MANILA, Philippines - DJ George of pop/R&B station Wave 89.1 (FM) shuns dependence on anything that doesn’t work. Like medicines, even if prescribed.
In June 2011, the 38-year-old radio DJ/voice talent thought she was near death when she felt chest pains, couldn’t breathe, and belched so bad.
Based on lab tests and images from a camera inserted over her throat, she was told she was suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Her ENT doctor prescribed some medicine, which DJ George described as a proton inhibitor. (GERD is a condition in which food or liquid comes up from the stomach into the esophagus and can cause heartburn, nausea, chest pain, and other symptoms.)
“For three months, I was taking this expensive tablet, but I didn’t feel any improvement in my throat,” she recalls. “My stomach acids may have been addressed, yet I still felt a lump in my throat which was uncomfortable.”
She also spent those months sleeping in a semi-reclined position to avoid acid backing up into her throat that would cause the swelling. She was disappointed that her medicine didn’t address the problem of swelling. It only addressed the stomach acids by inhibiting their production.
A singer-friend suffering from hyperacidity told DJ George to try Easy Pha-max wheatgrass whose bus ads DJ George had already noticed before. There are other wheatgrass variants, but DJ’s friend swore this particular one “really works.”
A week after drinking wheatgrass, DJ George felt a bit better.That “something” in her throat, she said, lessened in size and she didn’t feel uncomfortable as much anymore unlike when she wasn’t taking the natural, organic health supplement.
“This makes sense to me now. Because wheatgrass is alkaline, it tapers the acid and coats the esophagus down to the stomach with alkaline, thus addressing the problem of the lump in my throat. When I first drank Easy Pha-max wheatgrass (with honey), its smell reminded me of green tea. I also drink wheatgrass pure, but because I have a sweet tooth, I frequently drink the honey-flavored one,” she relates.