If you suffer from acid reflux you may have heard of something called slippery elm bark mentioned here and there. But what exactly is it and how can it help ease your symptoms? Well, let’s start at the beginning. Slippery elm is an elm tree that can stand over 50 feet high and has been used by Native Americans for centuries in the treatment of wounds and gastrointestinal problems. It is even used to treat boils, burns, and to relieve sore throats and coughs.
Slippery elm works to resolve gastro complaints thanks to the soluble fiber it contains called mucilage. This fiber absorbs water to form a gel-like substance that coats mucous membranes and this “blanketing” of your esophagus and /or stomach lining protects it from erosion, thus providing relief from pain, inflammation, and ulceration. This also prevents the lining of your gut wall from long term acid damage caused by reflux.
How Does Acid Reflux Happen?
Acid reflux usually occurs due to low stomach acid. When this happens, your lower esophageal sphincter malfunctions and doesn’t close properly and this causes the content of your stomach to travel back up your esophagus. This stomach content comprises of the food you’ve eaten mixed with acid that your stomach produced to break it down, which is what causes the burning sensation of heartburn associated with acid reflux. The lower esophageal value is actually triggered to close by chemical compounds and nutritional supplements called Betaine HCL that’s produced in your body, but when you don’t produce enough of this, you don’t produce enough stomach acid and can’t break down your food properly.
You can learn how about Betaine HCL and why it’s a key ingredient in our acid reflux treatment plan in our post “How Betaine HCL is Kicking Acid Reflux to the Curb”. Please note that other reflux symptoms you may experience include a bitter taste in your mouth, a chronic dry cough, difficulty swallowing, and hoarseness.
Acid reflux can be something you suffer from now and then after a large meal, or it can happen a few times a week. If you start to suffer from acid reflux more than twice a week then you may have something called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) which is basically an amped-up version of acid reflux. This can lead to serious health complaints including inflammation of the esophagus, aggravated asthma, insomnia, and even cancer, so it’s important to get it under control.
How to Treat Your Acid Reflux with Slippery Elm Bark
Slippery elm bark is a key ingredient in our Heartburn Relief Kit developed to treat, manage, and eradicate your reflux in the long term. This also includes natural solutions such as marshmallow root to soothe your gut and licorice DGL to alleviate your symptoms.
A study on the treatment of IBS-C with indigestion as a key symptom utilized a herbal solution including slippery elm and this showed significant improvements in the indigestion symptoms of participants, specifically bloating. The overall results clearly showed that the mucilage properties of slippery elm speed up digestion and can prevent a number of indigestion complaints such as heartburn.
Steps to Take for Relief
- Avoid tight clothing: tight waistbands or belts can actually increase the pressure on your stomach and instigate acid reflux by forcing acid back up your esophagus.
- Sleep with your head and shoulders raised.
- Don’t eat too late at night: again, gravity is at play here. If you eat too soon before lying down your body won’t have time to digest the food you eat.
- Avoid large meals: these increase the pressure in your stomach, so it’s better to stick to small regular meals throughout the day.
- Quit smoking: this is always a good idea, but even more so when you have acid reflux as tobacco is a well-known stomach irritant.
- Keep a food diary: track what foods make your symptoms worse and avoid them, it’s that simple. Once you’ve been using the Acid Management Kit for a while, you should be able to introduce some of these foods slowly back into your diet.
- High fiber diet: make sure you get at least 40g of fiber daily.
- Avoid stress: easier said than done, I know, but anxiety and stress really exacerbate your symptoms so it’s important to find ways to alleviate and manage the stressors in your life.
- Minimize your alcohol intake.
- Exercise regularly.
- Stay hydrated.
- Avoid PPIs: the majority of reflux problems are caused by insufficient acid rather than excessive amounts of acid. If you fall into this category, then you’re getting all of the side effects of PPIs without any of the benefits. Our acid reflux supplements at Terra Health Essentials work by increasing your stomach acid levels to get your gut back to full health with zero side effects to deal with.
- Take a daily probiotic: these contain “good” bacteria that help to rebalance and restore optimal functioning in your gut.
Nature’s Best Kept Secret
At Terra Health Essentials, we can help you get rid of your reflux with a personalized treatment plan so you can live a happier, healthier, and pain-free life.
Slippery elm bark really is one of the best-hidden gifts of nature and we’ve worked hard to combine it with ingredients all developed to target the symptoms of your acid reflux so you can get it under control and eventually banish it for good. With zero side effects and an abundance of promising research to back up its effects, you have nothing to lose by giving it a go.
Ready to give it a try? We’re offering our lovely readers a 30% discount on our Heartburn Relief Kit using the code SlipperyElm30. This offer is for a limited time only so make sure you snap it up fast!