Acid Reflux is what your grandmother used to call heartburn and what your doctor will call GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease).

Heartburn is that burning sensation which radiates up through your chest and into your throat and is most common after eating a heavy meal,  bending over, lifting and  lying down (especially laying down on your back).

According to Health Central:

Nearly three-quarters of patients with frequent GERD symptoms experience them at night. Patients with nighttime GERD also tend to experience more severe pain than those whose symptoms occur at other times. One study found that patients with night-time pain reported levels of severity that were similar to those reported in angina and congestive heart failure.

OUCH!  Heart burn so bad it feels like a heart attack!  That’s serious.

According to Healing Daily:

The so-called “proton pump inhibitors” such as “Prilosec” and “Prevacid”, and the H2 blocker agents such as “Zantac”, “Pepcid” and “Tagament”, are some of the worst drugs you could possible take.

Here’s why: these drugs dramatically reduce the amount of hydrochloric acid you have in your stomach, thereby diminishing drastically your ability to digest your food properly. This reduction in the amount of stomach acid also reduces a very important defense mechanism against food-borne infections and increases your likelihood of food poisoning. Not digesting your food properly also increases your risks for nearly every other chronic degenerative diseases. Two studies (2) with laboratory mice, conducted by Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School, indicate that reducing the amount of hydrochloric acid you have in your stomach could be exactly the wrong thing to do.

So if drugs aren’t the answer, what is?

You can try these natural remedies for acid reflux from First Magazine (4/7/08)

• Eating yogurt. According to a study at Emory University, eating 1/2 cup of yogurt can reduce the risk of heartburn by 75%.  Be sure to choose organic yogurt which contains more of the probiotics which  are responsible for fighting acid reflux.
• Chewing sugarless gum. Mom was right.  Studies have shown that chewing gum increases saliva production which neutralizes excess stomach acid.
• Sucking on candied ginger. Ginger is a well known remedy for stomach problems.  Ginger’s active compounds such as gingerols and feulic acide increase the production of bile which dulls the intensity of acid build up.

In addition to these tips, Healingdaily.com has a few of their own

• Drinking plenty of water. Drinking plenty of water can help neutralize stomach acid and restore proper ph to your digestive system.
• Wormwood herb Artemisia asiatica can help.
• Eat more garlic.

Maybe you don’t need a pill after you try these natural remedies for acid reflux.

Studies show that almost 3 out of 4 women are deficient in Vitamin D. The benefits of Vitamin D go far beyond energized muscles and strong bones. Vitamin D also helps reduce the risk of

• MS
• Heart Disease
• Stroke
• Colon Cancer
• Breast Cancer
• Type 2 Diabetes

So how can you get more Vitamin D into your life?

Get 10-15 minutes each day of sun between the hours of 10 am - 3pm… without sunscreen. Your body will create plenty of vitamin D as a result of the sun exposure.

On cloudy days, eat fish. Salmon, halibut, trout and tuna are all rich in Vitamin D. However, fish can lose up to 1/2 of its Vitamin D when its deep friend, so choose to broil or grill your fish instead. For an added Vitamin D boost, drizzle your fish with olive oil… which will help your body digest the fat soluble Vitamin D.

If you can’t do fish or sun, then you definitely need to find a high quality Vitamin D supplement. Vitamin D works best when ingested with Calcium AND Magnesium…. so a good Vitamin D supplement to try is
Natrol Coral Calcium w/Magnesium & Vitamin D - 90 caps

Natrol Coral Calcium w/Magnesium & Vitamin Dprovide Vitamin D while supporting healthy bone structure with Calcium. Natrol’s Coral Calcium provides pure, natural calcium plus a balanced ratio of magnesium and other essential trace minerals. Natrol’s Coral Calcium is environment-safe and above-sea-level sourced. No yeast, wheat, corn, milk, egg, soy, glutens, artificial colors or flavors, added sugar, starch or preservatives.

You may have heard the news that St Johns Wort Liquid is an effective treatment for mild depression.

Mild depression is a depressions that passes quickly. It may not require any diagnosis or treatment. However, when depression becomes recurrent, constant, or severe, it should be diagnosed by a licensed counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist.

Diagnosis of depression may be crucial to determining appropriate treatment. For example, depression caused by low thyroid function can be successfully treated with prescription thyroid medication. Suicidal depression often requires prescription antidepressants. Persistent mild-to-moderate depression triggered by stressful events is often best treated with counseling and not necessarily with medications.

When depression is not a function of external events, it is called endogenous. Endogenous depression can be due to biochemical abnormalities. There’s a new treatment on the horizon for treating endogenous depression.

Stimulating the brain to treat disease is a concept has been around since the 1940s. Only recently, however, have neuroscientists had the technology to put such devices to use and have been using “pacemakers” for the brain to treat a variety of ailments.

But now researchers at the Cleveland Clinic are using a Brain Pacemaker as a treatment for depression.

“The technique is soon a common treatment for disorders like depression and OCD. Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Mass General, Harvard Medical School and Brown Medical School implanted the Medtronics brain pacemaker into 17 people suffering from depression and tracked them for a year, finding significant improvements in mood as well as social and occupational functioning, while 26 patients suffering from OCD were followed for three years and also showed “marked improvement.”

Clinical trials are scheduled for late 2008.

There are a lot of treatments for depression, including lifestyle and dietary changes my be helpful. Although some research has produced mixed results, several double blind studies have shown that food allergies can trigger mental symptoms, including depression.

Individuals with depression who do not respond to other natural or conventional approaches should consult a nutritionally oriented doctor to diagnose possible food sensitivities and avoid offending foods.

Restricting sugar and caffeine in people with depression has been reported to elevate mood in preliminary research. How much of this effect resulted from sugar and how much from caffeine remains unknown. Researchers have reported that psychiatric patients who are heavy coffee drinkers are more likely to be depressed than other such patients.

Bad news for coffee drinkers.  (I just finished off my first pot of the day!)