Favorite Home Remedies: Dozens of amazing treatments for over 45 common health conditions. With drug costs through the roof, why not give a home remedy a try? Only $12.95 +s/h
Guide to Home Remedies: Learn to make your own low-cost remedies at home for only $2
Print this page
Email a friend
Was this information helpful?
(0 votes)What do you think? Click "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to vote!
If you have more to say, post a comment below!
Q. I have suffered with GERD (acid reflux) for several years. One night when dealing with a bad session, I ate a banana. I have no idea why; I certainly didn’t expect any result. Within 30 minutes I was able to go back to sleep.Since then, whenever a bad episode of heartburn occurs I eat one or two bites of banana and the problem goes away. Doctors have no explanation for this. Nonetheless, it works every time and it’s not a drug. We almost always have a banana in the house.
A. We’re not surprised that you have found bananas helpful. Doctors in India have prescribed bananas or banana powder to treat indigestion and stomach upset from aspirin. According to a study published long ago in The Lancet (March 10, 1990), banana powder relieved indigestion in 75 percent of patients.
I wonder if there is any study done on the difference of such an effect on body between ripe bananas and not-so-ripe ones.
When I was traveling in a tropical country long time ago, I had a bad case of upset stomach with loose stool. I remembered someone had told me I should eat either a banana or a mango to counter the problem. I ate what came in handy at the time-- mango, and I ended up with a worse case of symptom--it was so bad I had to visit a doctor. I was prescribed with imodium and it worked like wonder. That was when I learned I was supposed to eat bananas, not mangos in that situation.
I later mentioned this to my mother-in-law and she said eating a ripe banana will bring a different effect than having an unripe one. Eating one of them will make you go to the bathroom, while eating the other will help you ease the upset stomach. I forgot which kind, ripe or unripe, is supposed to act like what.
Any explanation for this?
Baking soda and water works faster and longer than any drug I have been prescribed or taken OTC. Monitoring one's diet and weight are excellent heartburn breakers and seem the intelligent long-term solution to most physical discomfort, yet I think most people know this and self gratify instead.