Aloe Vera Heals

This is a post about just one subject: acid reflux and how to cure it.

If you have esophageal reflux, then you know it is not just uncomfortable, it is dangerous. If left untreated, it can cause cancers of the esophagus.

I used to treat with calcium carbonate (Tums). I was buying Tums at Costco to get the volume pricing. That was just masking the symptoms. Stomach lesions, the underlying issue of gastroesophageal reflux, are not treated just by using Tums.

I have used Prilosec in two iterations of self-treatment. You have to use it every day for three weeks for the symptoms to disappear. Prilosec does work. The symptoms came back eventually, though, all too soon.

I have also used every OTC remedy on the market. The last one I used was Tagamet. That's a histamine H2-receptor antagonist that inhibits stomach acid production. Tagamet always works. But Tagamet is a powerful drug, and interacts with other medications, and you're only supposed to take it for two weeks.

The thing for me is, I can't give up coffee. I want a few cups in the morning. I have had to quit drinking coffee to make my symptoms disappear. And they always seemed to be lurking, waiting for me to have a latte, then boom! All that acid coming back into my throat.

A few years ago, I started collecting aloe vera, and cultivating it. There are dozens of pots all around with different species of aloe. Like this one, which is flowering:

To treat, I just break off a leaf and stick in whatever drink I am carrying around. It will bitter up coffee pretty good. The best way is in a cup of iced tea with lemon, the sour of the lemon counteracts the bitter of the aloe.

It took several months, but it did happen. The aloe vera cured my stomach lesions, and my acid reflux. And what's most amazing to me, is that I don't seem to overproduce stomach acid anymore.

I have seen aloe vera in bottles at the market. I've never tried them, and can't vouch for their efficacy. The whole reason I cultivate, it's about something that gets lost in the whole "buy local" fervor. The reason you buy local is because every plant and animal has its own immune system, and a plant that has been cultivated nearby has proven that it can tolerate environmental stresses very similar to the ones you encounter. Air pollution, noise, temperature, all these affect the viability of every living thing. When you ingest a plant that has developed immunity to the same environmental stress that you face, it helps you.

I wouldn't even recommend trying aloe vera without talking to your doctor. All I know is that it works for me. I trust pharmaceuticals only for treating very specific disorders, and then, only for a limited time.

UPDATE: 1-27-16

At the time of this writing, I was being cured of another stomach affliction by using aloe vera. I would experience cramps in the area between my stomach and duodenum. Even hours after eating, it felt like the food hadn't left my stomach. I would describe it as incomplete emptying. And I couldn't trace it to any one food. It happened one time right after eating a few macadamia nuts. I realized several months ago that I haven't had symptoms of this for at least six months. Whether it's correlation or causation, all I know is I believe this condition has been cured.