Heartburn can be very unpleasant. I remember having heart burn, waking up in the middle of the night with a fire in my chest, or I would eat a meal and shortly after – up it came – with that awful acid taste. Other symptoms included indigestion, sluggish bowels and low energy levels. Fortunately, as a young guy I started to wake up to the importance of eating healthy. When I was younger, I ate all sorts of crap and way too much of it. You know what I’m talking about when I say “crap” – grease, foods high in saturated fat, pizza, tv dinners high in sodium, loads of red meat and fries almost everyday with a total aversion to vegetables, unless it was the tomato and lettuce that you get in a fast food burger! What amazes me now, is that I had no idea how bad all that shit was for me at the time!

The good news is that these days, I never get heartburn! I attribute that 100% to what I eat and what I don’t eat. Now I eat loads of vegetables and I think this is probably the most important change. There is rarely a meal that I eat that doesn’t have vegetables in it! If I make something like chicken breast and rice and there is no vegetables in the dish, then I will make a side salad to go with it. The second most important thing is what I don’t eat or what I eat less of. I stay away from artificial sweeteners, most of them are extremely acidic. I eat red meat now and then and if I do, I go for lean cuts. The dairy I eat is the least acidic kind like cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, skimmed cow’s milk and some low fat hard cheese. So, I totally believe that the best home remedy for heartburn is to make dietary changes.

Other things I learned about were how alkaline diets help you……….

Alkalinity:
So it makes sense to me that if you eat more alkaline foods, acidic conditions like heartburn and GERD will lessen. I am not a strict adherent to the Alkaline Diet but I definitely eat more alkaline foods these days. The good news is that almost every vegetable in existence is alkaline. There are only a few vegetables that are mildy acidic – sweet potatoes and spinach if cooked. Fruits are less clear cut. With some of them being a little acidic and some alkaline in nature. The fruits that are most alkaline forming include, apples, blackberries, mango and papaya and are all great home remedies for heartburn.

Juicing:
Apart from simply eating more vegetables and fruit I also make a lot of fresh juices to drink. Juicing is a great way to get alkaline vegetables and fruits into your diet. I would be very surprised if drinking one alkaline based juice a day plus eating a lot more vegetables won’t reduce if not eliminate your heartburn problems. So here is a list of juicer recipes that can be used as heartburn home remedies.

Heartburn Remedies Juice #1 – Blueberry and Apple
2 cups of blueberry
1 apple

Wash berries thoroughly, remove stem from apple and juice. Even back when I was suffering with heartburn I found that eating an apple helped a little as a heartburn remedy.

Heartburn Remedies Juice #2 – Alkaline Greens
1/2 cucumber
1 cup of spinach
1 cup of kale
1 cup of parsley
1/2 apple

No need to peel the cucumber if it’s organic. Wash the parsley, kale and spinach well. De-stem the apple and juice all the ingredients. Drinking greens is not to everyone’s taste, so adding apple and cucumber helps the juice become a little sweeter and palatable. If you need it sweeter, add more apple.

Heartburn Remedies Juice #3 – More Alkaline Greens
1 cup of broccoli heads
2 stalks of celery (including leaves)
4 large carrots
1″ slice of fresh ginger root (optional)

This juice is very alkaline. The sweetness of carrots help with making green juicer recipes more tasty. Ginger is also very good for acid reflux and digestion.

Heartburn Remedies Juice #4 – Alkaline Heaven
1 cup of spinach
1/2 cucumber
1 stalks of celery (including leaves)
3 carrots
1/2 apple

Another super alkaline juice.

Heartburn Remedies Juice #5 – Tropical delight
1 papaya
1 guava
2 mango

Remove the flesh and any pits from the fruits before juicing. Papaya contains an enzyme called papain, which is great for helping with digestion and heartburn.

I hope this helps you with your heartburn, I am sure it will!





In health
Darren Haynes

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Juicing For a Healthy Heart

There are many factors which can lead to heart disease. Smoking, stress, limited physical activity, diets high in saturated and trans fats all contribute to cardiovascular diseases. In fact, heart disease is the number one killer in the USA and is responsible for 1/3 of all deaths! However, there are ways to reduce the risk of developing heart disease. A simple place to start is with a diet high in fruits and vegetables. Many studies show how specific nutrients have healing effects on the heart. Below is a list of some of these nutrients.

VITAMIN C
Vitamin C is essential to make Collagen – an important component in the make up of our arteries. Collagen is an elastic substance which allows the arteries to contract and expand for healthy blood flow. Collagen repairs our arteries when they are damaged by free radicals.

If there is not enough vitamin C in our system to produce collagen, an unhealthy substitute is used instead – cholesterol! If this continues, cholesterol builds up and the arteries harden (atheroclerosis) constricting blood flow. This can also lead to angina and a possible heart attack or stroke. Furthermore, vitamin C helps detoxify blood and prevents blood from sticking and clotting.

Some good juicer recipes food sources include oranges, kiwi fruit, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, apples, broccoli, cucumber and carrots.

If you have had open heart valve surgery, here is a great site with information about after care – open heart valve surgery

VITAMIN E
Vitamin E like vitamin C is also important for a healthy heart and is a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent free radical attacks on artery walls. It also has blood thinning properties and can prevent blood from sticking and clotting.

Good juicer recipes food sources include blackberries, apples and kiwi fruit.

MAGNESIUM
Magnesium is essential for the muscles of the body to function which includes the heart. A healthy heart requires both magnesium and calcium to function. For instance, magnesium is essential for the heart muscle to relax. Calcium is needed for the heart to contract. If there isn’t enough magnesium then cramping can occur causing high blood pressure and arrhythmias. If magnesium levels get low enough, a heart attack can be the result.

Good juicer recipes food sources include kiwi fruit, blackberries, strawberries, spinach, kale and broccoli.

CALCIUM
Calcium works with magnesium for the heart muscles to function properly. Low levels of calcium can also raise blood pressure.

Good juicer recipes food sources include oranges, kale, spinach and parsley

POTASSIUM
Potassium is also vital for the heart to function. It allows nerve impulses to reach the muscles and carry out the desired response. Very low potassium levels, like magnesium, can also trigger a heart attack. My father who drinks way too much alcohol suffered a low potassium heart attack.

Great juicer recipes food sources include oranges, strawberries, spinach and tomatoes.

B6 and FOLIC ACID
Low levels of B6 and folic acid can raise homocysteine levels in the blood. Even the slightest increase in homocysteine can increase the risk of developing heart disease.

Great juicer recipes food sources for B6 is watermelon and carrots.

Food sources for folic acid include blackberries, broccoli and spinach.

ALLIUM COMPOUNDS
Allium compounds are phytochemicals found in garlic and onions. Garlic is considered to be an excellent food source for a healthy heart. Research shows that allium compounds can lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

ELLAGIC ACID
Ellagic acid is a phytochemical that can lower cholesterol. It is mostly found in berries and a few other fruits.

Great juicer recipes food sources include red grapes, kiwifruit, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries.

HEALTHY HEART JUICER RECIPES
Fitting all of these nutrients into your diet is going to have great benefits for your heart health. Juicing is a simple and excellent way to do this. We have put together two delicious juicer recipes for you. One is fruit based, the other vegetable based. We recommend rotating both of these juicer recipes so you are sure to get some great healthy heart nutrients into your diet! Alternatively you can use the information here to experiment with and put together your own juicer recipes.

Heart Healthy Juice #1 – Berry Bonanza!
1 cup of blueberries
1 cup of blackberries
1 cup of strawberries
1 Kiwi fruit (peeled)

Wash the berries, top the strawberries and peel the kiwi.
Juice them and then mix with the juice with a good stir.
Heart healthy nutrients in this juice include vitamin C, vitamin E, folic acid, magnesium, potassium, and ellagic acid.

Heart Healthy Juice #2 – Hearty Vegetables!
2 carrots
1 cup of spinach
1 cup of kale
1/2 cup of parsley
1/2 an apple (add more to sweeten)
1 glove of garlic (add to taste)

Heart healthy nutrients supplied include vitamins C, B6 and E, folic acid, magnesium, potassium, calcium and allium compounds.

* Natural Herbal Blood Pressure Remedies is a great site put together by Doctor Gordon Cameron that I highly recommend visiting.

Thank you for visiting Juicer Recipes.

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