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 Lisa (London, England) on 05/14/2008
★★★★★
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
★★★★★
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
★★★★★
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
★★★★★
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 Wendy (Plover, WI U.S.A.) on 10/29/2007
★★★★★
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 Greg (Franklin, MA) on 10/20/2007
★★★★★
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 Bonnie (Edmonton, Canada) on 03/28/2007
★★★★★
Acid reflux: for me the reflux is a result of eating certain foods. Becoming aware of the trigger foods is most important (certain spices, chocolate, too much white flour products, even overeating at one time). When over the counter remedies were just too slow in acting I decided to use a bit of baking soda ( /_ 1/4 tsp. in some warm water, enough for one big gulp. Instant relief from the burning and long lasting. Last night tried the cayenne pepper and hot water gargle for a terrible sore throat that I'd had for nearly a week. Instant relief!. Thanks for the home cure education.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Poornima (Mumbai, India) on 03/24/2007
★★★★★
I used to cough for a year when ever I went to sleep. I tried all the cough remedies i could find but there was no use. Finally one doctor told me that the reason could be i have mild acid refulx ( i never had heart burn or anything like that) i tried a lot of anti acid medication... it did not help. what finally helped was eating dinner early. Also avoid gasy foods like lentils for dinner. My dinner was light. Apple also helps but do not have it immediately after dinner. Avoid coffee and tea if possible.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Gabi (Czestochowa, Poland) on 01/14/2007
★★★★★
I have comments on Acid Reflux. I suffered for many years using as a treatment over counter remedies, whatever people advised me, etc. nothing was helping. It was life in a hell. My acid reflux was so strong that it was getting into my throat and I was chocking on it! It was usually causing inflammations combine with high fever like bad case of bronchitis or pneumonia. the last three years my acid reflux joined forces with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and bleeding stomach ulcer (had only 2 episodes of bleeding ulcer).Family doctor told me that there is no cure for it and I have to start learning how to live with it!It forced me to look for cure on my own. I discover that main reason was diet. I was eating healthy but... I did change everything in one day and week later... That's right! Just one week later ALL symptoms were gone! I removed from my diet all products made of flour, all carbohydrates.
I was eating undercooked vegetables, fish, healthy oils, yogurt. Adding spoon of yogurt to jar of milk I was making soured milk. Lot, lot of cabbage, cauliflower and brocooli. I know that main think is to keep PH balanced. It means nothing acid forming! I don't take acidophilus. Yogurt and soured milk do the trick. To keep good level of that friendly bacteria (is expelled from your body every day!) learn to eat sour kraut. Eat it raw or cooked. Add to your diet a lot of lemons. Stomach ulcer, IBM &Acid Reflux are gone. Oil Pulling was another great "tool". Arthritic pain was gone in 10 days. Swollen joints needed almost a year to get back to normal state. Now I eat VEGAN diet and I feel great! I look much younger and my energy level is high
Dietary Changes
Posted by Joyce ( Joelton, TN) on 11/16/2007
To Gabi (11/14/07) from Czetochowa, Poland It sounds like you were eating good - but were still eating white bread? If so, try eating l00% whole grain bread and see if your problems return. When trying to eliminate bleached flour products from the diet, you must really exercise your common sense. My brother told me it didn't work. I then pointed out to him that the chicken noodle soup he had just eaten about 30 minutes before, probably had bleached flour noodles in it. Another fellow told me that getting bleached flour out of his diet didn't work. Qestioning brought out "Ive been eating the hell out of saltine crackers" which were made with bleached flour. Most soups, gravies and lots of other foods are thickened with bleached flour.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Margaret (Eugene, OR) on 12/27/2006
★★★★★
My heartburn and acid reflux were getting worse and worse, then I was diagnosed with type II diabetes. After reading about 20 books I decided low carb was the way to go so I didn't need to take any meds. After switching to a very low carb diet, not only was my blood sugar in control and I started losing about a pound a week, unexpectedly my acid reflux totally disappeared as well as most of my body aches. It's seriously scary the ADA recommends diabetics eat carbs for diabetes -- pretty much dooms them to needing meds all of which have side effects. One article I read (recent Men's Health Magazine article) likened it to the American Heart Association recommending we eat trans fats.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Moira (Topeka, Kansas) on 10/06/2006
★★★★★
To All: All acid reducers, PPH's, steroids, allergy meds, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory agents compromise digestion. Protein is the hardest to digest, so it's logical to assume reactions to high protein foods, like eggs, etc would occur while on certain meds. Stop all meds - eat 6 small, healthy meals - no alcohol, coffee or citrus, exercise and find a homeopathic procedure that might soothe you, like ACV, Aloe, whatever, but just try one at a time for 3 or 4 weeks. Reduce stress, get tons of fresh air, laugh more, think good thoughts. Be patient, you will heal and get better. Oh, yeah, stay away from doctors.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Cathy (Basin, Wyoming) on 09/28/2006
★★★★★
In reading Type A Diet I found Type A's need extra biles and acids to break down the food in their stomach so when I get acid reflux I take lemon juice and it is cured in minutes.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Glenn (Aliso Viejo, CA) on 08/24/2006
★★★★★
Acid Reflux is caused by the over consumption of processed and cooked foods. The quickest way to solve the problem is to STOP eating processed cereals, especially ones with processed flakes or nuggets). Things like Raisin Brank, Captain Crunch, any cereal where the main ingredient is a processed substance. This does NOT apply to things like raw oats, raw nuts, etc.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Amiee (Eastern Passage, NS) on 08/04/2006
★★★★★
I had been wheat-free for 7 months and my gas, acid-reflux and psoriasis went away. When you are on a wheat-free diet, it can cause other problems like constipation if you do not watch your fiber intake. I am now off the wheat-free diet and all has returned. I will be going back on the wheat-free diet ASAP.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Kathleen (Gulfport, FL) on 05/03/2006
★★★★★
Mine is not so much a remedy, but a prevention. After being on a low-fat diet for several weeks, I noticed that all my acid reflux symptoms had disappeared. I can eat any of the foods that normally triggered acid reflux as long as I keep my fat intake to no more than 10% of my calories. When I change this eating routine, the acid reflux comes back, especially at night.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Gracie (Flushing, New York, USA) on 02/01/2013
What kinds of supplements did you take to get rid of the fungus? Did you take any supplements to help your overall condition?
PS: I hope you recover from your current health issue, soon.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Anarkali (Dallas, USA) on 10/03/2007
★★★★★
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.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Lynn (Waterville, Maine) on 08/15/2007
★★★★★
I was diagnosed at 16 with acid reflux. I went years not knowing what caused it for me, when I was in my thirty's I was diagnosed with H pylori and found out that was only part of my problem. I stopped eating acidic foods for awhile it helped then I done away with pepper. Went to another doctor and he said your problem is not enough water. I was acidic, body needs to be more alkaline. I then stopped drinking with meals and not eating after 7P.M. thats when I started feeling better. I use to feel bloated after eating, acid in my throat when I lay down and now I don't have that unless I drink with meals or eat after 7P.M. Now I purchase ph level tape at health food store to keep track of my level. Keeping it at a safe level.