Ayurveda for acid reflux and heartburn in San Ramon

A burning feeling behind the breastbone after eating, a sour taste that rises at night, or heartburn that returns whenever dinner runs late: this is how most people describe reflux when they first call. Preeti Gupta helps people with GERD and heartburn at her clinic in San Ramon by looking closely at what, when and how fast they eat.

Preeti does not diagnose pathological conditions from a Western perspective, so her work sits alongside the care of your physician and never replaces it.

What Ayurveda looks at

In Ayurveda, burning and acidity are tied to pitta, the dosha of heat and transformation, and to the strength of agni, the digestive fire. Preeti looks at:

• Meal timing. A long gap followed by a large dinner, or eating late at night, is the first pattern she asks about.

• Heat in the diet. Very spicy, sour, fried or fermented food, and how much coffee or alcohol is in your week.

• Pace and posture. Eating at a desk or in a hurry, and whether you lie down soon after a meal.

What a First Visit covers

A First Visit is 90 minutes ($250). Preeti reviews your daily routine, diet, digestion, exercise and sleep, using a health history, pulse analysis and tongue diagnosis. For acid reflux and heartburn, expect time on:

• A day of eating with times, taken from your food diary, and where the burning shows up in that day.

• How you sleep when reflux wakes you, and the stress you carry into mealtimes.

• A plan of cooling, unhurried meals, and whether herbs make sense alongside your current medication.

You leave with a written diet, herbal and lifestyle plan. Follow-ups are $125 for 60 minutes. See pricing.

What you can start this week

Two dishes her recipe pages describe as cooling:

• Cilantro chutney. Her page calls cilantro cooling and good for digestion. A spoonful beside a meal is an easy start.

• Bottle gourd (gheeya). A light vegetable dish. Her page says bottle gourd supports the digestive fire without adding heat.

See your physician first if

• Chest pain, pressure in the arm or jaw, or shortness of breath. Call 911; this can be a heart problem, not reflux.

• Trouble swallowing, food that sticks, vomiting blood, or black, tarry stools.

• Reflux that wakes you at night, comes back often, or arrives with weight loss you did not plan.

Common questions about acid reflux and heartburn

Can I stop my acid reducer if I follow an Ayurvedic plan?

No, not on your own. Preeti does not change or replace prescribed medicine. She works on meal timing, portion size and routine alongside your prescription, and any change to a medicine is a decision between you and your physician.

Is reflux the same as heartburn in Ayurveda?

Ayurveda does not use the Western labels. It describes burning, sourness and heat after eating as a pitta imbalance and asks why digestion is running hot. A diagnosis such as GERD still belongs to your physician.

Which foods will Preeti ask me to change?

She builds a plan around you, not a banned list. Expect questions about spicy, sour and fried food, coffee, late dinners and portion size, then a small number of changes she thinks you can keep, one or two at a time.

Ayurveda is a traditional system of wellness and is not a substitute for medical care. Content here is educational. Please consult your physician about any medical condition. Preeti Gupta is not licensed by the State of California as a healing arts practitioner; Ayurvedic services are complementary to the care of licensed providers.