Is Gripe Water Safe?

Gripe water is a harmless and safe home remedy because it is a homeopathic preparation usually made from different combination of water, caraway, ginger, peppermint, aloe, blackthorn, lemon balm, glycerin, fructose, dill weed oil, cinnamon, clove bud oil, cardamom seed oil and vegetable charcoal. Most of the ingredients are herbal extracts and quite safe if used in a limited amount.

Concerns regarding Alcohol and Sodium bicarbonate are floating all over because they are considered to be harmful for infants if used in enormous amounts as they are used in some countries while preparing gripe water. The benefit of homeopathic medicine as compared to allopathic medicine is that it has no side effects and toxicities like of allopathic medicines. So gripe water can be used safely as there is no evidence of any side effect or toxicity regarding the use of gripe water.

As already mentioned that gripe water is quite safe, however some of the ingredients like alcohol especially and sodium bicarbonate should be avoided while buying gripe water as they may harm the infant .Alcohol is present in it in the form of ethyl alcohol or ethanol and there is a compelling evidence that if the child or infant develops taste for alcohol at an early age, may suffer withdrawal symptoms afterward.

Sodium bicarbonate also is indeed a concern, which can cause a wide range of symptoms including raising the pH of the blood, muscle tremors and other dangerous effects when taken in excess. An excess of gripe water containing sodium bicarbonate could, in theory, raise an infant’s blood pH to a dangerous level, but the reality is that only a handful of such cases have ever been reported in the medical literature in decades.

Gripe water is indeed a groundbreaking product from homeopaths and is being used for decades. Today, since the alcohol and sodium bicarbonate has been removed from it, has become even safer.