The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 07/19/2008 490 posts
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Hi Rosetta, If you diligently work at eliminating all bleached flour from your husband's diet, you might find that you also eliminate his acid reflux problem that nothing helps. It works for me and I can tell you that unless breads and cereals state l00% whole grain, they aren't, and probably contain some bleached flour. You will also find that many products contain both bleached and unbleached flour. The above has been working for me for over 30 years now. I don't know what it is in the bleaching process that creates the problem, but since I can eat whole grains or unbleached products without getting the problem, I know that is where the problem is.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Arthur (Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin) on 07/15/2008
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I am age 83. I suffered from canker sores continuously my whole life until 2 years ago when by accident I discovered that I had celiac disease, that is gluten intolerance. Since going on a gluten-free diet I have not had even one canker sore. NADA! Also the acid reflux that I had all my adult life has also almost completely gone away.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Gary (Carpinteria, CA) on 06/10/2008
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Just a note on what has helped me with acid reflux. I was really suffering badly from this for several months, I tried a lot of different diets, and also ACV baking soda and bentonite clay. None of these helped me significantly. I came across an article from a natural health practitioner who stated that he was able to cure many of his clients from acid reflux by giving them a strict low carbohydrate diet to follow. I immediately went out and bought a couple of the low carb books and read them as fast as possible to learn how to do this type of diet. I started the next day, and I have not had any major problem since (3 years) -- I do occasionally still get some acid reflux if I eat too many starchy foods. If I follow a low carb diet reasonably strictly, I have minimal problems. Once you learn how, it is easy, and also keeping your insulin levels low helps with many other health conditions.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Lisa (London, England) on 05/14/2008
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Acid Reflux: I was given a prescription for antacids from my doctor to deal with acid reflux. I was suffering from a persistnet cough, mainly in the morning and often throughout the day. I could tell it was not a flu-related cough. My naturopath friend advised me to stop drinking and eating at the same time. I tried it for a week and my cough stopped. I drink at least a half hour or more before or after a meal or even after something as small as a donut. I am very concious about separating the two processes. Try it, it works! It is all to do with the fact that the stomach can not digest food properly with liquid in it. As a result the acid builds up and causes reflux. Simple.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Robert (Martinez, California) on 03/19/2008
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Meats stay in the digestive system for many days.To increase digestive acid take 1/4-1/2 tsp. "pink salt" with meals per day.Stay away from pasteurized dairy, & sugar.Eat more raw greens than cooked.Baking soda will work in emergency however the salt content is too much for frequent use. Try "Raw" unheated honey,2 tbsp.in 1 cup Perrier or other naturally carbonated water. Penta water is alkaline.Take "Megazymes" after meals for routine maint.Turmeric is very good for digestion,1/2-1 tsp.& promotes healthy flora.Great herbs are thistle leaves as a tea or calamus root, a small 1/4-1/2 dried root tucked between lip & gum works very well & is great for bad food from restaurants.Allow to disolve in mouth.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Joanne (Titusville, Florida) on 03/17/2008
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Doctor said I probably had acid reflux and prescribed the "purple pill". It made me sick and I never used it again. My husband suggested that I check my Ph balance. Low and behold I was on the acidic side. I then researched the internet and found foods that are acidic and avoided them. I also found out that we lose our good bacteria in our stomach due to the antibiotics we have taken over the years. To solve this problem I take acidophillis each day. I also take a few "Chorella" pills daily.(the green pills) As long as I avoid the "acid" foods, my body does well. There has to be a balance of acid/alkaline foods eaten daily. I am 65 years young and have advised my children that they had better watch their diets. I find that the majority of folks can't seem to part with their "SODA" or "COLA"(caffeine) each day. Beware, this is one of the major culprits of acid reflux. When you go into a restaurant always order water with lemon. This will help your stomach before you indulge.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Gail (Houston, Texas) on 02/06/2008
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I'm in my sixties and I started getting awful acid reflux a couple of weeks ago, along with belching which I had never had before. Sunday, 2/3/08, I decided to try a few things, not the least of which was to eliminate the 12oz. bottle of beer I was having every day. I also started eating smaller meals and including apple sauce and yogurt daily as my desserts. And also started concentrating on alkaline-producing foods. I'll never know what did it, altho I think it was eliminating the alcohol, but it is 4 days out (2/7) and I have had no acid reflex or belching since Sunday when I went 'clean. I am so very happy there is this internet with such a wealth of information which helped me Sunday morning to get a grip on this condition.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Jean (Vancouver, Washington) on 01/11/2008
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I don't use painkillers of any kind nor have I used antibiotics in many years yet I just developed acid reflux. In my case I've led a stressful life up until now. I believe that if you lead a stressful life, eat when you're stressed or very upset, it won't make a bit of difference how good your diet is, you simply contaminate the digestive process. do this often enough you establish the problem and become susceptible to many things, natural and unnatural. I currently subscribe to the ACV cure as well as a multi-herbal tea drink consisting of fenugreek, ginger, caraway seed, and slippery elm that I make up myself. Other than that I am attempting to stay away from coffee and anything like nuts that will irritate. I eat soft foods, mostly root vegetables (not potatoes). As someone who takes complete responsibility for the creation of my own good or bad health, I'm hopeful to cure the problem and be able to enjoy life again.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Nathan Smith (Del Rio, Texas) on 01/11/2008
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I have had stomach acid problems from the day I was born. I reliezed that for me it was completely dependent on my diet. If I ate pizza, bacon, french fries, almost anything fried, pasta, bread and other hearty and greasy foods, I would have really bad acid. In college away from home I expirienced very bad acid and examined my diet. I found that I was eating very acidic foods. I found some websites that actually rate the Ph of food after it goes through the digestive tract and low and behold it was what I was eating. Vegetables are very basic and I found that if I balanced my diet with some vegetation that I would not have a reaction. I also religiously use baking soda when I dont have vegetables or go out drinking and it is a sure fix! I am concerned about long term effects of baking soda but havn't had anything but success.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Lee Ann (Mobile, Alabama) on 11/27/2007
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Acid Reflux - Sinus Infection - Sore Throat - Acidophilus -- Based on personal experience the Polish Girl has it right, it's the diet. Dump the yeasty carbohydrate sugary stuff. After a sore throat that lasted a few months with several different diagnoses and antibiotics, health practitioner said most people really suffering from too much yeast in system which causes a huge variety of illnesses. Change the diet to starve/kill yeast in system now. Yeast thrives on sugar, sweets, fruits, carbs, and of course bread, pasta.
For 3 months my husband and I ate nothing but veggies and meat. Cut the wine and beer from diet too. Also took supplements that rid the body of fungus as well as very strong acidophilus.
Winthin one week, sore throat was gone.
2 Weeks - acid reflux disappeared completely (yay no more prilosec). Sore arthritic feeling knees stopped.
3 or 4 weeks - husband and i who suffer sinus infections frequently quit sneezing, coughing, etc. No more sinus infections for either of us.
3 years later - unfortunately I quit the diet because of pregnancy and dr. advised it would be bad for baby. Now sore knees and throat are back, and now have MRSA. With a lot of the cures here dealing with toxin cleansing etc. I wonder if yeast helps breed the MRSA?? Unfortunately, when I tell friends of my miracle cure when they are ill, their response is 'i could never change my diet that drastically' and they continue seeking that quick fix. Our forefathers had it right -- "You are what you eat".
Dietary Changes
Posted by Wendy (Plover, WI U.S.A.) on 10/29/2007
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Acid Reflux comes from being celiac. Celiac's can't eat dairy or gluten grain. Celiac's don't make enough stomach acid, so taking HCl and enzymes with a meal helps and not eating the dairy and grains. Hidden dairy and gluten grains are a problems to watch for.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Tracy (Lafayette, CO) on 10/21/2007
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Many months ago I posted a comment about the ACV remedy for Acid Reflux. I suddenly got Acid Reflux last winter after taking a lot of Ibuprophen. The ACV remedy worked great, but after almost a year I was not cured. I felt that the ACV was helping me to manage the situaton but not really curing me. I was still having bouts once in a while and then I had reflux pretty severe for more than a week in early September, and the ACV wasn't really touching it. In order to feel better I really started eating very simply, mostly vegetables and some meat. After a few days of this I felt a lot better. But I continued my new simple diet for another couple weeks. Then I decided to add back in some cereals and immediately got Acid Reflux again. I new that I had a low level of gluten intolerance but after this I have come to the conclusion that I've have Celiacs, full blown. Who knows, maybe the ibuprophen weakend my stomach just enough to have the new level of Celiac symptoms. I have eliminated all grains except rice, corn and millet and I feel GREAT! I haven't even bothered with taking ACV for several weeks now. Symptoms of Celiacs or gluten intolerance range widely, so I'd recommend anyone with chronic acid reflux, mental fogginess, depression, anxiety, stomach upset, or skin rash, try eliminating gluten containting grains for a week and see what happens. Don't be afraid that you might be alergic to bread there are A LOT of great resources for Celiacs and gluten intolerant people now adays.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Greg (Franklin, MA) on 10/20/2007
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I suffered everyday with acid creeping up and severely hindering my ability to enjoy things in life. I noticed two huge agitators: 1. Over-eating (easy to do for anyone in U.S.) 2. Chocolate (tends to be a great laxative, but also tends to promote the acid problem. Continually the damage done by Acid Reflux caused burning and I found that taking in a good amount of sea salt (with water, foods) cleared it up.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Mirella (Brisbane, Australia) on 10/07/2007
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Hi, I had acid reflux for over 15 years and it was so bad that i would reflux if i bent down to pick something up or lay in a horizontal position such as in swimming. I found certain foods such as fried or fatty foods made it worse. Eventually i started seeing a medicinal herbalist who told me that acid reflux is triggered by coffee consumption. I had been a moderate - heavy coffee drinker most of my life. I gave up coffee and found that within 4-6 weeks my acid reflux went away completely. I have never had it since. I completely stopped coffee for about 2 years and replaced it with green tea. As soon as i have a coffee again, the reflux returns. Hope this helps.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Anarkali (Dallas, USA) on 10/03/2007
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I developed a strong acid reflux after moving to TX. I could not understand and underwent tests for ulcer and stuff. My doctor then said I have strong acid reflux due to first job and associated stress. Wrong ! I was not stressed, I was happier than ever and not under performance pressure either. He gave me free Prevacid and when my condition was the same prescribed some dangerous looking 220 pills to eat 4 a day. I started researching my problem, web hunting, experimenting with my diet and could get back to absolute normal by completely avoiding milk, Cheese, excessive rice or lentils and eating a high fiber (wheat/bread) diet. Not being able to drink milk is not good, so now I drink lactose free milk. Although even a single mistake can upset my stomach, I am living medication free.
