The Surprising Heartburn Cure

As you may already know, I had been suffering from intense heartburn for the better part of the last two months. I was prescribed a proton-pump inhibitor which worked well for my heartburn but unfortunately caused diarrhea.  I was cycling between it and over-the-counter heartburn meds but every day without fail the heartburn would return. One day I was grocery shopping with my family (and suffering from moderate heartburn) when I passed a sample table with three drinks from the Greenhouse Juice line. The sales rep asked me if I had ever tried Kombucha before and I replied honestly that I hadn’t because it never sounded appealing to me.

She said, “Well it’s not for everyone but it does have some amazing health benefits!”. She went on to explain that Kombucha was fantastic for promoting positive gut-health, that it has anti-inflammatory properties and that it’s high in antioxidants and probiotics. Still skeptical, I asked, “Any idea if it helps with heartburn?”. She said “It has been known to help with indigestion, why don’t you give it a try?”.

Minutes after trying the three little samples, the unexpected occurred: my heartburn was improving! By the time we finished grocery shopping it was gone completely. I bought two bottles of the Ginger Turmeric Greenhouse Juice Kombucha to see if it could really help cure my heartburn. Since it’s expensive (almost five dollars per small bottle) I drank half a bottle a day for four days and guess what? No heartburn!

I didn’t know what to think. Was it the placebo effect? Was it a waste of money to keep purchasing something not commonly known for curing heartburn? But at the same time it really was working for me, when medications were only temporarily keeping the heartburn at bay, and like I mentioned earlier it had been a rough last two months for me. I thought okay we’re Costco members, who knows maybe it’s sold there at a more affordable rate.

To my surprise our neighbourhood Costco carried two varieties of Kombucha! I went with the Brew Dr. Kombucha mixed pack that came with three varieties, in six large bottles, for  something like sixteen dollars. I’m happy to report the Kombucha is still doing the trick and now that I discovered a cost-effective option I think I might be hooked.

So how does it taste?

I won’t lie to you, Kombucha has a strong and unexpected flavour. It’s zesty, to the point that you get a slight vinegary after-taste. The Ginger Turmeric is my favourite flavour so far because with Ginger your tastebuds expect the zing! I was already used to strong ginger tea from drinking it almost every day of my first trimester carrying Elowyn; it was the most effective nausea remedy.

What I can say with certainty is that you get used to the taste of Kombucha, now I actually crave it first thing in the morning.

It has replaced Coffee for me

I’m a coffee addict turned Kombucha drinker. Now that I’m free of the clutches of caffeine (by having to cut it out cold-turkey for two months) I think that even when Im certain my symptoms are gone completely I’m going to ease up on the coffee. Maybe try having it only a few times a week. It really was a dependancy that I’m happy to have broken free from. Turns out I didn’t “need” coffee three times a day to function but on most days it definitely felt like I did.

Give it a try

If you’re suffering from any digestive issues: heartburn, indigestion, nausea, diarrhea I recommend giving Kombucha a try! It has worked wonders for me, and even though I’m not affiliated with these brands in any way here I am happily singing their praises.

 

Sofia Martimianakis

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