This delicious spice stops heartburn!

If discomfort in your throat or a severe burning in your chest is making you miserable, you’re not alone. A new study suggests that the risk of painful heartburn triples after age 50! The good news: A few simple steps can help banish the burn for good!

1Cut your risk 25% with lemon juice After age 50, a natural drop in stomach acid production makes it take longer for your stomach to empty—upping the odds that food and the stomach acid you do have will gurgle up into your esophagus, a condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. Drinking a 4-oz. glass of water mixed with 1 tsp. of fresh lemon juice before each meal revs digestion and speeds stomach emptying so effectively, it can cut your risk of heartburn 25%, research shows. 2Improve digestion with probiotics Taking a probiotic (such as Life Extension Florassist GI ($24 for 30 capsules, Lef.com/ww) could reduce your heartburn flares 33% in 30 days, reports the journal Bioscience of Microbiota, Food and

Health. These healthy bacteria improve digestion, speed stomach emptying and help heal any damaged tissues in the esophagus, explains study coauthor May Goto, PH.D.

Important: Check with an M.D. before starting any new supplement. 3Tame trouble with ginger Fresh ginger root is such a powerful antiinflammatory, consuming a teaspoon a day banishes heartburn as effectively as many drugs do, reveals a study in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food

Research. Ginger also stalls the growth of H. pylori, bacteria that can cause stomach pain after meals, says study coauthor Shylaja Dharmesh, PH.D.

4Sleep

soundly with honey

If your heartburn worsens when you lie down, enjoying a tablespoon of raw honey at bedtime can cut your risk of middle-of-the-night flareups as much as 50%. The credit goes to the sweet treat’s rich stores of acidneutralizing plant enzymes, which also calm irritated pain nerves in your esophagus.