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Apple Cider Vinegar Treatment for Acid Reflux

| Modified on Sep 26, 2024
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Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Paul (Amsterdam) on 09/22/2017
 ★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Thank you sooo much for this website, it changed my life. At age 9 I was diagnosed with GERD and had ulcers in my esophagus. I was operated with Nissen plastic, but it unfortunately did not have any effect. The doctors then put me on anti-acid meds (esomeprazole). I have been taking them for 21 years (!!! ). Although I never experienced stomach acid in those 21 years, the side effects of the meds were horrible with intestinal problems (diarrhea) for more than 10 years. Taking anti-acid meds daily means you have no stomach acid to digest the food, resulting in non-digested food into the intestines. As a self-defense mechanism, the intestines start to develop bacteria to process the food with overgrowth intestinal problems as a consequence. My first discovery was the FODMAP diet 7 years ago, that changed my life. You stop feeding the bacteria, however do not solve the culprit of the problem, the lack of stomach acid. I had never been able to get off the anti-acid meds, cause I would have serious attacks of stomach acid.

Now 6 months ago I started with ACV and results have been AMAZING, now at 1 time 2 tablespoons in the morning. I have not taken any medication ever since. Furthermore I had a check-up gastroscopy recently and it all looked perfect. I have attacks of stomach acid once per month after a very fatty meal, but that is absolutely normal. I am so happy with this solution.

Spread the word and make sure you understand the consequences of anti-acid meds!

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Jacqueline (London, England) on 02/11/2015
 ★★★☆☆

WORKED TEMPORARILY

Hi all,

I think this site is wonderful, and I was hoping someone might be able to help me. I've had acid reflux/silent reflux/LPR for the last three months, it started with a flu bug but I carried on experiencing a burning sensation in my throat along with heartburn, dry mouth and a bad taste. The doctor thinks it is caused by reflux. The doctor gave me omeprazole which I took for a week which made the problem worse. I believe that I have low stomach acid rather than too much.

I started taking two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with warm water and honey in the morning and evening which helped tremendously, however it seems to have become less effective, and I'm finding that I have to take more and more to get any relief.

My question is, am I taking it correctly? Should I take it with meals or on an empty stomach? Can too much ACV cause problems? I was so relieved to find some relief, but now I'm worried that I'm back to square one.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Sheila (Tennessee) on 04/25/2016
 ★★★★★

First let me say, I love this site! I had open gallbladder surgery a week ago. Was sent home with little information. The pain and acid reflux has been crippling. I had to go back to DR for IV fluids because of dehydration. I couldn't keep any food down. The DR have me RX for pepcid. Said it may take a couple of days but it will work. Told me to do 4 a day.. NOTHING. No relief at all.

Finally after just being sick of being sick, I came across your site.. I immediately went to the kitchen and did 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in half of a glass of water, and within minutes... RELIEF. This is a God Send. I finally slept and woke up this morning feeling better. I believe the earth gives us what we need to survive. I'm sick of meds and doctors that just want to push RX and its all for money. They do not truly care for our health.

Thank you again for this site.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Melissa (Portland, Oregon) on 06/22/2012
 ★★★★☆

Editor's Choice

I am amazed. Apple Cider Vinegar (plus other remedies/ changes) actually works!

I have had GERD since I was 16, now 24, I have used medication for the last 8 years. Wow, 8 years!

I started with Ranitadine, and "graduated" to Omeprazole a couple years ago when Ranitadine 150mg twice a day pretty much stopped working. I started on 20mg Omeprazole once a day and a few months ago was put on 40mg twice a day. Rediculous, it got so bad that even THAT wasn't completely stopping my symptoms, I felt like my stomach was retaliating as soon as it could create acid again. And on top of it, ever since I was diagnosed with GERD if I ate any "trigger" foods (Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, spicey, acidic), I would get such an immense pain in my chest like something was trying to claw it's way out of me. No doctor can figure that one out, I got an endoscopy all is fine, so I was told to just avoid those foods. Fine, I can do that, except that after I was taking my Omeprazole 40mg THAT was tiggering the pain! You can imagine the doctors where clueless to that as well.

Now I think I finally know why the medicine stopped working and even hurt me, the medication was just funking up my body. My stomach had no idea what to do, and was sensitive to EVERYTHING. I wanted off medication, but was scared to do so. I had tried about a year ago and had bad results. My GERD causes acid to go into my throat, usually while sleeping but sometimes during the day too. And when I tried a natural remedy before, yep, acid in the throat. Not a pleasent way to wake up I must say. But I felt, after finding this site and reading up elsewhere, that I was ready to try again. I have now been off of it for about 9 days, and am doing well.

I made a plan for myself, as I felt that simply taking ACV like a medication would actually work. It was part of the "Plan". My routine starts in the morning with a tablet of DGL Licorice, have it before anything else and wait a few minutes. The DGL (Hopefully) helps your stomach create more of the protective mucus lining that helps prevent and treat ulcers. Since I am drinking acid and know that with GERD I am at risk for Barret's esophagus I think this extra step of caution is a good one to take. Then I take around 2-3oz aloe vera gel (it's just a thickened juice, you can get regular juice I just think this feels better going down). I get this organic one in a glass jar at Whole Foods, primarily because they don't use Citric Acid, but instead lemon juice and it is in a glass jar- no BPA! :) I cannot remember the name, but I think it's the only organic one in a glass jar there. I had the Aloe Vera Juice from Trader Joes and it was like drinking pure acid, it hurt so much to drink and tasted horrible. Not worth saving like $10 a month just so you scorch your throat in my opinion. Okay, so after I take DGL and Aloe I have breakfast, small meals are very key to controlling GERD/Acid Reflux in my experience. Do NOT drink water with your meal, you should chew, chew, chew to let your saliva moisten the food, this way the enzymes that naturally neutralize stomach acid help you in your quest to be drug free! Then drink, drink, drink! You need a ton of water to help your stomach digest, and to dilute acid the rest of the day. If I am doing good, I will pee about every 60 minutes, maybe sooner. Lol. But it is worth it. I Don't seem to wake up at night though, so that's good. In the afternoon, if I can, I juice, vegetables really help neutralize stomach acid and are healthy for you anyways! Though I don't think you have to do this, I have had much success with out a lot of juicing. I try to make my lunch the largest meal of the day, that way I can work hard and digest for a long time afterwords. Then comes possibly the most important part for me personally, the night routine. I have dinner NO LESS than 3 hours before laying down, I SIT UP or STAND for the whole three hours before bed. This way gravity is on your side while digesting your relatively small dinner. After I eat I will wait about 20 minutes typically then I drink only like 1 teaspoon ACV (Organic, unfiltered) in a couple oz of water, then I chase it down with just water to try to get the ACV off of the throat. (Sometimes after lunch I will do a ACV and Baking soda mix, you can probably do this for dinner as well if you like. Sounds counter intuative, but your body actually neutralizes the ACV anyways, but it still stays acidic enough to help aid your stomach with digestion. When you mix these two it takes the burn away when you drink it, find the Ted's recipe, he explains it more. ) Then right before bed I will drink about 4 oz water with a slightly heaping teaspoon of baking soda to neutralize whatever's left in my stomach and I am ready to sleep on my slanted bed. Slanting your bed is SO important, again gravity is on your side by keeing acid away from your throat.

So my lifestyle and diet changes summarized:

-Avoid foods that can cause issues (Esp. Chocolate and Coffee! These contain methylxanthine witch relaxes the LES allowing food and acid into the throat. Eat Carob as a chocolate substitute. :)

  • -Take DGL and Aloe in the morning
  • -If needed take ACV in afternoon
  • -If time Juice vegetables in afternoon (especially cabbage! )
  • -Take ACV mixture After Dinner
  • -Wait 3 hours after last meal... NO Snacks! If you snack you have to wait another 3 hours before bed. This allows your stomach time to stop producing acid, the second a food hits it ir produces a lot of acid, so one cookie, even one bite of a cookie, will send it into overdrive!
  • - Drink Baking Soda water mixture right before bed
  • - Have a slanted bed, or a wedge (though I always slid off those things, that is why my bed is slanted)
  • -Smaller meals, have like 4 a day instead of 3.
  • -Lose weight if needed, I weigh like 112lb after losing 7lb, and still need to lose like 10lb, every pound you have just goes to pressing your stomach making it harder to keep food and acid in!
  • -Drink WATER! Drink, drink, drink!!! Ideally almost the only thing you will drink is water. Sugars cause your stomach to create more acid. Milk is certainly no longer my friend, heartburn every time I drink it, at first it feels good, then heartburn like crazy around 30 minutes later.

Anyways, I really hope this helps people like I does me. I will say I am not 100% symptom free, I get heartburn, but not as bad as if I did nothing, and I have yet to get acid in my throat. I am happy with the results and feel everyday my stomach is getting back to the way it was before I wrecked it with caffeine, stress, and ibuprofen, naturally. :)

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Gilde (Palm Beach, Florida) on 11/25/2015
 ★★★★★

My husband used organic Apple Cider Vinegar every morning (1-2oz in 8oz of water) and has had amazing results, no more acid reflux and off all medicines!

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Yhen (Philippines) on 06/16/2016
 ★★★★★

I also suffer acid reflux two weeks ago.. It was really a discomforting feeling.. You can't sleep at night well cause you only have to sit while sleeping, you can't eat what you want cause you're scared that your condition will get worst, it feels like your throat is something like is scratching.. And you have to take a lot of water to expel the scratching sensation.. I don't want to take prescription anymore.. Then I heard about this apple cider vinegar from a friend.. Do some research, and end up in this site.. So I gave it a try.. Apple cider vinegar organic with organic honey.. Twice a day.. Morning and night on an empty stomach.. Plus one fresh apple a day before meal..Very thankful to God, cause for almost a week the reflux is gone.. It was really amazing cause first that I try natural medicine, It really works.. Thank you..

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Adam (Charlottesville Va) on 09/25/2017
 ★★★☆☆

WORKED TEMPORARILY

I have suffered from acid reflux for about 15 years. I was initially put on antacids by my doctor which appeared to work for a while however I found I needed to take them more and more frequently to keep the acid at bay. I finally tried Apple cider vinegar which works better than the antacids, I take it before every meal (about 50/50 with water, straight was too unpleasant and seems less effective) and is effective, however after a while the reflux starts creeping back in. Between meal snacks are definitely not an option without another dose of vinegar beforehand. It seems like everyone else has posted such utter success stories but I was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences to myself. If so any advice for improvement?

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by sl0j0n (Waycross, GA) on 12/25/2022
 ★★★★★

I'm still trying to help acid reflux suffers.

Almost everybody thinks they should neutralize acid for acid reflux.

The problem is the stomach acid is too weak. The esophageal sphincter will not close completely unless the stomach acid is strong enough. Weak stomach acid is what causes acid reflux. This is easy to prove to anyone with acid reflux. When a person has acid reflux they need to take two (2) tablespoons apple cider vinegar. Too much water or other low acid liquid will give momentary relief only to make it return soon after. Weak stomach acid is huge problem not just for acid relux but it damages digestion, may cause malnutrition, & prevents stomach acid from dissolving microorganisms that can cause disease. I learned bout this from Dr. Eric Berg on youtube. I tried it it stopped my acid reflux & heart burn. It is a real simple solution. A person may have chronic weak stomach acid & it needs attention. That does not change the real issue causing acid reflux. If you have acid reflux try apple cider vinegar. If it makes your stomach burn you may have an ulcer.
Best wishes.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Kyle (Vero Beach) on 11/21/2014
 ★★★★★

I am 26 years old and have suffered with acid reflux for the past 4-5 months. I tried just about every drug available, Zantac 150, Tums, Tagamet, Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium, Zegerid, Famotidine, and Carafate. Nothing worked effectviely for more than a week or two. The best medication I found was Zegerid and it began to stop working about 20 days into the treatment. My friend's wife is really into homeopathic remedies and he told me that she got him to used apple cider vinegar when he has heartburn and it worked and I should try it. At the time my Zegerid was working fine, but that upcoming weekend it began not working and I had bad reflux for 3 nights. On Monday morning I went to the store and got some apple cider vinegar because I had taken 4 1000 mg tums, and two acid reducers the night before to no avail and I was desperate. After just 1 tablespoon of ACV I felt dramatically better. I began to take it before and after meals and my symtoms were held at bay. For the next three mornings I woke up with no reflux but still a sour feeling in my stomach, on the fourth morning I woke up with neither and felt great. I still take the ACV before most meals and sometime afterwards and am happy to report that my acid reflux is finally under control!

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Brooklyn Baby (Brooklyn Ny) on 12/30/2018 11 posts
 ★★★☆☆

ACV worked temporarily for me as well but once I added 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon to the concoction, I no longer take the Prilosec nor the Omeprazole. It works!

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Ihateacidreflux (California) on 07/25/2016
 ★★★★★

Organic Apple Cider Vinegar is the best for reflux. I have been using for four years or more now. My reflux started with pregnancies since 2009. First I used to take 2 tablespoons at end of day in water but now take only 1 tablespoon in water when I have asthma symptoms due to acid reflux. It always works because taking apple cider or hcl help to build more acid so digestion happens correctly but I haven't started taking hcl yet. If it doesn't work I take tums or my albuterol inhaler but apple cider is giving me some great relief of my symptoms. Do not take proton pump inhibitors they damage liver over long term.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Amanda (Kingston, Jamaica) on 05/08/2016
 ★★★★☆

I have being having acid reflux/ gerd for years but I don't take a lots of antacid or prescription drugs, I couldn't find the organic apple cider vinegar or the one with mother here in Jamaica but I have started yesterday with apple cider vinegar instantly I felt a little relief, I intended to continue using it but my main concern with this is I am scary that I will start losing weight and don't want to my weight is not a problem I could do with more, my next concern is how much should I take per day an also on the glass bottle it is marked diluted with water. Should I add more water to this or drink it directly, anticipating a quick response thank you.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Barry (Rochester, Mn Usa) on 08/19/2010
 ★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I had acid reflux for a long time and my doctor had me on Nexium and it was doing nothing to stop the condition. It made it worse. I was also taking baking soda after every meal to kill the acid. That gave temporary relief. They wanted to operate on me. Then I saw a guy on TV who said that acid reflux is not caused but excess acid but a shortage of it. Taking an anti acid only makes it worse and persistent.

I started taking apple cider vinegar a tablespoon of it and it burned like crazy for a while as my esophagus healed. I have heard that hydrochloric acid pills work too but never tried them. Apple cider is supposed to have other curative effects so I stuck with that. The theory is that lack of acid causes a corrosive gas to burn the esophagus and damage the valve leading into the stomach. That seems to be the case but I can't prove it. Once my esophagus healed the acid reflux went away and I have not had any trouble for years, well until my doc had me take high doses of Metformin for diabetes and that caused constant indigestion.

When I quit taking it the indigestion goes away. The only other time I have trouble is if I eat a lot of meat and go to bed shortly afterward.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by John (Warwick, Ri) on 07/05/2016
 ★★★★★

I too am coming off Nexium/Prilosec, after being on it for over a year.... and suffering heart arrhythmias as a result of the long term use.... I tried tapering off of it, but the irregular heartbeat got severe enough to land me in the emergency room, so I stopped it entirely.... I'm happy to say, 3 days off Nexium, and using apple cider vinegar, and no more irregular heartbeat, and no more heartburn.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Lisa (Hackettstown, Nj) on 11/29/2011
 ★★★★★

OMG, unbelievable relief within a couple of hours! I was reading this site yesterday, ran to the store got the vinegar pills and in addition, took 2 tbls in 8 oz of water. In about 2-3 hours, GONE! So happy because that lump in throat accompanied by the phlegm, choking, horrible, and food coming up my throat all day was insane! So happy I found this site. It's also so good for other things, like hot flashes, bloating, etc. Whoa... Yay me!

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Cwk (New York, Ny) on 03/16/2017
 ★★★★☆

I have been using ACV for THREE years for my reflux which has worked beautifully. I have been basically symptom free until last week when my reflux came back with a vengeance. I have pressure in my chest and I feel it burning my throat. I have not done anything differently and the ACV doesn't seem to be working. Has this happened to anyone before??? Is it just a slight relapse that will go away?? PLEASE HELP!

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Manuj (Ghaziabad) on 10/17/2015
 ★★★★☆

I have tried apple cider vinegar for acid reflux. I have been taking it for few days with half glass of water. It has showed me some good effects but still I get some burning sensation after meals. At night I have to take a digene tablet to get the acid down. Still have not found 100% solution

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Noel (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) on 03/24/2009
 ★★★★★

I've been suffering from acid reflux and heartburns everyday for 4 months. My Dr. prescribed me prevacid then librax but none of them help. I purchased a Acid Reflux Report over the internet and ACV is one of the cures from acid reflux. It doesn't make sense since ACV is already acid. I went to the nutrition store and hesitantly purchased ACV. I followed the instructions... to make the story short, acid reflux is gone and I just hope it's all the way through. ACV will now be part of my diet.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Ursus3 (Texas) on 07/24/2018

Try not eating four or five hours before bedtime. Also, cut spicy foods as they make things worse. The last thing is stop the home remedies and otc meds. Eat balanced meals and add walking a few miles a day. Good luck.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Lisa (Detroit, Mi) on 05/17/2010
 ★★★★★

ACV and baking soda- I was taking medication for acid reflux which made me feel lethargic. I stopped the medication and tried the ACV and baking soda for 2 days. On day 3, I feel 100% better than I did before. I also stopped drinking coffee as well. It is hard, but tea will have to do until I get this acid reflux under control. Thanks to everyone who posted their experiences on this site. It was very helpful. I will post again to update my progress.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Brad (LA, CA) on 06/27/2008

Suzanne, if you have been on so many PPI's and it still hasn't worked, please also consult your doctor as you may have more severe problems (like a tumor that keeps making acid). Also, I'm not sure about taking more than 1 PPI pill a day, because from my readings (I am a medical student), if you suppress your acid too much, it can actually cause stomach cancer.


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