Day 22166

There is a reason it’s called “comfort food.”

Dinner last night was a grilled cheese sandwich, which is the king of comfort food. I wasn’t going through any emotional turmoil, but my stomach sure was. The carefully constructed and cooked sandwich helped a little, but the acids in my tummy were most likely calmed by other forces.

My stomach issues set off a conversation between my paramour and I. She had heard tales of some of my mother’s schemes for an upset stomach, one of which is carrot juice and Coke.

I’ve found that not many people have heard of this remedy, which seems to be limited to my brothers and me. Carrot juice from a bottle is not sufficient, so what needs to be done is that you must boil some fresh, raw carrots for a good amount of time. The smelly broth is then combined 1:1 with Coca Cola. Drink it down and the stomach ache will soon disappear.

I swear to all that is holy, this will work. The only drawback is that is probably one of the most disgusting concoctions to taste. That and it takes some effort to create.

As someone who has a long history of nausea, as well as having a son who has a propensity for a sour stomach, I have a few other remedies I use before pulling out the big guns. I can’t stand the taste or texture of Pepto Bismal and just the thought of it makes my nausea that much worse.

However, there are some things that work well, like chewing a stick of gum. Peppermint is a natural acid reducer and the chewing action signals to the body that it needs to calm the stomach in preparation for digestion. It’s surprising how well it works.

The second remedy is to eat a banana. I’m sure there is some scientific basis for the banana trick, as well as the carrots, but I’m too lazy this morning to look it up.

The only drawback to my grilled cheese last night was that my mom wasn’t around to tell me that everything was going to be okay. Of course, I never knew when she said that whether it was a threat or a warning that I would soon be drinking carrot broth and Coke.