๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
- Madhukar Dama
- Sep 30
- 11 min read
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๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐
In every Indian home, there is a small ritual.
A packet of ENO kept ready near the kitchen.
A bottle of Gelusil tucked in a bag.
A strip of Digene hidden in the office drawer.
We live with acidity like it is part of being modern, part of eating fast, part of working late, part of living under stress. Relief comes in minutes, but the problem never leaves.
We donโt realise that the very tablets that give us comfort are the ones that quietly make acidity our lifelong companion.
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๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ
Antacids neutralize stomach acid for a short time.
But the body actually needs acid to digest food. When you cancel it, the stomach simply produces more.
That is why the burn comes back tomorrow. What started as an occasional irritation slowly becomes a permanent cycle. Instead of healing, antacids make acidity lifelong.
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๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐
We think antacids are safe because they are sold everywhere โ at chemist shops, bus stands, even paan shops. They taste harmless, like candy.
But over time, they weaken digestion, reduce nutrient absorption, disturb gut bacteria, and trap you into constant dependence.
Antacids give relief in minutes, but they never solve the root cause.
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๐๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
Acidity does not come from your stomach being weak.
It comes from lifestyle:
Eating late dinners and heavy oily food
Too many cups of tea and coffee
Skipping meals, then overeating
Stress, tension, and lack of sleep
Eating while rushing, working, or scrolling the phone
If these continue, no medicine in the world can give lasting cure.
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๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ
Healing is possible, and it is simple. Most people who make these changes start noticing improvement within two to three weeks:
Start the morning with warm water.
Eat breakfast on time.
Keep meals light and chew well.
Eat dinner before 8 pm, lighter than lunch.
Reduce fried, spicy, and oily foods.
Avoid maida, milk, white rice, sugar, refined oil, and wheat.
Walk at least 20 minutes daily.
Sleep properly, and give rest to the mind.
Along with these steps, Dr. Madhukar Dama gives castor oil, which patients use for full-body massage and bath, and Simarouba kashaya for long-term acidity โ a method that has already helped hundreds of people who had acidity for years.
He also conducts a long personalised counselling session for each patient, helping them identify their daily errors and guiding them in step-by-step lifestyle improvements.
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๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐
The difference is simple:
Antacids give relief today but make acidity return tomorrow.
Natural methods take a little longer, but they remove acidity from the roots.
Antacids weaken digestion. Natural methods strengthen digestion.
Antacids make you dependent. Natural methods make you free.
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๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐
Acidity is not a punishment. It is a message from the body โ a signal that something is out of rhythm.
You can either silence the message with a tablet, or you can listen to it, correct it, and allow the body to heal.
The choice looks small, but it shapes your future.
One path leads to years of burning, dependence, and weakness.
The other path is simple, natural, and freeing.
The next time your stomach burns, pause. Donโt reach for a tablet.
Listen to your body โ it is showing you the way out.
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๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
(Madhukarโs off-grid homestead near Yelmadagi. A neem tree throws shade on a mud bench. Birds call from the fields. A small brass pot steams on a clay stove. Two friends from Bidar โ a Tahsildar and an IT Engineer โ arrive, both carrying the tired, sharp look of people who live with acidity.)
Tahsildar: Madhukar, weโve both had acidity for years. I carry ENO like people carry keys.
IT Engineer: I keep Gelusil in my laptop bag. Some days two, three times.
Madhukar: Sit. First, water. Then we will talk slowly. Acidity hates slow.
(They sit. The air is quiet enough to hear the wind in the millets.)
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1) ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐?
Madhukar: Tell me your day, not your disease.
Tahsildar: I wake at 6. Tea. No breakfast. Office by 9. Work, meetings, chai, biscuits. Lunch at 3 โ whatever is there at the canteen. Evening visits, again tea. Dinner at 10:30 or 11. Spicy, often oily. Straight to bed. Burning at night.
IT Engineer: I wake at 7:30, skip breakfast. Coffee on the run. Long sits in front of screen. Lunch is fast โ biryani or pizza. Evening coffee. Dinner at 10, sometimes 11. After dinner I scroll the phone till 1 am. Throat burns when I lie down.
Madhukar: Good. Youโve already shown me the causes without using the word โacidity.โ
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2) ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง
Madhukar: Listen like you would listen to an order sheet. These are the usual fires:
Timing fires: Skipping breakfast, late lunch, very late dinner, eating and sleeping close together.
Food fires: Fried and spicy foods, pickles, vinegar-heavy foods, tomato-onion gravies, sour fruits on empty stomach, chocolate, mint, carbonated drinks.
White fires: Maida, sugar, white rice, refined oil; for many, milk and wheat also trigger.
Habit fires: Eating fast, big portions, not chewing, eating while angry, worried, or scrolling.
Drink fires: Too much tea/coffee, especially on empty stomach; alcohol, smoking.
Body fires: Tight belts, long sitting, slouching, belly fat pressing up, no walking.
Sleep fires: Late sleep, poor sleep, screens at night, lying down right after meals.
Medicine fires: Regular painkillers (like many use for headache/knee), certain antibiotics, steroids, iron tablets, calcium channel blockers โ they can irritate the stomach.
Hidden fires: H. pylori infection, hiatal hernia, stress hormones, constipation, dehydration.
Tahsildar: That sounds like my timetable.
IT Engineer: And my menu.
Madhukar: Then we know where to start.
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3) ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ โ ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฐ๐๐ซ
Madhukar: Antacids are short relief, long trouble. They cancel acid briefly. The stomach needs acid to digest; when you silence it, the body over-corrects and makes more. So the burn returns stronger. You think, โI need more medicine.โ A loop begins.
IT Engineer: What about stronger ones the doctor gave for a month?
Madhukar: Some medicines are useful short term under guidance. The mistake is self-prescribing for months, changing nothing else, and believing โno burn = cure.โ Relief is not cure. Cure means the body digests calmly without tablets.
Tahsildar: We treated the smoke and kept feeding the fire.
Madhukar: Exactly.
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4) ๐๐จ๐ง๐ -๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ โ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ
Madhukar: People think acidity is just โjalna.โ But the ripple goes everywhere:
Food pipe & throat: Reflux, sore throat, hoarseness, chronic cough, burning chest, swallowing trouble if irritated for long.
Mouth & teeth: Bad breath, sour taste, tooth enamel wear.
Stomach & gut: Gastritis, ulcers, bloating, constipation/loose motions, poor absorption of nutrients.
Energy & blood: Low iron, low B12 over time โ fatigue, brain fog, irritability.
Sleep & mood: Night burn breaks sleep; poor sleep worsens acidity โ a circle.
Lungs & sinus: Reflux can trigger cough, asthma-like symptoms for some.
Bones (over years of wrong meds/poor absorption): Weaker bones, cramps (when minerals go off).
Weight: Some gain (comfort eating), some lose (fear of eating).
Heart confusion: Chest burn can mimic heart pain โ creates fear and stress, which fuels more acid.
Everyday life: Missed work, low patience, quick anger, poor focus.
IT Engineer: It touches everything.
Madhukar: The stomach is not a box. It is a drum; when you hit it wrong, the whole house hears.
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5) ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ โ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ
Madhukar: We donโt fight the body. We help it remember. Step by step:
1. Timing: Eat breakfast on time. Lunch at a steady hour. Dinner before 8 pm. Leave at least 3 hours before lying down.
2. Portion & pace: Smaller plates, slow eating, chew till soft. Put the spoon down between bites.
3. Calm eating: Sit, breathe three slow breaths, then begin. No angry meals, no phone scrolling.
4. Cut the whites: No maida, milk, white rice, sugar, refined oil, wheat (trial off for 6โ8 weeks).
5. Oil & spice: Reduce deep-fried, very spicy, sour-on-empty-stomach. Keep pickle as a side, not a main.
6. Drinks: Tea/coffee never on empty stomach. Two cups total is plenty. Avoid fizzy drinks.
7. Water rhythm: Hydrate through the day. Sip, donโt flood immediately before/after meals.
8. Movement: Walk 20โ30 minutes daily; 10โ15 minutes slow walk after lunch or dinner helps.
9. Posture: Loosen tight belts. Sit tall. If night burn, raise the head side of the bed a little.
10. Sleep: Lights out earlier. Screens off at least an hour before sleep.
11. Bowels: Keep them regular โ fiber from vegetables, warm water in the morning.
12. Sun & breath: Morning sunlight, a few rounds of calm breathing. The stomach loves peace.
13. Trigger journal: Note what food, time, or mood triggers you. Patterns teach you faster than advice.
14. Rescue (non-tablet): Warm water sips, a slow walk, quiet breathing. Let the body settle.
15. Check the hidden: If pain is severe, weight loss, black stools, vomiting blood, or trouble swallowing โ doctor visit first.
Tahsildar: This is not difficult. It isโฆ disciplined.
Madhukar: Discipline is kindness practiced daily.
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6) ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐๐ โ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐
Madhukar: Along with food and timing, I give castor oil and Simarouba kashaya.
Castor oil (full-body massage & bath): Warm it mildly. Patients apply from neck to toe with slow strokes. Sit 20โ30 minutes. Then a warm bath. Many feel the abdomen soften, bowels move better, mind quieten. Do it once or twice a week to begin.
Simarouba kashaya: A simple herbal decoction. We use it to cool and steady digestion over weeks. Iโll show you the measure and timing that suits your day.
IT Engineer: This we can do.
Madhukar: And you will do it โ not as a ritual to fear, but as a small promise to yourself.
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7) ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐
Madhukar: I also do a long personalised counselling session for each person โ we sit with your exact routine, find the errors, and design a plan you can actually live with. Change must fit your life, or it wonโt last.
Tahsildar: We need that. My days are not mine, many times.
Madhukar: Then we will protect a few small windows that are yours โ breakfast, walk, early dinner. Even government files respect a firm stamp.
(They laugh.)
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8) ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง, ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ข๐ง
IT Engineer: How soon will it calm?
Madhukar: Many feel change in 2โ3 weeks. True steadiness comes in 6โ8 weeks. Think of it like clearing a backlog. The body is patient when we are patient.
Tahsildar: And the tablets?
Madhukar: As the burn reduces, you need them less. We donโt yank; we wean. Relief without tablets is the sign of cure.
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9) ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐
Madhukar: Next time the chest burns, donโt panic.
Sit, breathe, sip warm water, walk slowly for five minutes, notice what caused it. Learn, adjust the next meal. A hundred tiny corrections build a new stomach.
IT Engineer: Feels possible.
Tahsildar: Feelsโฆ lighter already.
---
(Madhukar lifts the brass pot, pours steaming Simarouba kashaya into steel tumblers, and hands them over. He brings out two labelled bottles of castor oil.)
Madhukar: Drink this here today. And take these with you โ castor oil for full-body massage and bath, and Simarouba kashaya with the instructions we discussed. We will speak again after two weeks and fine-tune.
Tahsildar: Thank you, Madhukar.
IT Engineer: For the first time, it feels like the stomach is not my enemy.
Madhukar: The stomach is your teacher. When you listen, it stops shouting.
(They sip the warm kashaya under the neem. Evening light settles on the fields. The slow cure has already begun.)
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๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
-- a poem for the antacid hunter
You wake late.
You skip breakfast.
You drink tea like itโs medicine.
You pour coffee into your emptiness.
You chew two biscuits, call it food.
You rush out, already burning.
At lunch you grab what comes first.
Puri, bhaji.
Vada, samosa.
Rice drowned in oil.
Or nothing at all.
Because work.
Because duty.
Because screens.
Because you think your stomach can wait.
Evening comes.
You drown another tea.
Another coffee.
Cigarette smoke with it.
Some fried snack with chutney.
More fire.
Night arrives.
You eat late.
Too late.
Oily, spicy, heavy.
You lie down.
Your stomach pushes fire up your throat.
Your sleep is broken.
You turn.
You sweat.
You cough.
You curse.
You burn.
So you reach.
One sachet.
One strip.
One bottle.
The antacid fizz,
the antacid chew,
the antacid lie.
Five minutes later: calm.
You smile.
You believe.
You swallow the story that
relief = cure.
But it is not cure.
It is a whip across your stomach.
It is a trick.
It is silence, not solution.
It is the reason you will burn tomorrow,
and the day after,
and the day after that,
for years,
for decades.
---
Acidity is not small.
It is not โjust gas.โ
It is a slow leak of fire,
spreading everywhere.
It climbs your throat at midnight.
It scratches your voice.
You clear your throat again and again.
You cough without cough.
You feel hoarse,
dry,
burned.
It rots your teeth.
Sour burps wash acid over enamel.
Your teeth yellow, chip, crack.
Your breath stinks,
your mouth tastes bitter,
your smile fades.
It lives in your chest.
Sometimes you think: heart attack.
Sometimes you think: asthma.
Doctors check,
machines hum,
reports come,
and the truth stares:
it was your stomach burning its way upward.
It starves your blood.
Iron slips away.
B12 fades.
You wake tired.
You walk heavy.
Your brain fogs.
You forget.
You lose focus.
You lose patience.
You lose yourself.
It eats your bones,
year after year of tablets stealing calcium.
Your knees ache.
Your back bends.
You think age is the thief.
It was acid all along.
It infects your sleep.
You lie down, fire climbs up.
You sit up, cough.
You stuff pillows under your head.
You pace the room.
You never rest.
You live half-awake, half-burned.
It swallows your mood.
You snap at your children.
You bark at your wife.
You curse the traffic.
You hate your job.
You donโt know itโs the acid,
the silent acid,
making your soul bitter.
It drips into your lungs.
Silent reflux,
asthma flares,
sinus clogs.
You breathe acid.
You sneeze acid.
You live acid.
It breaks your bowels.
Constipation some days.
Loose stools others.
Bloating.
Gas.
Cramps.
Every meal a gamble.
Every toilet visit a lottery.
It laughs at your medicines.
Painkillers add more fire.
Antibiotics scrape the lining.
Tablets for one illness
light up another.
It grows inside,
quietly,
like a slow war.
Ulcers.
Bleeds.
Polyps.
Precancerous shadows.
And you still pop the candy tablet
and tell yourself:
โAll okay.โ
But it is not okay.
It is monstrous.
It is endless.
It is fire living inside your body.
---
And the causes?
I will point.
One by one.
Skipping meals.
Overeating.
Late eating.
Fast eating.
Fried food.
Spicy food.
Pickles.
Sour fruit on empty stomach.
Tea, tea, tea.
Coffee, coffee, coffee.
Alcohol.
Cigarettes.
Stress.
Screens at night.
Tight clothes.
No walk.
No sun.
No rest.
No breath.
Every one of these
is a small shovel of coal
thrown into your furnace.
---
And still,
you call antacids your friends.
Listenโ
they are not your friends.
They are your prison guards.
They feed you comfort,
then lock you tighter.
They give you minutes of peace,
then steal years of life.
Relief is not cure.
Relief is debt.
And every debt must be paid.
---
The cure?
Donโt laugh.
It is too simple for your complicated brain.
Eat on time.
Eat before 8.
Eat less at night.
Chew.
Walk.
Drink water.
Sleep early.
Breathe.
Throw away maida, milk, sugar, white rice, wheat, refined oil.
Throw away excuses.
Throw away hurry.
Do this, and the fire dims.
Do this, and the body forgives.
Do this, and you no longer need
the fizz,
the chew,
the strip,
the lie.
---
But here is the truth,
the cruel, honest truth:
Most of you wonโt.
You will nod at these words.
You will share them.
You will agree,
โWah, correct, so true.โ
And tomorrow,
you will drink tea on empty stomach.
You will skip lunch.
You will eat oily at midnight.
You will reach for the packet,
the strip,
the lie.
Thatโs why acidity stays.
Thatโs why you burn.
Thatโs why you call it โlifelong.โ
It is not lifelong.
You made it lifelong.
---
I point at you now.
At your habits.
At your choices.
At your cowardice.
At your laziness.
At your excuses.
And I say:
This is why you burn.
This is why your chest aches.
This is why your sleep breaks.
This is why your bones weaken.
This is why your mood sours.
This is why your blood fades.
This is why your future shrinks.
---
You want a cure?
It is here.
It is simple.
It is boring.
It is discipline.
It is patience.
It is you.
You either take it,
or you keep burning.
Forever.
---
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