Cabbage juice comes to the rescue of heartburn sufferer
Q: I suffered with “dodgy stomach” for a year: cramps, gas, low energy, brain fog. These symptoms would come and go.
My diet is already plantbased, and I am otherwise fit and healthy. My GP tested me for everything, and my labs and ultrasound results were normal. Endoscopy found “mild gastritis” and my doctor prescribed omeprazole. This helped, but my stomach never went back to 100 percent. I didn’t go back to my GP, because my symptoms were manageable.
After a bit of research, I started drinking cabbage juice. From day three, all my symptoms were completely gone!
I juice a fresh green cabbage, just a 1-inch slice daily, with a carrot and a pear. This makes a medium-size glass of juice, which I drink first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
I drink it down quickly, as it tastes horrible. Instantly, my sinuses start to tingle, a strange but pleasant sensation.
This lasts for a couple of hours. I drink the same concoction again in the evening. Cabbage juice is more powerful for me than omeprazole.
A: You are not the first person to tell us that cabbage juice helped against heartburn. There is very little research on this approach, but we did find a reference from long ago: California Medicine, January 1949.
The same physician who wrote that report, Dr. Garnett Cheney, was on the faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine. He conducted a placebo-controlled trial at San Quentin Prison demonstrating a 92 percent “success” ratio for healing peptic ulcers with concentrated cabbage juice (California Medicine, January 1956).
For those who might find cabbage juice too distasteful, we offer many more remedies for heartburn in our “eGuide to Overcoming Digestive Disorders.” This online resource can be found under the Health eGuides tab at PeoplesPharmacy.com.
Q: Instead of sugar, I’ve been sweetening my coffee and breakfast cereal with monk fruit for a couple of years. The sweetener also contains erythritol. Now I’ve read that erythritol can be a problem. How concerned should I be about the effect on my arteries?
A: Most people think of erythritol as a natural sugar substitute and assume that it is perfectly safe. New research suggests, however, that people who use this sweetener regularly may be more prone to heart attacks or strokes (Nature Medicine, Feb. 27, 2023). Apparently, the problem is that erythritol promotes blood clots. If you stop using the sweetener, your risk should drop to normal.
Q: I usually apply body lotion to my legs before going to sleep. If my legs are restless, I will do that again during the night. One night recently, that didn’t help.
I remembered that pickle juice would help leg cramps, so thought perhaps it might help my restless legs as well. Why not have a couple of swallows? Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
The upshot: I drank some and went to sleep. It has helped two or three times since then. Maybe other people who suffer with restless leg syndrome would also benefit.
A: Thanks so much for sharing a fascinating remedy. We think that pickle juice may stimulate TRP (transient receptor potential) channels to overcome muscle cramps. We could not find any research relating TRP channels to RLS. Nevertheless, this is an intriguing and inexpensive approach to a challenging problem.