Acid blockers such as omeprazole or pantoprazole can have side effects. However, it is particularly unpleasant that once you are used to the remedies, you can no longer stop taking them so easily. Because as soon as you stop taking the medication, many people get worse reflux than ever before. We present natural and side-effect-free alternatives as well as tips on how to get away from acid blockers.

Natural alternatives for acid blockers

Pantoprazole, omeprazole, lansoprazole, rabeprazole – if one of these active ingredients or another with the ending -prazol is on the package insert of your stomach medication, then you are taking an acid blocker (also called proton pump inhibitor – PPI for short).

Acid blockers are usually prescribed without pointing out natural alternatives, let alone the side effects of the medication.

Even worse: According to experts, doctors prescribe acid blockers in up to 70 percent of all cases without a correct indication, which means that they would not be absolutely necessary from a medical point of view.

Acid blockers, however, can have numerous massive side effects – especially if you take them for weeks or even months.

Some of these side effects are irreversible, even if the drug is eventually stopped, such as osteoporosis, kidney damage, and intolerances or allergies.

Stopping acid blockers is often difficult

What is particularly unpleasant, however, is that you often can’t stop taking acid blockers – even if you wanted to – once you’ve taken them for a while. If you do, the symptoms return in all their severity, often more severe than ever before. This is referred to as the so-called rebound effect. So you take the remedies again and again and again.

If you take acid blockers as “stomach protection” (accompanying anti-inflammatories, painkillers or antibiotics), you may suddenly have stomach problems afterwards, even if you didn’t have any before.

Finding the causes of heartburn

Dr. Christina Reimer, gastroenterologist at the University of Copenhagen, who has already participated in various studies on the side effects of PPI, writes in a paper: Reflux esophagitis, i.e. heartburn, should never be treated by drug inhibition of stomach acid production, as this is not the underlying cause.

In addition, stomach acid production is quite normal in most people with reflux, i.e. not even excessively high.

The acid is perceived as unpleasant because it does not stay where it belongs but instead travels up the esophagus. However, this has nothing to do with the amount of stomach acid (1), but with another problem.

These can include disturbed esophageal peristalsis, a disorder in the sphincter muscle between the stomach and esophagus, a diaphragmatic hernia (hiatal hernia) or the excessive presence of the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori.

None of these problems can be solved with the help of acid blockers. So it’s no use taking PPIs that only suppress the symptoms, but at the same time create new problems due to their side effects.

Preventing diaphragmatic hernia and alleviating symptoms

A diaphragmatic hernia, which many people do not know about, is particularly common as the cause of heartburn. And a diaphragmatic hernia also has a cause.

Reduce Helicobacter

Put stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori back in its place in a natural way. (2)

Even if you want to fight Helicobacter pylori with the help of conventional medical therapy, you can read at the end of this article, among other things, how probiotics can be integrated into Helicobacter therapy and how they can even significantly increase the tolerability of conventional Helicobacter drugs or mitigate their side effects.

Alternatives to acid blockers

We would like to share with you the many tips that have reached us and take the opportunity to list all the alternatives to acid blockers we know. We start with the tips and testimonials of our readers (1 to 6) and then move on to other alternatives.

1. Homeopathy and minerals

Ellen wrote: “I, too, have years of suffering behind me with at least 3 gastroscopies and the recurring diagnosis of gastritis and esophageal inflammation and again and again I was prescribed pantoprazole and omeprazole. As soon as I stopped taking the medication, the symptoms started again. Just 5 weeks ago on vacation I got this medication from the pharmacy.
Back home, I took 6 globules from the homeopath Nux vomica D, and a mineral supplement with 600 mg potassium, 330 mg calcium, 220 mg phosphorus, 157 mg magnesium, 4.8 mg iron, 4.8 mg zinc, 1.8 mg manganese and 0.1 mg copper. After 5 days of taking it, I had no more problems. It was only a few weeks ago, but I have the good feeling that I am now free of the stomach pain.”
When choosing a preparation, pay attention to your personal needs – especially with the trace elements and also with the iron. Because the effect in Ellen’s case could also have been based on the fact that the preparation remedied an undersupply.

*Here you will find a tracemineral supplement in capsule form

2. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

Rainer wrote: “I also received an acid blocker for more than 10 years because of reflux pain after a gastroscopy, which was to accompany me for the rest of my life. I tried unsuccessfully to taper it off after I discovered all my health problems in the package insert, which had arisen due to the acid blocker!
My third attempt was to use the baking soda, which is known for over 125 years! I stopped taking the acid blocker and instead always have a tablet tube with baking soda with me! On the first days I needed up to 5 pieces!
After a few weeks I now have days completely without baking soda or a maximum of 2 a day! I’m doing really well and I feel like I’ve been reborn! My family doctor just wanted to change the acid blocker, so he was a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry! I hope to help many sufferers. More than I have described is not necessary in terms of effort!!

3. Daily linseed oil

Michelle wrote: “I also took PPI for a long time. Initially 2 to 3 times a week to daily. My heartburn didn’t get better, but got worse and worse as soon as I tried to stop taking the pills.
The tablets had given me magnesium deficiency and extreme muscle twitching as well as a vitamin B-12 deficiency. In the end, I made it with the help of linseed oil and used antacids (e.g. Rennie® and the like – note ZDG editors) for very bad days. I took 2 tablespoons of linseed oil pure daily for about half a year.
When it was bad at night, I still resorted to antacids. The heartburn got better and better and today I am almost symptom-free and no longer need PPIs.”

4. Check that there is no stomach acid deficiency

A stomach acid deficiency manifests itself with very similar symptoms to an excess of stomach acid and is a common cause of stomach problems, especially in people over 50.
This can lead to heartburn, stomach aches, nausea after eating and reflux because the stomach lining produces too little stomach acid. But how can stomach acid rise up the esophagus if there is too little of it?

When enough stomach acid is formed in the stomach, the so-called esophageal sphincter, a kind of sphincter muscle between the esophagus and the stomach, closes.
If only a small amount of stomach acid is formed, the pH value in the stomach is never so low that the sphincter would close. It remains open – and stomach contents can rise to the top. And even if it is not acidic enough for the correct (closing) sphincter reaction, it is still sufficiently acidic to cause pain in the esophagus.

If there is such a stomach acid deficiency, then the administration of acid blockers is of course all the worse, as the already too low stomach acid formation is then inhibited even further (3).

If a gastroscopy is due, the acid status can also be checked at the same time. The pH value of the stomach can also be measured over the course of 24 hours via a probe (pH metry).

Home remedies to stimulate stomach acid formation

If none of these medical examinations are pending, you can carefully try out for yourself whether the symptoms can be improved with stomach acid-stimulating home remedies, e.g. with

1. Bitter substances (e.g. bitter substance liquid, Digest-Pure (a bitter elixir without alcohol)),
2. Cranberry juice,
3. Sauerkraut
4. Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (diluted with water),
5. Wild plants (e.g. dandelions as salad or tea, also plantain, yarrow, etc.) and
6. Bitter salads (arugula, endive, radicchio – also in a smoothie or chew very well).

If things get better after these measures, you can even (temporarily) use capsules with a substance similar to stomach acid (HCL).

Together with the right diet and good stress management, you can stimulate the body’s own stomach acid production in this way.

In addition, you make sure to chew very well, not to drink anything with meals and to eat them calmly and without a computer, mobile phone or TV.

Experience report: Stomach acid deficiency remedied, and the heartburn was gone!

A reader wrote to us on exactly this topic: “In old age, and it doesn’t start at 80 years old – I’m 82 – the body produces only 45% of the stomach acid it had available when it was younger. The cause of stomach problems such as heartburn and reflux is too little stomach acid! The prescription of proton pump inhibitors borders on negligent bodily injury (4).

I had very bad reflux, problems every night despite my upper body raised and sleeping on my left side, burning in the esophagus and larynx, often with hoarseness. Esophageal and laryngeal cancer were foreseeable. For two years I have been taking 2 capsules of betaine HCI 650 mg daily with pepsin and gentian root (a bitter substance plant) and I’m fine.

5. Increase bed to relieve nighttime symptoms

M. S. wrote: “A good help against nocturnal reflux is to put an elevation of about 8 cm under the feet of the bed at the head end (e.g. wooden blocks, bricks or similar). As a result, stomach acid does not run into the esophagus.

A head wedge in bed does not help or hardly helps, you are more likely to crouch in bed. You quickly get used to the slight inclination with bed feet underneath, especially when the nighttime heartburn subsides. Try! Little effort, big help.”

6. Tapering off acid blockers with this trick

Our reader J. M. wrote to us: “I have found a method to get away from omeprazole without reflux problems. I would like to share this tip with other sufferers.

I have been taking stomach acid blockers for over 15 years now. In my teenage years until I was about 23 years old (now I am 35) due to poor nutrition and then or despite a change in diet for 3 to 4 years to 90% organic and much, much less sugar and animal fats, I simply kept it because I shied away from the reflux effect when I stopped taking it.

There is simply no 5 mg of omeprazole and so I have always taken 10 mg so far. But if I skipped just one, the reflux came back. I see simple marketing by the pharmaceutical industry here. Because if people could take smaller doses, they could taper off the drug, but the pharmaceutical industry would earn less or nothing more from it. Therefore, there are only acid blockers with at least 10 mg. If you stop taking them, you get reflux, so you continue to take the pills.

Now to my tip: I bought a gold scale or milligram scale that can weigh to 0.000 digits. Then I prepared 14 capsules of 10 mg omeprazole each and emptied each one. Then I always weighed about 5mg each and filled it back into the capsules. I did that 14 times.

Two days ago I took the last one and had a hearty brunch today. Whole value, in other words. And so far no more heartburn! Of course, you should always do all this in consultation with the doctor, which was also the case with me.”

7. Study: Plant-based diet works better than acid blockers

New York researchers led by reflux specialist Dr. Craig H. Zalvan prescribed a plant-based diet of fruits, vegetables, grain products and nuts for their reflux patients. In addition, the patients drank alkaline water. Animal products were almost not consumed at all.

In a second group of patients, the participants ate a normal diet but were given the usual acid blockers.

Of course, both groups avoided the well-known culprits, such as coffee, chocolate, fried foods, etc. After six weeks, the well-being of the study participants was compared. It turned out that the patients from the plant group were even better off than those patients who took acid blockers.

In the patients who had followed a healthy diet, it was also possible to observe not only a regression of reflux symptoms, but also an improvement in other symptoms, e.g. high blood pressure and hypercholesterolemia.

Compared to the acid blocker group, they also did not have to fear any undesirable side effects.

*Our gluten free 7 days recipes show you how delicious and varied plant-based nutrition can be. 

8. Medical product – effect like omeprazole, but fewer side effects

In a study from July 2023, the medical product neobianacid was shown to be at least as effective as the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole (5). The 275 participants suffered from heartburn due to non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux and upper abdominal pain.

For four weeks, they took either omeprazole (20 mg/day) or neobianacid (five times a day for two weeks, then up to eight times a day as needed). This was followed by a four-week phase for both groups, during which neobianacid was taken as needed. As emergency medication, the patients were allowed to use Magaldrate gel.

In the first two weeks, the medical device was able to alleviate the symptoms just as well as omeprazole. In the second two weeks, the group taking Neobianacid was able to reduce the daily dose to less than half (from an average of 5 to 2.1 tablets).

They also needed the emergency medication less often than the omeprazole group (only 3.9 times vs. 8.2 times).

Neobianacid could therefore be very suitable for tapering off PPIs or as an alternative to PPI – especially since it does not show any of the typical PPI side effects (vitamin deficiency, intestinal flora disorders, rebound effect). This is due to the completely different mechanism of action:
Neobianacid forms a protective film on the mucous membrane. PPIs, on the other hand, inhibit stomach acid production.

Neobianacid consists of Poliprotect®, a natural complex of polysaccharides (derived from mallow, marshmallow and aloe vera), as well as limestone and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). In addition, it contains flavonoids (extracts of chamomile and liquorice), cane sugar, gum arabic and natural mint flavoring.

Despite the sugar content, the advantages of the preparation clearly outweigh the disadvantages.

9. Check for manganese deficiency

In some sufferers, a manganese deficiency could be the cause of reflux – at least according to the book by Dr. Alfred V. Zamm entitled GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease), A Manganese Nutritional Deficiency: A Revolutionary Acid Reflux Book on Who Gets Cured, Who Doesn’t and Why Diet is Not A Factor (Dr. Zamm’s Medical Mysteries).

However, this is a hypothesis by Dr. Zamm, for which we could not find any conclusive studies. Nevertheless, it would be worth a try, so that you could have your manganese status checked by your doctor or naturopath – and then take the trace element if a deficiency is detected.

10. Mumijo instead of acid blocker

In 2015, Iranian researchers wrote that mumijo – an ancient remedy from the Himalayan mountains – could be taken instead of PPIs if they were prescribed as an accompaniment to painkillers or cortisone. Mumijo consists of so-called fulvic and humic acids, among other things.

These substances absorb excess stomach acid, detoxify the stomach and intestines at the same time, support the regeneration of the stomach and intestinal mucosa and thus protect against acid-related damage that could result from the aforementioned drugs.

* Here you can find Mumijo.

11. Fix melatonin deficiency

Melatonin is a hormone of the pineal gland that is responsible for the sleep-wake rhythm and is often used for sleep disorders, against jet lag and even as an anti-aging preparation.

In 2010, Brazilian researchers explained in the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology and Therapeutics how melatonin deficiency can lead to heartburn and how taking melatonin can therefore remedy heartburn:

The 34 participants received either omeprazole (2 x daily 20 mg each), melatonin (3 mg in the evening) or both together. It was shown that melatonin was an option and can be used concomitantly with omeprazole (or alone in the case of mild symptoms and melatonin deficiency), as melatonin enhanced the effect of omeprazole.

This is important because it can reduce the omeprazole dose and, of course, the omeprazole side effects at the same time. Overall, however, omeprazole alone was more effective in treating heartburn than melatonin alone (6).

The enterochromaffin cells of the gastrointestinal tract produce 400 times more melatonin than the pineal gland. This fact alone shows the extraordinary importance of melatonin for gastrointestinal functions.

Melatonin has an inhibitory effect on stomach acid production, also controls the function of the sphincter muscle between the stomach and esophagus and appears to protect the esophagus from acid-related damage (7).

Especially if there are sleep disorders at the same time as heartburn, this could be an indication that a melatonin deficiency is the cause – of both problems. If melatonin levels are raised back to healthy levels with the help of melatonin supplements, both excessive acid production and sleep are regulated.

The topic was already taken up in 2008 by the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. In the case study described there, melatonin, together with other natural remedies, was shown to be more effective in the treatment of heartburn than omeprazole.

Case report: Melatonin instead of acid blockers

The case report was about a 64-year-old woman who no longer wanted to take acid blockers due to osteoporosis. (Acid blockers worsen calcium absorption and can thus reduce bone density.) The woman only managed to get out of the PPI vicious circle when she included melatonin in her program.

She took 6 mg of melatonin daily along with other supplements, such as 5-hydroxytryptophan, methionine, betaine, B vitamins, and more. After 40 days, the patient was able to stop taking the acid blockers completely – without any rebound effect or other symptoms.

12. Mountain tea works similarly to ranitidine

An extract from the mountain tea plant had a similarly good stomach protection effect as ranitidine, an antihistamine that is also used as an acid blocker (but is not one of the PPIs, but is an H2 receptor antagonist).

So you see: There are ways and means to get stomach complaints such as heartburn under control and at the same time free yourself from dependence on stomach medications such as PPIs with many side effects.

13. Aloe Vera Water

Aloe Vera has soothing mucilage that helps with acid reflux and gastritis

1. Peel a large Aloe leaf
2. Wash the slime off with water
3. Cut it into big chunks
4. Put it in a jar with 500ml water
5. Leave it for 24 hours in the fridge

Now drink every morning 250ml of the Aloe water and replace the water in the Jar with 250ml fresh water. You can use one leave for about 12 days.

14. Conventional Acid Blocker Alternatives

If you are now looking for a PPI alternative and do not have much time for natural remedies, then it is better to use antacids (e.g. Rennie) or alginate-based remedies (e.g. Gaviscon) in a pinch – although these can also lead to mineral deficiencies in the long run.

However, the so-called H2 receptor antagonists (e.g. ranitidine) are out of the question as an alternative, as they can also lead to the rebound effect – albeit in a weaker version than in PPIs.

The ten first steps away from acid blockers

Below are ten steps that can help you get away from acid blockers and overcome your heartburn and reflux:

1. First of all, avoid everything that you personally could not tolerate before taking PPI, such as chocolate, smoked foods, fatty foods, pizza, alcohol, etc.
2. Choose light food consisting of steamed vegetables, finely grated raw carrot vegetables (eat slowly!) and millet or potatoes as a side dish. Eat bread only toasted or stale (it is much more tolerable in this form than fresh from the bakery).
3. For drinks, choose water, herbal teas or diluted vegetable juices. Remove from the drinks list what you did not tolerate before taking PPI, such as soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, carbonated drinks, fruit juices, coffee and black tea.
4. Try out which herbal tea is particularly good for you, e.g. chamomile tea and now and then a ginger tea or mountain tea (see above under 12.).
5. Eat many small meals throughout the day instead of a few large meals and eat the last meal at least three to four hours before bedtime.
6. If you’re struggling with reflux at night, raise the headboard of your bed as described above under 5.
7. If heartburn occurs, test what will help you best in the short term. Examples include:
   • Zeolite or bentonite
   • soaked flaxseed or psyllium husks
   • Potato juice
   • chew a few almonds with porridge and swallow very slowly in small portions
   • a base colloid
   • the Sango Sea Coral stirred in water
   • Sango marine coral tablets that can be sucked slowly
   • if necessary, baking soda (e.g. Kaiser’s baking soda) or an antacid from the pharmacy (e.g. Rennie or similar)
8. Walk for at least an hour a day, which has been shown to improve heartburn or reflux and of course has many other health benefits.
9. Chewing unsweetened chewing gum also helps with reflux. However, it does not reduce acidity or combat the cause of heartburn. However, chewing gum leads to increased saliva production, which in turn protects the esophagus from acid damage. One hour of chewing apparently protects for three hours, as found in a study (8).
10. In addition, you should of course also look for the actual causes of the problem and then remedy them with holistic measures. For example, check for melatonin and manganese deficiencies, as well as stomach acid deficiencies – see above.