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Posted 1/7/2013 8:48 PM (GMT 0)

Granted, this is Wikipedia, but it seems to be a fairly good resource with respect to certain topics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C_megadosage  Some helpful facts here, and references.

The stomach is not the only digestive organ, and while it is true that inhibiting stomach acid can reduce the efficiency of some forms of digestion, actually the lion's share of this process occurs in the small intestine.

I'm not challenging you, so please don't take offense.  I'm only offering a counterpoint, as there are many, many folks who read these threads but perhaps don't understand a lot about supplementation. 

-Bruce

Posted 1/7/2013 8:52 PM (GMT 0)
I don't have much to say about the vitamin debate, but after reading the Fast Track book I decided to give jasmine rice a try. Unfortunately, after a couple days of rice, I have been getting a bit of reflux. I think I am back to my original diet, which is eating a subset of acceptable Fast Track foods. Basically, I am eating fats (coconut oil, butter and animal fats), protein, greens (broc, gai lan, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, kale) and a small amount of carrots and onions.

My biggest concern is that I don't get enough carbs, but my whole GI performs so much better when I eat this way. I might try experimenting with jasmine or some other carb source once a week.

I didn't mention it in this thread, but I did in another thread about Paleo, was that when I stopped my PPI's after being pretty low carb and very strict Paleo for a couple of months, I got no rebound. I had tried to stop the PPI's in the past and had such severe rebound I had to go back on them. I was on PPI's for about 4 years.

Everyone is different, but for me I have other issues and it was necessary to eliminate grains, dairy and legumes from my diet as well as following the Fast Track formula. If you are not having success on just Fast Track you may consider paleo on top of it.
Posted 1/7/2013 10:30 PM (GMT 0)
@Bruce: I agree. Prudence is the key. And, as I've mentioned in each of my posts, I'm still in the phase of finding my own "supplement cocktail." For me, I think 5 grams of Vitamin C is effective... maybe less. The L-lysine I'm not as certain about. I think I need to back off on it because I think it is causing constipation thru an interaction with calcium uptake. I bumped it back today to only 1 gram. So we'll see what happens. I happen to think it is less the L-lysine for me than it is the Vitamin C acting as an antihistamine in the GERD.

I started the regimen on the "mega" side and planned to back off until the symptoms returned and then up it to the point where the symptoms were controlled.

The regimen with Vitamin C and L-Lysine are part of lowering/ controlling my cholesterol, but the "side effect" of controlling the GERD has been a welcomed by product. It was only after looking into it a little that I found their "connections" to GERD.

Just as I have, others will have to make their own informed decisions about the use of supplements. From my reading, while caution needs to be practiced with all supplementation, Vitamin C and L-lysine seem to be largely safe. But people should always be aware of possible side effects and be ready to cease or adjust supplementation accordingly.

I appreciate your perspective, Bruce. I'm still interested in knowing if others have supplemented with these two items with any beneficial effect. This site has a great deal of good information on it.
Posted 1/8/2013 3:41 AM (GMT 0)

robray said...
I don't have much to say about the vitamin debate, but after reading the Fast Track book I decided to give jasmine rice a try. Unfortunately, after a couple days of rice, I have been getting a bit of reflux.

I've had the same problem. It's disappointing. I'm glad I'm not the only one. Thanks for your post.

I've been paleo for several years, with good results. But about 18 months ago, I tried the Perfect Health Diet. It's basically a high-fat paleo diet that also allows for safe starches, including white rice. That's when my LPR began. I was also eating a lot of veggies (fiber). But it was low in fructose, had no lactose, and was also low in sugar alcohols. But I had been eating lots of fruits and veggies for the first 5 years of the paleo diet and almost never had a problem with reflux (just a couple of times after eating unripe bananas).

My LPR seems to improve when I eliminate rice. So I'm going back to strict paleo, but with less fructose and less fiber. I want at least 100g of carbohydrate a day, so I'll have to eat some fruit, which means I'll certainly be getting some fructose and fiber. But I'll try to limit them as much as possible.

I'll keep you posted.
Posted 1/8/2013 11:20 AM (GMT 0)
Hi SMb,
Using this type of diet for heartburn is newer, so I would imagine there are many tweaks that could be made successfully. I had rebound for the first week off my meds, which is necessary for this diet, so it didn't seem it was working. I still don't know how much my Zantec was helping me because the common assumption is that we develop tolerace for h2 blockers after a couple of weeks. But at a minimum I believe that this is a healthier diet and tastier for me than the Koufman diet, which I was on before. The improved digestibility may yield slow results for me down the road, that's my hope. And I now just take 2-3 TUMS per day, so less meds is always better.
Posted 1/8/2013 1:58 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Sunbeam. I think you're right. I just need to tweak the diet a bit to fit me (no rice).

Norm Robillard's basic recommendations have helped me. Even before I read his book, I noticed that too much fiber caused bloating, and that worsened the reflux.

So I'll continue with his recommendations to lower fiber, fructose, lactose (I don't eat dairy), resistant starch and sugar alcohols.
Posted 1/8/2013 6:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,
Newbie here and finding the information valuable. I downloaded the Fast Tract Diet on my Kindle but can't see the end of the charts. What I would like to know is does the doctor list the FP on the far right of the chart itself or do I have to complete the calculations to find the FP of each food myself.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Jane
Posted 1/8/2013 6:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Jane,
I also have this book on my Kindle. The fp value has been computed for each food by the author and will appear on the next page. It is a little confusing because the columns don't fit the page, but the information is all there. If you want to consider eating foods that are not on the chart, you can calculate the fp using the formula he provides, looking up the information needed on the Internet. Glycemic index values do vary somewhat depending on the source, but you will be able to determine whether the fp is high or low.

Post Edited (sunbeam48) : 1/8/2013 11:47:12 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/8/2013 9:01 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, Sunbeam, I looked again and it's just showing the right side. I went page by page until the end and no dice. I have a Kindle touch and can't get it into landscape mode. Maybe I can lend it to my grandson who has a kindle fire and then I'll be able to see it.

Re. GERD, I very rarely had a feeling of heartburn. Only pressure which I attributed to my lap band placed in 2007. But one day the pain got go great right under the breastbone, radiating towards the right and up my back. I went to the emergency room and after a million tests and xrays they gave me nexium. The doctor I saw afterwards also prescribed this. I did ok until the Holidays and then forgot I was sick. You can figure the rest of the story.

Right now eating is a painful process and I am eager to start. But everything I eat hurts going down. I saw a post where someone suggested using honey to coat the esophagus and that really helped me last night before bed. The only upside of this whole thing is weight loss.

I am very grateful to find this website.
Jane
Posted 1/8/2013 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
Jane, when my GERD started I was afraid to eat for awhile. I lost 10 pounds over a couple of months. I have come a long way, but I have never felt well enough to forget to eat carefully. I expect to never stop working on this. You will also improve and find your personal comfort point.
Posted 1/9/2013 2:35 PM (GMT 0)
Jane, Have you tied switching to the smallest font size on your Kindle?  Then more information will be displayed.
Posted 1/18/2013 5:37 AM (GMT 0)
I downloaded the book from Amazon and was frustrated with the tables not displaying properly. I found that they would display on a small font, but still not readable. What I ended up doing was downloading the Kindle program for my mac and then using the "command + shift + 3" to take screen shots of the tables. I then used a photo editor to crop the pic and I put the tables in a word doc. I only did the table I care about, but I am able to print them and find it very useful.
Posted 1/29/2013 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
Bump. How are you doing with this diet. Has it been helpful. How long have u been following it. How strictly have you been following it. Thanks for an update.
Posted 1/29/2013 12:29 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Pat,
I've been mostly following this diet since late November. I went though a week of rebound from my Zantec, and had three consultations with Dr. Norm. I was controlling my symptoms with just 2-3 TUMS daily, a significant improvement. He thought my belching, which causes my reflux, would subside within a week but it didn't happen in that time frame. I continued to follow this diet closely but not perfectly. Now my belching has finally subsided. I continue to eat small meals, which keeps pressure off the LES. Multiple times daily I do a exercise to strengthen my LES: You take a deep breath and just keep the air in you without actually stopping the air flow like you do when you hold your breath. Yesterday I had NO heartburn, NO belching, took no TUMS. This is working great for me.

Pat and Rock, how are you doing? Anyone else trying this?
Posted 1/31/2013 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
I was doing fairly well for a few weeks following the diet. I was down to about 5mg Prilosec 2x/day with occasional tums before exercise. Suddenly my LPR came back with a vengeance. I guess I'm not too sure if it was the start of the PPI rebound or if my LPR is just that bad. I couldn't take the pain so I had to increase the dose. Currently taking 20mg in the morning and 10mg in the evening before dinner.

I'm not giving up on the diet. I'll do anything and everything to get off this poison known as Prilosec.

I have come across quite a few doctors who state it could take years of following a low carb diet to rid oneself of SIBO. I know Norm's not high on trying the antibiotic route but I may explore it while following the Fast Tract. I may explore the elemental diet option as well.

http://www.siboinfo.com/overview.html

http://drhyman.com/blog/conditions/3-simple-steps-to-eliminate-heartburn-and-acid-reflux/
Posted 1/31/2013 6:13 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Rock,
Getting off the PPI is definitely the most difficult step for this diet. When I went from Prilosec to Zantec several months ago, rebound lasted I believe for two weeks. I really questioned whether I was doing the right thing because I was pretty uncomfortable, but I rode it out, and it subsided. Then when I went from Zantec to Fast Tract, rebound lasted a week, and wasn't too bad. Maybe you want to consider some Zantec in your mix? Not that I'm a doctor and I don't play one on TV, but all I have to offer is my personal experience.

The SIBO info doesn't really match what I have experienced, which is just a lot of gas (from both ends!). The belching was worse, and pushed up my reflux. Since I don't have those full-blown symptoms, I wouldn't consider the antibiotics. I think it would be overkill.

The Dr. Hyman info was interesting. He speaks about H. Pylori as if nobody considers it, but if you see an GI doc I believe they routinely test for it. I've seen that mentioned here, and it was true in my case.

People on various threads here have mentioned that this is a progressive condiditon, and I am now understanding how the PPI's make that come true.
Posted 2/5/2013 1:46 AM (GMT 0)
The fats encouraged on this diet are the most digestible ones, including olive oil, coconut oil, and butter.
Posted 2/6/2013 10:46 PM (GMT 0)
is it safe to use breadcrumbs of any kinds?
Posted 2/6/2013 11:29 PM (GMT 0)
Crumbs from white bread would be best.
Posted 2/18/2013 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
Sunbeam -

Do you know the best way to taper off PPI?

Can you take DGL on this diet?

I am on the diet for a few days now...feeling good. Not sure how to taper...

After time on the diet can you eradicate the Sibo and eat normal again?

Cereal, even rice chex, with any kind of milk ismt allowed, right?

Sorry, tuping on bad broken ipod
Posted 2/18/2013 11:03 PM (GMT 0)
Hi ARM,
I had rebound for a couple of weeks after carefully tapering my PPI, but some people have none. It was as uncomfortable as I had been since my initial diagnosis, but I am really glad I just toughed it out. I now feel better than I have in two years, when my GERD was diagnosed. This diet depends on the availability of normal stomach acid, so you can only takes TUMS or Gaviscon as needed for symptom control. You cannot take DGL because it contains sugar alcohol. Once you get rid of the SIBO symptoms yes, you can gradually re-introduce more challenging foods, increase your total FP daily. As you can see on the charts on the book, rice cereal and milk are allowed, but just didn't work for me. I never actually got rid of all my belchingthough it lessened. I worked with the author to dial back what I was eating further than what is presented in the book. But I am off meds and doing well so I am very happy with this system.
Posted 2/18/2013 11:08 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Sunbeam,

I don't know, though. I read in the book no soy/almond milk for the first week or two, I forget. So I am eating my cereal in yoghurt, which is pretty boring/gross :)

I am basically just eating plain, no fat organic yoghurt, rice ceral, berries, fish, shrimp, eggs, jasmine rice, nuts, seeds and steamed vegetables...I think I am following the diet. I don't do calculations on grams and all that but am going on the logic that - if I am eating all low FP foods, I am meeting the diet by default. Otherwise, I'd go hungry on the diet...thats my logic.
Posted 2/19/2013 12:50 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Sunbeam,

Would you be open to answering a couple quick questions by email? If so please email me at [email protected]

They are just specific things I imagine you would have great insight on in relation to the diet. Thanks!
Posted 2/19/2013 3:06 AM (GMT 0)
To Dude 1969:
Re:
"I think I've found sort of a symbiotic relationship between the cholesterol program and the GERD."

Ironically, I NEVER had a GI issue until my first statin. It's been pure h*ll ever since....
Posted 2/26/2013 12:05 AM (GMT 0)
Has anyone managed any of these difficult diets with a family in tow? Part of me would like to give it a go, but I'm already wheat, egg and dairy free and we eat as a family with two small lads to cater for!

MMM
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