I have had GERD since I was in my thirties and took all that medication for relief. Here I am in my sixties and and within one week of finally finding raw milk my stomach problems disappeared.
Great article! Over a decade ago, I went to the doctor with continual/constant burping. She diagnosed me with GERD. After taking Prilosec for about six months and working to educate myself, I learned that what I was experiencing were simple age-related symptoms and learned to manage my body with food. There are some good sources out there that can help with this:
Both articles have good information. This is also when I began to learn/notice that doctors are trained to distribute medication rather than educate their clients.
I'm 59 now, but found that spicy food and red wine were the main culprits. I do love these things, I just eat less of them. Every body will be different. It takes a bit of patience and experimentation to find out what the problems are.
At 83 I have had periodic GERD for decades. Limonene (citrus peel oil) stops it in its tracks.
From my AI:
Limonene isn't just some random essential oil fad — it's one of the more interesting and under-discussed natural approaches for GERD that actually has a plausible mechanism and some clinical backing.
What Limonene Actually Is
D-limonene is a terpene found abundantly in citrus peel oil — oranges, lemons, limes. It's the compound that gives citrus its characteristic smell. But it's not just a fragrance molecule; it has real physiological effects.
Mechanism of Action for GERD
Limonene works through several pathways that address GERD differently than acid-suppressing drugs:
1. Gastric Coating and Mucosal Protection
Limonene is lipophilic (fat-loving) and floats on top of gastric contents. It forms a physical barrier — essentially a thin, hydrophobic raft — that sits at the gastroesophageal junction. This mechanically prevents acid and pepsin from splashing up into the esophagus. Think of it as a lightweight, natural physical barrier rather than a chemical neutralizer.
2. Accelerated Gastric Emptying
This is arguably the more important mechanism. Limonene speeds up gastric emptying — it gets food moving out of the stomach faster. GERD is often as much a motility problem as an acid problem. If the stomach is sitting full and stagnant, the gastroesophageal sphincter is under constant pressure. Limonene helps clear the stomach, reducing that pressure and the likelihood of reflux events.
3. Esophageal Mucus Stimulation
Limonene appears to stimulate the production of protective mucus in the esophageal lining, creating a natural coating that shields the tissue from acid damage when reflux does occur.
4. Mild Prokinetic and Antispasmodic Effects
It has gentle smooth-muscle relaxing properties that may help normalize the lower esophageal sphincter function — not weakening it, but preventing those inappropriate transient relaxations that characterize pathological reflux.
The Clinical Evidence
The most cited study on this is a small but notable trial by Willette et al. where participants took 1,000 mg of d-limonene every other day for 20 days. The results were striking: roughly 90% of participants reported complete resolution of GERD symptoms, with effects lasting months after the short treatment course ended. That's not a cure in the strictest sense, but the durability of the effect suggests something more than symptomatic relief — possibly a reset of some underlying dysfunction.
Now, that's a small study and it's been heavily promoted by the company that funded it, so interpret with appropriate skepticism. But the mechanism makes sense and the anecdotal reports are substantial.
Why It's Not Mainstream
Simple: you can't patent limonene. It's a natural compound found in orange peels. There's no incentive structure for the pharmaceutical industry to run massive randomized controlled trials on something that anyone can extract and sell. PPIs generate billions annually. Limonene doesn't threaten that revenue stream enough to warrant suppression — it's more that nobody has the profit motive to push it through the FDA approval gauntlet.
Practical Considerations
Dosing: The typical protocol is 1,000 mg every other day, not daily. Daily dosing seems to reduce efficacy for reasons that aren't fully understood.
Form: Purified d-limonene in gel capsules, not just orange oil. Orange oil contains other compounds including citral which can be irritating.
Burping: You will taste citrus. The limonene volatilizes and you'll get orange-flavored burps. Not unpleasant for most people, but worth knowing.
Not for acute relief: This isn't like popping a Tums. It's a longer-term approach that takes days to weeks.
The Bottom Line
Limonene addresses GERD as a mechanical and motility problem rather than just an "acid problem" to be chemically suppressed. Given the growing evidence that long-term PPI use causes its own set of problems — nutrient malabsorption, SIBO risk, kidney issues, rebound hyperacidity — a short course of a non-toxic natural compound with a sensible mechanism is worth considering for many people.
It's not going to fix a hiatal hernia or Barrett's esophagus. But for run-of-the-mill GERD with no structural abnormality, it's a reasonable intervention with a favorable risk profile.
I took omeprazole for years. Every time I ate, I would experience burning in my stomach, not my esophagus. I stopped taking it and I stopped eating seed oils. I have not experienced the burning stomach since. I am obsessive about what I put in and on my body. Only grass-fed, grass-finished, field harvested, ruminant meat. Raw milk, organic fruits and vegetables. I don’t buy much from the grocery store, including eggs. Those I order from nourishfoodclub.com
The most important thing I learned regarding GERD was that my GERD was caused 90% by statin drugs. Once I got off the statin drugs, I noticed most of my reflux went away. I had been on a constant diet of Prilosec I went off the Prilosec. The nastiest and stupidest drug ever invented is statin drugs. Many people who go off the standard drugs will be able to go off Prilosec within a month. This is the main cause of the tremendous stomach problems. Statin drugs are the most ridiculous invention in the history of medicine since the invention of CALOMEL.
How about, " One of the numerous, abundant most ridiculous inventions in the history of medicine " ? After all how many times has Big Pharma been fined ( no one goes to jail and no company gets shut down ) for making products ( drugs ) that harm and kill people ? Fined billions and billions of dollars - just a cost of doing business.
My sister-in-law who was a lifelong nurse, passed away from brain cancer in 2019. She had been taking prescribed acid reflux drugs for over 20 years. I always wonder if there was a connection.
So glad this is being addressed, as I learned many years ago that everything begins in the gut, so I've been taking digestive enzymes and probiotics daily--and I mean strong ones. This is why I believe the ph is the best monitor, disease cannot live in an alkaline environment and an acidic one creates all kinds of havoc. I found it alarming that this past year a few global posts have suggested 'staph' infections as tho it's a disease in itself and wonder if someday the globalists may decide to measure bad gut bacteria as a disease needing jabs.
Allowing Big Pharma to make products that harm and kill by just fining them
Putting fluoride in water - swallow it ( When fluoride toothpastes have warnings that if one swallows the paste to go to a poison control unit; and, when one drinks water hardly and
teeth even touch the water ??? )
More and more vaccines with toxic ingredients being given to people.
Foods full of health robbing ingredients
Don't let sunlight reach one's skin by putting toxic chemicals on one's body.
Create enemies via fear instead of creating friends via trade and, well, friendship.
Create more fear via climate change nonsense propaganda.
Create more fear via epidemic nonsense.
And, that's just a start.......
How many scams will it take to realize that it's not just about money, that they're trying to kill us ?
I believe it's more a complete lack of regard or concern for the consequences than a desire to kill us, but I completely understand why there seems to be intentional malice. That said, a strong case can be made that the global elite believes they have a duty to reduce the population as many measures have been implemented to enact that.
I currently agree, from what little I "know" that a reduction in population is in play. Another way to say that they're trying to kill us ( some/many of us. LOL. ) But, why the
slow route ? Why not just zap us till they get to the desired level ? Lots of theories out there........ One being that they're harvesting fear, pain , suffering which explains wars, illness, mental anguish........ Would be nice to know the truth of what's going on.
And, we could run this world morally and deal with any population excess morally, if that were the true issue - too many people being a cancer to Earth.
So, since we're being run immorally - " complete lack of regard for the consequences", then we have to stop feeding the parasite, so to speak. Don't buy their products or their propaganda, think for ourselves, vote in morally based leaders, live morally...... realizing that they have the advantage because they aren't restricted by morality.
I had a episode with what I thought was to much acid and after seeing aMD I was prescribed a PPI. After doing a few tests myself, like taking baking soda and water and waiting to see how long it took to burp. Another was to eat some meat and see how my stomach reacted to it. I took HCL for a few weeks before my biggest meal of the day and that has cleared it up. Now I always take digestive enzymes when I eat.
Topical progesterone caused my acid reflux to become so bad I slept sitting up. I was put on the GERD meds, which I just didn’t use :0) and ended up getting a scope for esophageal cancer. I read somewhere that estrogen tightens muscles and progesterone loosens them. I went off the topical progesterone and the GERD disappeared. Twenty years later it’s still gone. I might take a tums once or twice a month if I eat late.
A simple but very helpful way to reduce pressure on your stomach (and acid reflux) is to have good posture. Strangely (or not so strangely), the idea that there is a normative range of good posture came under fire recently from an Ivy League professor publishing in an Ivy League press. The idea that good posture was fake news was then diseminated through countless national news organizations.
It's tragic that something so fundamental to human health has been undermined like this, especially since it doesn't cost anything to sit up a little straighter and probably everyone in this screen-filled world could use the reminder.
Drink hot water ( as hot as you can tolerate) immediately before eating meals - the warmth and heat raise your hyperchloric acid levels - increasing it before your meal. Add in a good digestive enzyme right before eating and this also will help to stop the reflux.
When it occurs, taking ginger 1/4 tsp in water ( you can use organic powdered ginger or organic fresh ginger) powdered works well and fast. It’s a strong bite - but it helps within 10 min.
ginger is all I ever take if something is wrong with my stomach, which happens once every one or 2 years (usually when I have eaten at friends, who prepare stuff I never eat at home)
I have used 1/4-1/12 tsp of baking soda for acid reflex, also known as heart burn, for the last 60years. This habit began in the last months of my 1st pregnancy- when acid reflex becomes common due to the increase in the child’s size pressing against the digestive organ. Today I also find my posture affects how my digestive system functions.
Acid reflux disappeared the instant I began eating a carnivore diet. I view the condition as proof that humans have strayed to far from what our ancestors are.
Cavities are another sign. We're not supposed to be eating grains and sugars.
I have had GERD since I was in my thirties and took all that medication for relief. Here I am in my sixties and and within one week of finally finding raw milk my stomach problems disappeared.
The raw milk that is forbidden in several states as being 'unsafe' (for the pockets of the medicine man)
Great article! Over a decade ago, I went to the doctor with continual/constant burping. She diagnosed me with GERD. After taking Prilosec for about six months and working to educate myself, I learned that what I was experiencing were simple age-related symptoms and learned to manage my body with food. There are some good sources out there that can help with this:
https://chriskresser.com/how-to-cure-gerd-without-medication/
https://time.com/4929930/acid-reflux-drugs-diet/
Both articles have good information. This is also when I began to learn/notice that doctors are trained to distribute medication rather than educate their clients.
Thank you for this post!
Thank you, Debbie, for sharing these links! Very helpful! My question was around what we CAN do to support ourselves without taking medication!
I'm 59 now, but found that spicy food and red wine were the main culprits. I do love these things, I just eat less of them. Every body will be different. It takes a bit of patience and experimentation to find out what the problems are.
Excellent advise Debbie. To know one's own body is the key to lots of problem solving.
At 83 I have had periodic GERD for decades. Limonene (citrus peel oil) stops it in its tracks.
From my AI:
Limonene isn't just some random essential oil fad — it's one of the more interesting and under-discussed natural approaches for GERD that actually has a plausible mechanism and some clinical backing.
What Limonene Actually Is
D-limonene is a terpene found abundantly in citrus peel oil — oranges, lemons, limes. It's the compound that gives citrus its characteristic smell. But it's not just a fragrance molecule; it has real physiological effects.
Mechanism of Action for GERD
Limonene works through several pathways that address GERD differently than acid-suppressing drugs:
1. Gastric Coating and Mucosal Protection
Limonene is lipophilic (fat-loving) and floats on top of gastric contents. It forms a physical barrier — essentially a thin, hydrophobic raft — that sits at the gastroesophageal junction. This mechanically prevents acid and pepsin from splashing up into the esophagus. Think of it as a lightweight, natural physical barrier rather than a chemical neutralizer.
2. Accelerated Gastric Emptying
This is arguably the more important mechanism. Limonene speeds up gastric emptying — it gets food moving out of the stomach faster. GERD is often as much a motility problem as an acid problem. If the stomach is sitting full and stagnant, the gastroesophageal sphincter is under constant pressure. Limonene helps clear the stomach, reducing that pressure and the likelihood of reflux events.
3. Esophageal Mucus Stimulation
Limonene appears to stimulate the production of protective mucus in the esophageal lining, creating a natural coating that shields the tissue from acid damage when reflux does occur.
4. Mild Prokinetic and Antispasmodic Effects
It has gentle smooth-muscle relaxing properties that may help normalize the lower esophageal sphincter function — not weakening it, but preventing those inappropriate transient relaxations that characterize pathological reflux.
The Clinical Evidence
The most cited study on this is a small but notable trial by Willette et al. where participants took 1,000 mg of d-limonene every other day for 20 days. The results were striking: roughly 90% of participants reported complete resolution of GERD symptoms, with effects lasting months after the short treatment course ended. That's not a cure in the strictest sense, but the durability of the effect suggests something more than symptomatic relief — possibly a reset of some underlying dysfunction.
Now, that's a small study and it's been heavily promoted by the company that funded it, so interpret with appropriate skepticism. But the mechanism makes sense and the anecdotal reports are substantial.
Why It's Not Mainstream
Simple: you can't patent limonene. It's a natural compound found in orange peels. There's no incentive structure for the pharmaceutical industry to run massive randomized controlled trials on something that anyone can extract and sell. PPIs generate billions annually. Limonene doesn't threaten that revenue stream enough to warrant suppression — it's more that nobody has the profit motive to push it through the FDA approval gauntlet.
Practical Considerations
Dosing: The typical protocol is 1,000 mg every other day, not daily. Daily dosing seems to reduce efficacy for reasons that aren't fully understood.
Form: Purified d-limonene in gel capsules, not just orange oil. Orange oil contains other compounds including citral which can be irritating.
Burping: You will taste citrus. The limonene volatilizes and you'll get orange-flavored burps. Not unpleasant for most people, but worth knowing.
Not for acute relief: This isn't like popping a Tums. It's a longer-term approach that takes days to weeks.
The Bottom Line
Limonene addresses GERD as a mechanical and motility problem rather than just an "acid problem" to be chemically suppressed. Given the growing evidence that long-term PPI use causes its own set of problems — nutrient malabsorption, SIBO risk, kidney issues, rebound hyperacidity — a short course of a non-toxic natural compound with a sensible mechanism is worth considering for many people.
It's not going to fix a hiatal hernia or Barrett's esophagus. But for run-of-the-mill GERD with no structural abnormality, it's a reasonable intervention with a favorable risk profile.
PS Usually I only need to take it for a few days to get resolution for months.
I took omeprazole for years. Every time I ate, I would experience burning in my stomach, not my esophagus. I stopped taking it and I stopped eating seed oils. I have not experienced the burning stomach since. I am obsessive about what I put in and on my body. Only grass-fed, grass-finished, field harvested, ruminant meat. Raw milk, organic fruits and vegetables. I don’t buy much from the grocery store, including eggs. Those I order from nourishfoodclub.com
Interesting as I too can eat all the grass fed butter I want and have no problem. Years ago I think safflower margarine gave me gall bladder pain…..
The most important thing I learned regarding GERD was that my GERD was caused 90% by statin drugs. Once I got off the statin drugs, I noticed most of my reflux went away. I had been on a constant diet of Prilosec I went off the Prilosec. The nastiest and stupidest drug ever invented is statin drugs. Many people who go off the standard drugs will be able to go off Prilosec within a month. This is the main cause of the tremendous stomach problems. Statin drugs are the most ridiculous invention in the history of medicine since the invention of CALOMEL.
How about, " One of the numerous, abundant most ridiculous inventions in the history of medicine " ? After all how many times has Big Pharma been fined ( no one goes to jail and no company gets shut down ) for making products ( drugs ) that harm and kill people ? Fined billions and billions of dollars - just a cost of doing business.
My sister-in-law who was a lifelong nurse, passed away from brain cancer in 2019. She had been taking prescribed acid reflux drugs for over 20 years. I always wonder if there was a connection.
Slippery Elm Bark cured my reflux. I don’t even need to take it anymore.
It also helps both human and dog when diarrhea happens! it calms the intestins.
So glad this is being addressed, as I learned many years ago that everything begins in the gut, so I've been taking digestive enzymes and probiotics daily--and I mean strong ones. This is why I believe the ph is the best monitor, disease cannot live in an alkaline environment and an acidic one creates all kinds of havoc. I found it alarming that this past year a few global posts have suggested 'staph' infections as tho it's a disease in itself and wonder if someday the globalists may decide to measure bad gut bacteria as a disease needing jabs.
How many scams will it take ?
Great acid reflux scam.
Silence on dangers of EMFs
Silence on chemtrails
Allowing Big Pharma to make products that harm and kill by just fining them
Putting fluoride in water - swallow it ( When fluoride toothpastes have warnings that if one swallows the paste to go to a poison control unit; and, when one drinks water hardly and
teeth even touch the water ??? )
More and more vaccines with toxic ingredients being given to people.
Foods full of health robbing ingredients
Don't let sunlight reach one's skin by putting toxic chemicals on one's body.
Create enemies via fear instead of creating friends via trade and, well, friendship.
Create more fear via climate change nonsense propaganda.
Create more fear via epidemic nonsense.
And, that's just a start.......
How many scams will it take to realize that it's not just about money, that they're trying to kill us ?
I believe it's more a complete lack of regard or concern for the consequences than a desire to kill us, but I completely understand why there seems to be intentional malice. That said, a strong case can be made that the global elite believes they have a duty to reduce the population as many measures have been implemented to enact that.
I currently agree, from what little I "know" that a reduction in population is in play. Another way to say that they're trying to kill us ( some/many of us. LOL. ) But, why the
slow route ? Why not just zap us till they get to the desired level ? Lots of theories out there........ One being that they're harvesting fear, pain , suffering which explains wars, illness, mental anguish........ Would be nice to know the truth of what's going on.
And, we could run this world morally and deal with any population excess morally, if that were the true issue - too many people being a cancer to Earth.
So, since we're being run immorally - " complete lack of regard for the consequences", then we have to stop feeding the parasite, so to speak. Don't buy their products or their propaganda, think for ourselves, vote in morally based leaders, live morally...... realizing that they have the advantage because they aren't restricted by morality.
Agreed. Just say no.
Thank you for this! And thank you also for the reactions!
I had a episode with what I thought was to much acid and after seeing aMD I was prescribed a PPI. After doing a few tests myself, like taking baking soda and water and waiting to see how long it took to burp. Another was to eat some meat and see how my stomach reacted to it. I took HCL for a few weeks before my biggest meal of the day and that has cleared it up. Now I always take digestive enzymes when I eat.
Topical progesterone caused my acid reflux to become so bad I slept sitting up. I was put on the GERD meds, which I just didn’t use :0) and ended up getting a scope for esophageal cancer. I read somewhere that estrogen tightens muscles and progesterone loosens them. I went off the topical progesterone and the GERD disappeared. Twenty years later it’s still gone. I might take a tums once or twice a month if I eat late.
A simple but very helpful way to reduce pressure on your stomach (and acid reflux) is to have good posture. Strangely (or not so strangely), the idea that there is a normative range of good posture came under fire recently from an Ivy League professor publishing in an Ivy League press. The idea that good posture was fake news was then diseminated through countless national news organizations.
It's tragic that something so fundamental to human health has been undermined like this, especially since it doesn't cost anything to sit up a little straighter and probably everyone in this screen-filled world could use the reminder.
My husband took the book on in this review: https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2025/04/americas-failure-to-achieve-posture-perfection/
What worked for me was Cat's Claw. Wonderful stuff!
Drink hot water ( as hot as you can tolerate) immediately before eating meals - the warmth and heat raise your hyperchloric acid levels - increasing it before your meal. Add in a good digestive enzyme right before eating and this also will help to stop the reflux.
When it occurs, taking ginger 1/4 tsp in water ( you can use organic powdered ginger or organic fresh ginger) powdered works well and fast. It’s a strong bite - but it helps within 10 min.
I will usually take a hint of baking soda in 4-5 ounces of water and that works for me.
So much great info involving baking soda . Thank you.
ginger is all I ever take if something is wrong with my stomach, which happens once every one or 2 years (usually when I have eaten at friends, who prepare stuff I never eat at home)
I have used 1/4-1/12 tsp of baking soda for acid reflex, also known as heart burn, for the last 60years. This habit began in the last months of my 1st pregnancy- when acid reflex becomes common due to the increase in the child’s size pressing against the digestive organ. Today I also find my posture affects how my digestive system functions.
Acid reflux disappeared the instant I began eating a carnivore diet. I view the condition as proof that humans have strayed to far from what our ancestors are.
Cavities are another sign. We're not supposed to be eating grains and sugars.