Benefits of Coconut Oil for Acid Reflux

A friend of mine reminded me of the benefits of coconut oil when it comes to dealing with acid reflux.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed mixing it in my hot tea, which is one way to get it in your diet.

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However, I am on a recovery mission so I am taking it straight from the teaspoon three times a day.

Cure Acid Reflux with Coconut Oil

When the esophageal sphincter fails to contract, it allows gastric acids to move from the stomach upward. This causes a burning sensation in the lower chest and throat known as acid reflux. Certain research reveals that acid reflux may be caused by bacteria that grows in the stomach. According to surveys, nearly half of all Americans experience the chest pain, bloating, and burping associated with acid reflux, or heartburn, at some point in their lives.

Various symptoms of acid reflux include gas, chest pain or heart burn, burping, bloating, bitter taste, experiencing uneasiness in lying down or bending.

There are plenty of commercial heartburn medicines available, but their effects are short-lived and they often cause unwanted side effects. Why bother wasting time and money on those when you can treat and prevent acid reflux with coconut oil?

Coconut Oil Helps To Reduce Acid Reflux

Coconut oil coats the throat and digestive tract, reducing burning sensations and other irritation caused by acid reflux.
The lauric acid in coconut oil is a natural antiseptic that kills the fungus and bacteria that cause acid reflux.
Overeating causes acid reflux because our stomachs struggle to break down large amounts of quickly consumed food. When taken before meals, coconut oil prevents overeating by making you feel full. This also helps you lose weight.
The medium chain triglycerides (MTCs) in coconut oil are easily digestible and they offer numerous health benefits.
Because it is alkaline, coconut oil neutralizes acid, reduces inflammation, and helps repair tissue damage caused by heartburn.
Coconut oil triggers the production of chloride, which is essential for the production of stomach acid which helps for proper digestion.

This is the brand that I’m using. I’ll admit that at first taking it straight from the teaspoon is a little strange feeling. Starting out with a smaller amount or mixing it in a hot beverage will work just fine too.

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If you suffer from acid reflux, try some coconut oil, it has helped me and it probably will help you too.

Till next time,

Lori

Day 10 – No Prilosec – Update

I’m not proud to admit this, but to be thorough with this process, all needs to be noted which includes the good, the bad and the ugly of it.

Last night I had a bit of a melt down and was really having a pity party for myself.

See today is the 10th day of not taking prilosec (omeprazole) and for the past 7 days I have been experiencing some considerable discomfort with heartburn and reflux. It’s not constant, but it’s pretty typical after any meal I eat.

With this has come a bit of depression and I recognize it, but recognizing it doesn’t make me able to ignore it. This depression has caused me to be a bit of a short fuse.

The depression stems from constantly worrying about what I can eat, and how it will affect me causing pain or not. Like I said in a different post, when I was taking the prilosec I could eat or drink anything I wanted and it didn’t affect me. Just take a pill and it will be all better. This includes wine. I have come to realize that I simple can not drink wine, and as shallow as this sound I’m a bit sad over it.

The Z Man encouraged me last night not to give up and to do more research, to keep on keeping on. Which is so incredibly generous of him because he is the one who suffers the most from my mood swings and frustration.

The potato soup and cornbread I made for dinner last night was a lovely meal, but even the small portion that I ate caused me great discomfort. I suppose it was the onions in the soup.

I went back to my natural foods store this morning and got very lucky because there was a representative there who knew a lot about the subject of the PPIs drugs (prilosec, nexium, omeprazole) and was able to share some information with me as far as diet including bone broth (which I happened to bring with me for lunch today)

We went over everything I’m currently taking and he was in full agreement with all of them, however he suggested that I’m just not taking enough of them. So I will increase the doses of my current supplement regimen which you can read about here.

Sometimes, like last night I needed something for fast relief of heartburn and reflux, so I picked this up at the natural foods store this morning too.

I know I’m on the right path, and I know it will get better in time, I’m just being a bit impatient. For so long I was able to eat and drink anything I wanted and now (at least for right now) I’m not able to do that.

But I will keep on keeping on. 30 days of increasing the supplements and a stricter diet. Here we go!

What’s Cooking 5/18/16?

Breakfast: bone broth (homemade – chicken)
Lunch: same as lunch – bone broth
Dinner: same as lunch and breakfast – bone broth

I’m taking a break today from food, giving my digestive system a rest. And guess what, so far no heartburn or reflux.

Have a great day,

Till Next Time,

Lori

Friday’s Frugal Five

If you haven’t visited the Non-Consumer Advocate site, you should. Katy is the creator of Five Frugal Things and is my inspiration for Friday’s Frugal Five.

I have a confession to make. While the MMGC is going well and I’m staying within my budget, albeit by the skin of my teeth, I have to tell you that I have been spending in others areas as if I had won the lottery or something. In the past few weeks I have carried new item after new item into the house. To the point where I have a guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Let me explain… for a while now I’ve been trying to switch out my (old) teflon cookware for stainless steel and cast iron, so about a week ago I purchased a new set of stainless steel cookware. But, I did get it at 60% off, so that’s good. Also, I have limited cabinet space in my kitchen and had been wanting to get a hanging pot rack to help with storage. I found one that was 40% off, so I bought that. Last fall when we processed our hog, I cured and smoked about 60lbs of pork belly into bacon, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not slice the meat thin enough to get a bacon texture. So, I bought a meat slicer and I also got 25% off of that. Hoping for a solution to my cabinet storage situation I purchased 8 large jars with $1 off of each to store things like grains and beans instead of just having bags laying in the cabinets. I bought some half gallon mason jars and large mouth plastic lids for better storage also. I bought seeds for our garden starters, instead of waiting and starting the gardens with established plants from the nursery. Admittedly in the past we have not done well starting our own seedlings, and also admittedly these seeds were not cheap as I chose organic heirloom seeds. I could go on I’m sure, but you get the idea. The point I suppose is that I have been talking out of both sides of my mouth about being frugal. Being frugal includes more than just what you spend on groceries. Well, it absolutely should anyway, and in that regard I have failed.

I could give a suitable explanation for all of my purchases about having the right tools for the jobs (the slicer) or about trying to get away from toxic teflon (the cookware) or perhaps because I spend 75% of my home life in the kitchen and would like it to be better organized (the hanging pot rack and storage jars) and even the seeds in hopes that they will be successful (meaning not die) this year and will provide us with seeds for several years and in turn save money.

So, no more! No more of the spending with out at least trying to find a suitable solution first. Make do or do without. Luckily I have not gone into debt for these purchases (thanks to the pickle jar). I believe to some degree perhaps I’ve been treating myself with these purchases for quitting smoking. Anyway…. full disclosure, clearly I’ve still got a long way to go in the frugal department. Thanks for letting me share. Now on to Friday’s Frugal Five…

With my new eating plan to kick the omeprazole (generic for prilosec) that I posted about earlier this week. I can’t have caffeine. This doesn’t really rattle me too much because I’m not one of those die hard coffee drinkers some people are (not judging at all, the Z Man loves his coffee too) I do enjoy 1 or 2 cups of hot tea in the morning and some iced tea from time to time. Why is this frugal? I returned an unopened huge box of tea bags to the grocery store. I also returned a bag of organic onions that were half rotten, limes that were hard as rocks and a couple other things which netted me $23 in returns.
I returned an unopened bottle of agave sweetener because a friend told me that it could flare up my indigestion and heartburn more than just a small amount of unpasteurized honey, which I already have. I’m not counting this in the MMGC because it was purchased for medicinal purposes along with the supplements.
Bartered again this week with my friend which will get me some lovely dairy and grass fed beef.
Made some yogurt this past weekend which not only is quite cheaper than buying yogurt, it taste so much better. I also cooked and canned 15 quarts of homemade chicken stock. Returned my book on cd to the library and picked up a couple more. Checked out several books on kicking the omeprazole and healing the gut. Interesting but not shocking how it basically boils down to no one diet fits all and so far, being early on in my research, I am finding a strong consensus of managing portion control, which makes perfect sense when trying to prevent GERD. (more on all this later)
The Z Man stopped and asked about a few trees that he has seen down in someone’s yard for quite a while. He offered to clear it away for them, they are happy to have it gone and we are happy to have the wood. He also used a $20 coupon at Advance Auto to get the break parts to make repairs to our truck. Yea, he’s handy like that. I’m such a lucky girl 🙂

We’ve been eating leftovers for lunches, making meals from freezer and pantry items, hanging clothes on the clothes line to dry, driving the speed limit to save on gas, combining errands with work schedule to avoid unnecessary driving.

As for the MMGC I bought some fresh veggies this week spending $28, but I did get the grocery store to price match the Aldi price for avocados for 59¢ instead of 98¢ each. So, with my returns and the $10.50 I had left over from last week that leaves me with $5.50 left for the month.

Most frugal of all, we are still breathing fresh air from quitting smoking, and adding that money to my pickle jar each week.

How about you, what frugal fun have you had this week?

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter. Thank you GOD for loving us!

Till Next Time,

Lori

Medicinal Supplements and New Eating Habits

Caution: This post is going to contain some graphic content. You may or may not want to continue reading. I mean it’s not gross and graphic like the HORRIBLY AWFUL movie that we watched on Netflix the other night that literally gave me nightmares for 2 nights, leaving me in a very bad mood and feeling as if I had done something wrong and needing to visit a Priest for confession and I’m not even Catholic. Yes, It WAS that BAD! It was like a really bad car accident where you hate everything about it but you can’t stop looking at it. I’m not going to share the name of the movie because just in case Nicole Kidman, Mathew McConaughey or John Cusack are reading my blog, I would hate to offend them, uh because “it’s their job” and / or because “it’s art” Bullshit! Everybody has choices and they chose to make that trash, even for their kids to possibly see some day, which is beyond messed up. It’s just my little opinion which means nothing and actually has nothing to do with medicinal supplements or new eating habits. Sorry, moving on now….

This is the situation. Right now at this very moment I have a 5 alarm fire burning in my chest with the occasional reflux of sour disgusting mucus surging up into my throat, causing coughing and sometimes my throat to close up. It’s as if I have a cauldron of billion degree lava in my stomach and chest just waiting to blow like a volcano. Now, before I continue I should tell you that I went to the doctor about this very thing and I was going to be scheduled for an upper GI scope with another doctor, but as it turns out the “specialist” can’t see me for about 6 months. Fine…. whatever….

I have been taking Ompralzone for about 25 years now. Along with the reflux and heartburn there are also other digestive issues I deal with that really are T.M.I to talk about. Look , I am not a doctor and I do not play one on tv. But since I can’t get an appointment for almost 6 months to see a specialist, I figure that gives me a little time to try other alternatives to hopefully give me some relief from all this discomfort.

I went to my local health food store and met a very pleasant gentleman who seemed to be very knowledgeable in his business. (I actually think the store is his business) He was very intuitive and honestly took the time to listen to my story and what I was hoping to accomplish. We discussed the process of weaning off of the Ompralzone while healing my digestive system as it begins to start working again in producing the natural acids it’s supposed to. Yes, I have discussed with my doctor the desire to stop taking ompralzone and his response was “if it isn’t broke, why fix it” That’s fine and good except that my body has become used to the 40mg I’m currently taking and seems to be wanting more. I don’t want to do that. So, this is what I’m going to do…

Stay away from carbohydrates and sugars (except the naturals such as fruits and veggies)
Eat (homemade from raw milk) yogurt daily for the probiotic
Stay away from caffeine (decaffeinated tea only – I am not a coffee drinker)
1 tsp of extra virgin organic coconut oil mixed in my hot tea every morning (it sounds weird, but it really is good)
1 chewable tablet of Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice before every meal
2 tablets of Superzymes after each meal
1 tablet of coconut & aloe daily supplement in the morning and before bed
2 ounces twice daily of aloe vera juice
1 turmeric gel tab daily
1 tablespoon organic AC vinegar daily
Slowly wean myself off of the Ompralzone over the next 90 days.

My second trip to the health food store I picked up a few more things and returned the turmeric gel tabs because I can add ground turmeric to the L-Glutamine in a glass of aloe juice each morning, which cost a lot less than the turmeric gel tabs. I also picked up a second aloe juice and the DGL Ultra to keep at work. The Slippery Elm I’ll carry in my purse to use as needed for acid heartburn flair ups. The L-Glutamine will help heal my digestive system, which after 25 years of abuse I’m sure needs it.

Some habits I need to change are:

Chew my food well
Don’t eat fast, slow down
Stop eating before I’m full, eat smaller portions
Don’t eat or drink anything 2 hours before bed.
No white wine… so sad, so very very sad.

Can you tell I’m anxious / nervous about this? This process of weaning off of Ompralzone is going to need to be a long patient process, and I am not a patient person at all. But if I don’t take my time with it, it could cause me even more discomfort and damage to my digestive system.

Keep in mind, I am doing this for personal reasons, and I did check with my doctor. I’ve also been tested for specific food allergies, and I have none. I’ve just not treated my body very well in the past 25 years with the not eating well, smoking and wine and now my body is paying for it. I’m doing this in an effort to get away from the proton pump inhibitors such as Ompralzone (generic for Prilosec). Look them up, you’ll see why I want to get away from them, it’s not good! But more importantly I want to start treating my body better. I am certainly not suggesting this for anyone else. But if this interest you and sounds like something you may want to do also, certainly talk to your doctor before you try any of these things because I am not an expert.

If you have any suggestions for me I’d love to hear them too.

Till Next Time

Lori