explaining this process.

What are the several different ways to consume Kefir on a daily basis? Well, there are several recipes with my healthy Twist that I have created in my very own kitchen, tried and tested on myself that I consume on a daily basis and also tastes excellent! I will soon come up with a post about Ways to consume Kefir Milk