Have you ever heard of a laughing hyena with heartburn?

"A sense of humour is good for you. Have you ever heard of a laughing hyena with heartburn?"

This is a quote by Bob Hope which reminded me of a time when I told a BUPA consultant, in passing, I wasn't there for heartburn, that I had suffered heartburn in the past, the cause of which I put down to stress. Oh, he said, not really listening, did the antacids work? No, I replied, I felt that the antacids were taking over what my body should do naturally so I took extract of Papaya and it worked for me. Rubbish, he replied.

Well, Mr Consultant you stick with your Gaviscon and I will stay with extract of Papaya although I rarely suffer from it in slow paced Andalucía.  They use Papaya as a meat tenderiser in some parts of the far east – just so that you know.

And just for good measure I tried a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (quickly followed by a glass of water) once and that worked too but the big pharmaceuticals like Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis, Sanofi, Merck & Co, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche et al would prefer to sell you a pill instead.