Chronic Heartburn and Acid Reflux Disease
Written on Mar 25, 2026
If you suffer from chronic heartburn or acid reflux disease, vinegar could be a simple answer to your problem. I have a story to relate that might make you think twice about the treatment your doctor prescribed or may prescribe in the future.
This vinegar trick may or may not work for you, but it worked for me years after a doctor diagnosed me with reflux disease.
My History of Chronic Heartburn
For years, before seeing a doctor about it, I suffered from chronic heartburn. It did not matter what I ate or drank or when, heartburn would randomly occur. It was so bad, I could drink a glass of water and get heartburn. Sometimes it was so bad that I also suffered from a lack of sleep, which affected me at work.
In 1996, I finally gave in and went to a military doctor. I had eaten chocolate covered coffee beans, and I was suffering badly. The doctor diagnosed me with reflux disease and prescribed an antacid medicine. He also gave me instructions on how to sleep (with my head raised) to prevent the bile from coming up.
While I was taking antacid medicine regularly, I felt very little heartburn. When I ran out of the pills, the heartburn returned in full force. Later on, I received a large supply of over-the-counter medicine, large enough to last me well beyond the expiration dates on the packages. It also kept the heartburn at bay until I had no more.
From that time until sometime in 2005, I ate Tums and generic Tums-like products like they were candy. The heartburn would not bother me until I ran out of them.
The Vinegar Trick
In 2005, a close friend of mine suggested I take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar when I started getting heartburn. He told me I needed more acid in my stomach, not less. I found the source of his information months later, but that is not important.
Later that same day, that familiar burning sensation returned. I thought about what he had said and started rooting around my kitchen cabinets looking for any kind of vinegar. I found a bottle of coconut vinegar.
I downed a tablespoon of the vinegar, and it burned all the way down. Five minutes later, I felt the heartburn disappear completely! I told myself it would not last. I did not get a heartburn attack again for months (after I moved to the Philippines in 2006). I followed the same procedure and once again rid myself of the heartburn almost instantly.
Acid Reflux Is Now a Bad Memory
I will not lie and say that I have not had any heartburn in the last 20 years. I have had a few trivial cases that did not last more than a few minutes. Each time, it was after I had finished eating some very spicy food. Think about that for a minute. I went from having severe acid reflux all the time to having rare occasions of mild heartburn.
What really happened? My digestive system was out of balance and not producing the amount of stomach acid required to digest food properly. Once I put it back into balance, the problem went away.
Other things can cause acid reflux disease, so you really should see a doctor before doing anything like this. If the doctor merely states the obvious and prescribes an antacid, I would recommend giving the vinegar trick a try. It does not matter what kind of vinegar it is. It cannot hurt, except for the burning sensation as you swallow it. Mix it with water if you cannot swallow it.
I no longer worry about eating spicy food or other things that can cause heartburn. Along with pickles, I have taken a liking to eating cucumber slices soaked in vinegar, salt, and pepper. I have not used any kind of antacid medicine since 2005.
Image by JeepersMedia at Flickr, CC BY 2.0