Got Ulcers? Here's a painless way to get rid of them.

Leslie Carl
Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭
edited April 2022 in Herbal Medicine-Making

I don’t even remember where I got this from, but it was a life saver for my husband back in 1987. He was having severe abdominal pains that prevented him from being able to work. The doctor diagnosed him as having several peptic ulcers in his stomach causing the pain and told him to start using Tagamet, a stomach acid reducer to relieve the pain. Well, his father had been using Tagamet for years and still had to keep using it, so I knew it was not going to get rid of the ulcers.

So, I dived into my box of remedies and found what was called “Slippery Elm Gruel”. My husband didn’t like the taste of most of my home-spun remedies and usually balked at them. But he actually liked this one and enjoyed taking it!

His pain subsided within 2 hours and he was able to go back to work the next day. He continued the regimen for 2 weeks to make sure the ulcers healed. I’m glad to say that they never reoccurred.

Also, just 2 years ago, I ended up with ulcers. At first I thought it was food poisoning but it lasted longer than 24 hours and kept getting worse. The pain got so bad all I could do was lay down. At this point I realized it was ulcers. We were on a 3-day trip away from home and any of my remedies, but my husband managed to find a health food store that had the slippery elm powder.

I was in too much pain to travel, so we stayed an extra day while I drank my Gruel every 2 hours. By the next day I was good enough to travel so we returned home. The pain went away completely within 3 days and never returned. I kept taking the gruel for a week after that anyway.

The Slippery Elm Bark did the trick both times! It’s a mucilaginous herb and so it soothes and heals mucous linings and tissues.

Here’s the recipe:

Slippery Elm Gruel

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp. Slippery Elm Bark Powder

• 1 cup milk or almond milk

• 1 tsp. honey

• a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg

Directions:

  1. Make a paste of the slippery elm bark and honey.
  2. Bring milk just to the boiling point (small bubbles around the edges).
  3. Stir in the slippery elm mixture as it reaches boiling point.
  4. Remove from heat.
  5. Stir 5-10 seconds adding cinnamon or nutmeg.
  6. Drink while warm.
  7. Do this 3x daily.


Comments

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'm glad this helped. I knew a guy back in the day who had pieces of his stomach removed for bleeding ulcers more than once. He suffered terribly. Decades later we find out that ulcers are caused by bacteria.

    Your gruel must both soothe and kill off bacteria. I saved your recipe just in case.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi @Leslie Carl Thank you so much.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Thanks for the recipe, @Leslie Carl . Any idea on whether this would be helpful for someone with chronic acid reflux?

  • VickiP
    VickiP Posts: 586 ✭✭✭✭

    @Leslie Carl Thank you, it does make sense as slippery elm has long been used for external wounds and as a drawing herb for boils and such. I imagine it would be very healing for ulcers. Something else to add to the medicine cabinet. I'm going to need a bigger cabinet.

  • merlin44
    merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl just a note regarding the "discovery" that bacteria caused stomach ulcers, it was admitted after the patent on the commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals expired.

  • Obiora E
    Obiora E Posts: 517 ✭✭✭✭

    @Leslie Carl Thank you for sharing. I have never had ulcers but I have saved the recipe in case someone I know in the future has them.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    @blevinandwomba Yes! It will soothe and heal the damage done to the stomach and esophagus and will decrease the amount of acid produced. Something else that is helpful is papaya enzymes (I use American Health's Super Papaya Plus because it contains all the different digestive enzymes. It's the only papaya enzyme product that has worked for me.) or ginger tea. I like to make ginger fat bombs and take one before going to bed, to keep from having heartburn. If I eat a late dinner or snack, I can sometimes get heartburn when lying down in bed.

    Also, if you have heartburn after going to bed, try lying on your left side. This puts the acids in a part of your stomach away from your esophagus, so they are less likely to come up that way and cause the heartburn.

    If you are interested in the ginger fat bombs, here's the recipe:

    1/2 c. coconut butter

    1/2 c. coconut oil

    3 Tbsp. coconut sugar

    2 Tbsp. ginger

    Stir together in a double boiler on low heat until the sweetener is dissolved. Pour into silicon molds, mini muffin cups or ice cube trays and refrigerate for minimum 10 minutes. Makes 19 mini muffin cups.

    If you have a food processor with an "S" blade, you can also make your own coconut butter, Here's how:

    4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut or 5 c. flaked coconut

    1/4 tsp. pink himalayan salt

    Put coconut in the food processor with the "S" blade. Process until it reaches your desired consistency. Usually 7-8 minutes. Add the salt at this point and pulse for a few more seconds. When it is done it will be a bit runny and will solidify as it cools down, just like coconut oil does. You can store this at room temperature for one month. Makes 1 1/4 cups.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2019

    @merlin44 I think it is criminal how the pharmaceutical industry, along with the AMA and FDA practice so much deception concerning disease and our health, all in the name of profit. There's no profit for them in a healthy public.

    Their pill for heartburn you mentioned, was making 6 billion dollars a year profit for them. When the patent expired, they came up with another pill and spent 500 million dollars on an advertising campaign for it. And the beat goes on.......

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Leslie Carl - Please understand : my vote up is Not for the evil of 90% ama in bed with the blasted pharma. Having spent 40 years as their slave, I can scarcely believe I survived that nightmare.

    I'm voting your post UP because what you said is, tragically Fact.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Thanks @Leslie Carl . I only get heartburn or reflux occasionally, and generally when I've well earned it by overeating. Kombucha is a good preventative for me. My dad, however, is really troubled by it. Most of the natural remedies I've come across he is pretty suspicious of, but that sounded like something he might try. Next time I order herbs I'll give it a whirl.

  • Heide
    Heide Posts: 14 ✭✭✭

    Thank you for this recipe! I have a friend who suffers from stomach pain. I wish you would add a Pinterest button so I can save these great recipes in an organized and accesible fashion. I'll need a brain tonic next! LOL

  • Heide
    Heide Posts: 14 ✭✭✭
  • Dawn McLaughlin
    Dawn McLaughlin Posts: 1 ✭✭✭

    Love this gruel recipe!

    Slippery Elm is a wonderful mucus membrane soother. Will work all the way through the GI tract. Aloe vera would be a good addition for healing ulcers as well.

    Thank you for sharing!

  • Denise Walz
    Denise Walz Posts: 2 ✭✭✭

    KarenGray….

    I’ve been told I also have h-pylori and haven’t found a way to get rid of them. "Thankfully, there have been several scientific tests for the effectiveness of cranberry, which have proven to be positive against helicobacter-pylori. The cranberry actually disassociates the bacteria from wherever it has attached itself onto, making it more readily flushable out of the body."

    Could you go into more depth about this quote?

    TYIA

    Denise

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    @4waystoyummy I do have a post on my blog with the slippery elm gruel recipe on it. At your request, I just added some social sharing buttons at the end of the article, so that you can Pin it. This is the link https://naturalhealthbuzz101.com/what-to-do-for-ulcers/. I don't have the ginger bomb recipe up yet but will try to do it in the next few days. Thank you for your interest!

  • Denise Walz
    Denise Walz Posts: 2 ✭✭✭
    edited September 2019

    I’m actually looking for the cranberry recipe for H-Pylori that KarenGray talked about.

    Thanks,

    Denise

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2019

    @Denise Walz Here's a little more information about H-Pylori for you:

    Researchers at the Royal Free and University College London Medical School in the UK tested the effects of 25 different natural remedies against Helicobacter Pylori. They found that chili, black caraway, oregano, licorice, borage, cumin and ginger were amongst the most effective at killing the bacteria.

    Researchers at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology discovered that curcumin was able to eradicate Helicobactor Pylori infection in mice by suppressing matrix metalloproteinase3 and 9, two inflammatory molecules that are associated with Helicobacter Pylori infection.

    Researchers at the Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital in China found that yoghurt containing Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium was able to inhibit the growth of Helicobacter Pylori infection in humans.

    Also, since slippery elm bark has been found to cure ulcers, it must also be getting rid of the H-Pylori bacteria that causes them. If you continue to have problems with it, you may want to give some of these a try.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I don't have slippery elm on hand but I do have marshmallow powder and that seems to cut down my bouts of acid. Time and all these lovely remedies will tell. Nothing like being my own guinea pig! (I just realized the horrible implications of that cliche.)

  • cre8tiv369
    cre8tiv369 Posts: 67 ✭✭✭

    Lemon (or any citrus), when Citric Acid hits the Gastric Acid in our stomach, it instantly transforms into an alkaline. It the only time (I know of) that two acids can form an alkaline. This is why lemon water is so soothing and helps with heartburn and nausea. I had my first ulcer in 1979, and over the decades I have taken all sorts of prescriptions as well as homeopathics. Now days I only take Water, Calcium Carbonate, and/or Citric Acid. Water alone is the most effective immediate method to relieve acid, it instantly dilutes it. I find calcium carbonate is also immediately effective, as is lemon water. Acid pump inhibitors (Tagamet, Prilosec, etc) are incredibly dangerous and toxic (GreenMedInfo.com has been sounding that alarm for at least 6 or 7 years... in case you want to go read up on it).


    I have taken slippery elm for sore throats since the early 70s (it tastes great and makes an awesome throat lozenge). I might give this recipe a try if I need it in the future, typically I find quick relief and remission from water, calcium carbonate, and lemon water, but a new tasty beverage sounds cool and worthy of a try. Thank you for the recipe and for sharing.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl Slippery elm is mucilaginous and so it has healing effects on the stomach, esophagus, intestines and other mucous linings in the body. Marshmallow root is also mucilaginous, which would explain why it also works on your excess acid.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    @4waystoyummy I have the post up for you on the ginger bombs now, so you can Pin It. :)

    https://naturalhealthbuzz101.com/have-heartburn-heres-help/

  • Jimerson
    Jimerson Posts: 291 admin
    edited September 2019

    Thank you for this @Leslie Carl, adding this to my herbal medicine journal.


    Would you be able to recommend a good source for slippery elm bark?

  • one.ette
    one.ette Posts: 54 ✭✭✭

    I bought my last Slippery Elm Bark from Mountain Rose Herbs.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2019

    @Jimerson I get mine online from Mountain Rose Herbs just like one.ette. However, it appears they are out of stock of the powder right now. There's also https://www.starwest-botanicals.com. I've purchased from them before but they are a bit expensive. Another place that i haven't tried yet is https://www.herbco.com. They seem to have decent prices though.

  • maryannfricko
    maryannfricko Posts: 133 ✭✭✭

    I had ulcers. I got rid of them by drinking 2 cups of celery juice daily. It took a few weeks but was much healthier than taking medications (did that earlier and they came back).

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    @maryannfricko Yes, celery is another great remedy! Thank you for sharing that! Celery contains a special type of ethanol extract that is useful in protecting the lining of the digestive tract from ulcers. Celery nourishes the stomach, colon and intestines due to the presence of flavonoids, tannins, volatile oils and alkaloids. These compounds control the level of gastric acid released while also improving the level of protective mucus.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Here's an old discussion that I ran across that got lost in our update to the new forum format.

    I thought is worth bringing to the forefront again because it sounds worth printing out & having in your home remedies collection!

  • kbmbillups1
    kbmbillups1 Posts: 1,390 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning Thanks for bringing it back up. I did exactly what you said and copied quite a bit to have if we need it.