Q. I have been suffering from GERD for a number of years now. I took Zantac for it.
But two weeks ago I went to a dinner party. When we were all finished with eating, even coffee, the hostess passed around a dish of raw almonds. I asked her what these were for and she said, “to prevent heartburn.”
She is a pharmacist, so I asked her how it works. She didn’t really know, but said that four or five almonds after a meal would help. I never before heard ANYTHING about almonds helping heartburn, but I thought I’d give it a try.
Almonds after every meal seem to be working for me. I haven’t taken Zantac for the past two weeks and I haven’t even needed much antacid.
Do you know why this works? Has anyone else tried it? In the meantime, I will continue eating almonds after every meal.
A. This remedy is new to us, but it sounds safe. Another reader says that a bit of apple after a meal can prevent heartburn: “I have had this problem for years and recently stopped taking omeprazole so I could try to deal with this ailment in a better way. I noticed one day that food that usually gave me heartburn hadn’t and realized I had eaten an apple that day. Another time after I already had some heartburn, I ate three or four bites of apple and that stopped it.”
