When I was pregnant with both of my kiddos, and wasn't on the all natural bandwagon yet, I had terrible acid reflux the last trimester. Anything I ate caused it. I ate pounds of Tums to no avail. I was so thankful when I birthed them, as the reflux went away!
In my late 30's, I started getting acid reflux again. Every time I ate, I experienced from light to strong acid reflux. I hated it! It seemed that anything I ate caused it. And I love eating!
By this time, I was on my natural, preventative methods mindset, so I started researching what I could do to keep from getting that terrible heartburn after every meal.
I found that a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water will quickly get rid of the heartburn, but I really wanted to find something to keep the acid reflux from happening. I wanted it GONE!
I remember precisely how I learned how to prevent it. I was at church having our fellowship meal after Sunday service and the women were at the table discussing homeschooling, children's discipline, female problems, etc... and I mentioned I was having terrible acid reflux at every meal. One of the ladies at the table promptly said, "Do you make and drink bone broth?".
I was like, "Huh? Bone broth? What's that?". After she explained what it was, I realized she was referring to what I knew as "Caldo" (Portuguese for broth). When I was growing up in Argentina and Brasil, my mother used to 'stew' leftover bones to make a broth, and we'd use that for soups.
But I hadn't been making broth since I moved to the US for college. And I was suffering for it!
My church friend volunteered to come over to coach me on how to make broth (it's super easy) and when it was done, I took a sip of it. It was delicious!
I had a cup of broth every day for a week.
And by the end of the week, I didn't experience any acid reflux!
The collagen in the broth regulates stomach acid production. One of the key components to acid reflux is actually a lack of adequate stomach acid, not an excess of it. If there isn’t enough stomach acid, your food can’t be properly digested, and results in all kinds of issues including acid reflux.
I was SO HAPPY not to feel the acid reflux, I think I told everyone I came into contact about this life changing drink for an entire month! Whenever I hear of anyone complaining about heartburn or acid reflux, I'm quick to ask if they use bone broth in their diet.
I'm so thankful to my church friend who reintroduced me to broth, and now it's my mission to pass this tried and true healer onto as many people as I come into contact with.
