How to Counteract Too Much Ginger

Ginger confers many health benefits; it aids digestion, alleviates nausea, reduces blood pressure and inflammation, and helps protect against cancer. But if you over-consume ginger (which is difficult to do), you may find yourself with more issues than you started with. While ginger helps with many digestive problems, it can also cause or aggravate acid indigestion (acid reflux and ulcers, for example), and its status as a diuretic can cause discomfort as well as more serious problems for people at risk of kidney stones. There are ways to ease the discomfort when you find you've too zealously consumed ginger.

Things You'll Need

• Baking soda or antacids
• Water
• Licorice extract
• Digestible, alkaline foods
• Glutamine extract (or cabbage juice)

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Instructions

Alleviating Acid Indigestion

• 1

  Dissolve a small spoonful of baking soda in your water to induce the same alkalizing effect as over-the-counter antacids in order to alleviate digestive discomfort caused by an excess of stomach acid. Be aware that both quick-fix alkalizing solutions can, over the long-term, cause the further production of acid.

• 2

  Avoid physical exertion, which can exacerbate acid indigestion, but also resist lying down immediately; resting horizontally only allows the acid to rest too -- where it is not supposed to. If you need sleep, prop some pillows below your head and lower back to encourage gravity's help in digestion.

• 3

  Drink plenty of water at least 20 minutes before meals, which has been shown to reduce ulcer symptoms. You can also consume a licorice supplement before each meal, which helps to protect an insufficiently lined stomach from the discomfort of acid.

• 4

  Avoid overly acidic foods like citrus, coffee, and tomatoes, which can be very painful when they contribute to acid reflux or, in the case of ulcers, make contact with an insufficiently lined stomach. You should be able to resume eating fruits and vegetables, which have an ultimately alkalizing effect on the body, when your condition has healed.

• 5

  Avoid foods that are difficult to digest, including meat, dairy, and highly-refined or greasy foods. Protect your body from producing excess acid as a last resort when enzymes are not able to adequately break down foods.

• 6

  Eat whole, alkaline foods (bananas, coconut yogurt, and avocados are great) that will not irritate your digestive system. Try soaking and/or sprouting protein and carbohydrate dense foods like nuts, legumes and grains to make them more digestible.

• 7

  Take digestive enzymes with every meal, as well as daily probiotics to ensure efficient break-down of food to reduce the body's need to produce excess acid.

• 8

  Heal ulcers with glutamine, an amino acid that provides fuel to the stomach lining's cells, in the form of supplements or cabbage juice, which has been found to help ulcer patients heal more quickly.

Countering Ginger's Diuretic Effect

• 9

  To replace lost water due to the diuretic effect of ginger, drink plenty of fluids. Avoid caffeine, which is also a diuretic, and consume salt to help your body retain water.

• 10

  Take digestive enzymes after each meal if you suspect that any food sensitivities or allergies are compounding the diuretic effect of ginger.

• 11

  Take daily probiotics to help boost your overall digestive health, especially if your symptoms last several days.