If you are one among the individuals afflicted with acid reflux, you may be very well familiar with all the agonizing symptoms associated with this condition. All that heartburn, bile rising up from your stomach and leaving an acid or bitter taste in your mouth and enduring the chest pains associated with it. The list goes on and on.

You may also experience difficulty in swallowing solid and even liquid foods, excessive salivation or you may find it difficult to sleep after eating. Sometimes, some people even develop asthma.

There's that heartburn again! So what do you do? Since our society has been dependent on drug medication for quite some time now, your first impulse might be to reach out for a pill.

The treatment of acid reflux has been centered on controlling and suppressing the acidity of the stomach. Numerous prescription and non-prescription drugs have been promoted extensively to relieve the symptoms associated with this condition. Among the non-prescription drugs which can be used for this purpose are magnesium hydroxide (Phillip's Milk of Magnesia), aluminum hydroxide (Amphojel), calcium carbonate (Tums) and aluminum-magnesium hydroxide (Maalox, Mylanta).

Among the prescription drugs used to control stomach acidity include histamine H2 inhibitors and proton pump inhibitors. Cimitidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac) and famotidine (Pepcid) belong to the histamine H2 inhibitors while omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and esomeprazole magnesium (Nexium) are all proton pump inhibitors.

There really is no question about the effectiveness of these medications as far as relieving the symptoms associated with acid reflux. However, there are studies which point out that using these drugs may not be the best or the wisest thing to do. These drugs were found to drastically reduce the amount of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which, in turn, hampers the effective digestion of food.

In two researches conducted by the scientists of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School, laboratory mice were used to determine the effects of reducing the acid levels in the stomach. When the results were analyzed, it indicated that lowering the acid levels of the stomach greatly reduces the digestive capabilities of the body. It also increases the possibilities of food poisoning since lowering the stomach acidity negatively affects the defense mechanism against food-borne infections.

So, popping up a pill to relieve the symptoms may provide relief for the mean time but it can drastically affect the normal functions of the body and worsen the problem even more over time. So now, what do we do?

Consider treating the problem naturally.

For most people, following a good detoxification diet, drinking a lot of filtered water (about a gallon a day) and supplementing their diets with high doses of probiotics may help restore the optimal conditions in the stomach. However, if the symptoms persist despite following this regime, try to drink more water to dilute the acid and normalize the stomach pH.

A lot of food and herbs may also be beneficial in establishing a good stomach environment. The humble garlic, for instance, is an effective tool against acid reflux. Garlic has the ability to encourage the growth of beneficial intestinal flora, which can help stabilize the stomach pH. It is also an effective weapon against the pathogenic microorganism known as Helicobacter pylori, a known cause of gastritis and the only bacteria in the stomach, which cannot be killed by hydrochloric acid.