If you start to feel queasy just from looking at a hot pepper, the smoothies described here are definitely for you. Acid reflux and heartburn are common terms used to describe what is actually known as esophagusburn. Technically speaking, when you have heartburn, it’s your esophagus, the channel that carries food to your stomach, that’s on fire and not your heart. The problem actually lies in your gut.
When you change your diet, your symptoms should automatically start to decrease. Adding one healing green smoothie to your daily routine helps your stomach begin to repair and rebalance to its normal healthy acid levels.
Foods known to help relieve acid reflux include cantaloupe, honeydew, banana, mango, fennel, parsley, carob, and ginger, as well as small amounts of fresh lemon juice, raw apple cider vinegar, and mint.
Pregnant women commonly experience heartburn during pregnancy; however, the recipes here aren’t recommended for pregnant or breast-feeding mothers.
Soothing Pear, Mint, and Ginger
Preparation time: 3 minutes
Blending time: 2 minutes
Yield: 3 servings
3 ripe pears
1/2-inch piece fresh ginger (peeled)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
2-1/2 cups water
4 mint leaves
2 cups celery leaves, loosely packed
1 cup baby spinach, loosely packed
Cut the pears and remove the core, keeping the skin intact. Cut the flesh into quarters.
Combine the pears, ginger, lime juice, flaxseed, and water in the blender and secure the lid.
Starting at low speed and gradually increasing toward high, blend the ingredients for 15 to 30 seconds or until the mixture contains no visible pieces of fruit.
Add the mint, celery leaves, and spinach and blend again at medium speed for 30 seconds, gradually increasing the speed to high. Blend on high speed for another 15 seconds or until the entire mixture is smooth.
Pour the smoothie into two glasses and enjoy!
Per serving: Calories 203 (From Fat 18); Fat 2g (Saturated 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 109mg; Carbohydrate 48g (Dietary Fiber 11g); Protein 4g.
If you don’t like the taste of mint, you can leave out the mint leaves. If you don’t have fresh ginger available, substitute 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger.
Parsley, Mango, and Apple Vinegar Tonic
Preparation time: 3–4 minutes
Blending time: 2 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
1 ripe mango
1 ripe banana, peeled
1-1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
2 cups parsley, loosely packed
Peel the mango and cut the flesh away from the stone.
Combine all ingredients except the parsley in the blender and secure the lid.
Starting at low speed and gradually increasing toward high, blend the ingredients for 1 minute or until smooth.
Add the parsley and blend again at medium speed for 30 to 45 seconds, gradually increasing the speed to high. Blend on high speed for another 15 seconds or until the entire mixture is smooth.
Pour the smoothie into two glasses and enjoy!
Per serving: Calories 136 (From Fat 9); Fat 1g (Saturated 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 41mg; Carbohydrate 33g (Dietary Fiber 5g); Protein 3g.
Reduce the amount of raw apple cider vinegar to 1/2 tablespoon per smoothie (1 tablespoon total) if you have acid reflux more than twice a week. As you drink more smoothies over time, you rebuild your normal stomach acids and strengthen digestion, so you can slowly increase to 2 tablespoons.
If you don’t have raw apple cider vinegar, use 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice instead.
Don’t use raw apple cider vinegar if you have stomach ulcers.
Cool ABC: Aloe Vera, Banana, and Carob
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Blending time: 2 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 Medjool dates, pitted
2 ripe bananas, peeled
2 tablespoons raw honey
1 teaspoon carob powder
2 tablespoons aloe vera juice
1-1/2 cups water
2 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
Place the chia seeds in a bowl with 1/4 cup of room temperature water. Place in the fridge to soak for at least 20 minutes or overnight.
Combine all the ingredients except the spinach in the blender and secure the lid.
Starting at low speed and gradually increasing toward high, blend the ingredients for 30 to 45 seconds or until the mixture contains no visible pieces of fruit.
Add the spinach and blend again at medium speed for 30 seconds, gradually increasing the speed to high. Blend on high speed for another 15 to 30 seconds or until the entire mixture is smooth.
Pour the smoothie into two glasses. Enjoy!
Per serving: Calories 325 (From Fat 45); Fat 5g (Saturated 0.5g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 32mg; Carbohydrate 73g (Dietary Fiber 11g); Protein 5g.
Carob sometimes functions as a chocolate replacement, but don’t replace carob powder with raw cacao powder for this recipe. Carob powder is known to calm the effects of acid reflux, whereas cacao powder can actually make it worse.
Add 1 apple (cored and quartered), 1 pear (cored and quartered), or 1 cup of green or red grapes for a fruitier flavor.