Is Carbohydrate Restriction the Ultimate Cure for Acid Reflux?

Thanks Teri,
Great to be back. The Grand Canyon was a very humbling experience. It's nice to see the big picture once in a while.

Patsprnk,
I love cukes too. They are not too bad, only about 5 grams carbs each. Of course unsweetened pickles are even better. Like grapes that are fermented into wine, cucumbers that are fermented into pickles loose most of the sugar they have to the microbes BEFORE entering your digestive systems. So, like I tell people who love grapes, you can have all the grapes you want in a nice dry wine.

Take care,
Dr Norm

Re the vasovagal response - I've heard of that with PVC's and in connection to the stomach before myself...however, that's way out of my area of expertise. But I would love to hear more re that!

Hugs, Teri

Dr Norm

Dr Norm
I've asked this question somewhere else...but is it possible to still have reflux and not experience heartburn?

Everyday I feel better and better.I've cut out the toast in the morning and now I'm having plain danone yogurt with a tablespoon of seeds and a plum or some blueberries and strawberries. I'm reluctant to use splenda as it's surrounded by controversy.... I'd like to introduce a tablespoon of grain or beans at lunch time soon...just to monitor the effect but in the evening I'll stick to protein and veg.

Thanks again

Lunch has been a salad and veg with protein and the evening meal has followed suit with salad, veg and protein. I had a very rich meal last night --a lamb curry with ground almonds and cream etc...

Merc29 Dr Norm
In answer to your question 'why do low carb diets help HB' I am definitely benefitting from this way of eating but I'm not sure carbs are the culprit although in a diet containing animal products they seem to be.

about 3 years ago I did a detox diet in which for 28 days I had to ban meat, fish, eggs, dairy, sugar and eat instead all grains,nuts pulses, veg, rice milk, oil, herbs and spices.After the initial five days during which I wanted to die I felt so awful, I started to feel really well. No HB, reflux, I didn't feel bloated--I really felt quite euphoric. If I felt so well why didn't I continue?I feared nutritional deficiencies and I missed too many foods. Perhaps it is the combination of certain foods that caused HB.The detox allowed no animal products and the low carb substantially restricts grains any thoughts on this?

Hi Merc29 and JoCaste,
Can't really comment without all the details. All I can say is I have never found any other solution (besides getting the excess carbs under control) that worked. Grains, apples, other fruits (besides berries) only make symptoms worse in my experience.

I truly believe that reducing excess carb intake will rule the heartburn treatment world in the not too distant future. This view is shared by other experts in the field that I have been in touch with.

Best of luck.
Dr Norm

Jocaste,
I also eat a lot of salad. I believe salad is good because most vegetables in salad are high fiber, low carb. I don't believe that enzymes in the food is a huge factor because most enymes are acid sensitive protiens that are destroyed by acid in the stomach. Only enymes like pepsin produced in the stomach (that are acid tolerant - in this case activated by acid) are able to function in this harsh environment. Same goes for fruit. I would only advocate berries and tightly controlled amounts of other fruits, mostly lemons and lime wedges.

Dr Norm

Teri,
Thanks for your post. Since you have more than one condition you are dealing with, you need the advice of a great MD and phamacist to keep an eye on your meds and their potential interaction with one another and perhaps need to consider any special dietary contraints. As you know, I am a microbiologist, not a physician. All I can say is that I am unaware of any evidence that reducing excess carbohydrates in your diet would adversely affect any of your conditions, with the possible exception of gallbladder disease. Because the gallbladder stores and dispenses bile and bile is used to help digest fats, you may need more specific advice on the amount of fats and the type of fats in your diet. I would imagine that many of the healthy fats I recommend in my book, like olive oil and fats from avacados, are likely less offensive than other fully saturated fats and transfats. As for GERD, I don't care what the food pyramid says, low sugar / low starch vegies are OK, high sugar / high starch foods and vegetables / grains are out.

Dr Norm

Teri,
For creeal, try Low Carb Special K - only 9 grams carb and plenty of fiber. Put blue berries on top or strawberries.

Dr Norm

Jocaste,
Just notices your post. Great news and contrats. You are realizing the benefit of limiting those bad carbs. There are plaenty of good carbs left. Fiber is not digested or absorbed and the microbes stuggle with fiber as well, so not to worry about eating all the fiber you want. I know you're temped by the bread, but you need to be firm until you get your symptoms under control, if that is what you want. There are many alterantives. As you learn more about acceptable and unacceptable foods to keep your carbs under control, you will be able to stop you acid reflux permenantly.

Best of Luck

Norm

Hello Jeremy Ryan

I'm curious to know if you also suffer from a hiatus hernia?How low do you go with carbs? Are you sure you are not having reflux at night even though you don't feel the pain of HB.

I am knew to low carbing and have found relief from Hb and I'm just interested to know about somebody else's experience.

many thanks

ckg,
Great to have you back. You challenge me and have me thinking. I am of this belief that excess carbs (high sugar/starch) are the worst thing for diabetics. Type I diabetics can't produce insulin and without injected insulin, can't metabolize the blood glucose and end up with too much in blood - dangeous, but at least in this case, you can inject insulin. Type II diabetes are insensitive to insulin, so after a high carb meal, the spike in insulin is not recognized by the cells that need to respond and take up the excess blood glucose. In both cases, too much glucose in the blood - dangerous. As you know, high blood glucose is what leads to the terrible consequences of this disease, blindness, circlulatory problems, heart attachks, foot ulcers, etc. So why on earth would you say that low carb is not good for diabetics. This makes no sense to me. (In type II you can't just take more insulin either.)

On Barrett's, my theory states that if you remove the carbs, you remove the gas that causes reflux in the first place so niether stomach acid or duodenal contents enter the esophasus - good for healing esophageal damage though I don't know much about healing the precancerous condition, Barretts. Does it heal if left alone? A new cell type similar to stomach lining has taken hold and is growing in place of the normal cells. Can you stop progression to adenocarcinoma with PPIs. I am unaware of any such evidence. Surely, with PPIs while staying on high carb, you will still have reflux, missing the acid but not the other intestinal contents that are also believed to cause significant damage to the esophagus. As I said, I am for the pH studies. I suspect that the high protien in low carb diet uses up the acid (the role of acid is primarily the denaturation of protein at it's own expense) and results in a less acidic stomach environment after the meal. However, that remains to be tested. I would also bet you dinner at a steak house (save this post) that low carb is superior in healing esophageal damage than is PPIs.

Going out cuz its Friday. More tomorrow!

Take Care,
Norm
Comments based on my own experience and reseach

 

Post Edited By Moderator (~Jennifer~) : 9/9/2005 9:21:51 PM (GMT-6)

Hello,
"Doctor means teacher in Latin. It has been used continuously as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread to the Americas, former European colonies, and is now prevalent in most of the world. As a prefix – “Dr” – its primary designation is a person who has obtained a doctorate — that is, an advanced university degree whose completion involves extensive research."


Norm
Comments based on my own experience and reseach