Q. I’m disappointed that you did not mention ginger in your comments on acid reflux. My reflux became really bad when I stopped hormone replacement therapy. Acid suppressing drugs worked great, but after two months I couldn’t stop them without the heartburn recurring.
One night, I took colleagues to dinner at a Korean restaurant. Someone ordered Persimmon Punch, a concentrated cinnamon-ginger drink, for dessert. A few sips later, I felt fantastic.
After one month of adding about 3 tablespoons of the cinnamon-ginger drink to my tea in the morning and at night, my low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels had dropped 30 points, blood sugar dropped 10 points and the heartburn was in control.
This cinnamon-ginger tea has sugar, unfortunately. A simpler alternative is to add a piece of candied ginger to tea. The ginger is amazing for heartburn and the Chinese have used it for centuries for motion sickness. Are there any potential problems with long-term use?
A. We have not seen any studies identifying long-term adverse reactions to ginger. A few studies suggest that components in ginger might have the potential to interact with certain other medications. We’ll be sure to mention it in future discussions of heartburn.
