Dietary Changes for Hiatal Hernia

5 star (3) 
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Hippocrates (Missouri) on 07/13/2016:
5 out of 5 stars

Long story short, seven years ago, I was diagnosed with a "medium sized hiatal hernia" via endoscope. I even once spent the night in the ER because I was sure I was having a heart attack because it was pushing on my heart that badly (all tests came out perfect for my heart! ) I am sure that I have had it for 15 or 20 years. I do not like surgery or drugs if I can avoid them, so here is what I have done to avoid ALL surgeries and ALL drugs in the past 7 years:

There is something you are eating and drinking that is keeping it aggravated. It is 100% a food allergy, or more likely, FOOD ALLERGIES!

Eating; for me it is all wheat and gluten, all dairy, all soy, all Allium plants (garlic, onions, etc), and I am finding Balsam of Peru and Balsam of Tolu hidden under "NATURAL FLAVOR". Keep a daily food journal and eat simple foods that you read the labels for and prepared yourself. Eat potatoes with nothing on them and wait 6 or 8 hours. Stomach feels good? Then it is probably ok. Then say, the next time you eat a potato with sour cream on it and it bothers you, you know that it wasnt the potato, but SOMETHING in the sour cream. Eventually you can narrow it down this way, might take years though. A skin prick test or patch test at a doctor can help somewhat narrow down food allergies, but they are not 100% reliable with foods, and many foods might show you are not allergic, when you actually are.

Drinking; DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING WITH MEALS OTHER THAN WATER, AND EVEN THEN ONLY SIPS! Do not drink much for the next 2 - 4 hours after eating other than sips here and there. NO carbonated beverages, EVER! If I have to have a soda, I get bottles of it and beat it on my hand or the table and slowly release the pressure and repeat until no more carbonation remains. Tastes flat, but has the flavor you crave if you have to have one. Unflavored unsweetened coffee and unflavored alcohols seem tolerable on an empty stomach, they can bother me a bit, but never drink them on a full stomach.

I always keep a bottle of water handy. If I can feel it bothering me, I drink a big mouthful or two and try to wiggle/stretch my chest around to get it to release while trying gently to burp. Then I repeat this until I start feeling better. Sometimes and rarely, I will sip like 1/8th teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in a 16 oz glass of water (pint) and try to burp. If you can get the trapped air to release, it wont push on your heart and cause you to feel like you are dying.

I discovered that OFTEN you can actually little by little swallow MORE air into your stomach and get it to pull down the stomach and then you can burp out the swallowed air plus what was previously trapped. But this is trick is hard to learn when to do it, and when it will make things worse. I only mention it because often it works for me to help things out.

Drinking a 16 oz glass of water (pint) and immediately rebounding on a trampoline on an empty stomach daily can help train it to stay down where it should be, especially if you are avoiding the foods it does not like and drinks it does not like.

Breathing exercises, like the one where you suck in through a tiny straw or breathe out through the same straw can help strengthen your diaphragm.

Sleep with a bed wedge under your bed, or bricks under headboard. DO NOT eat a big meal within 4-6 hours of going to bed! I can do small snacks that do not bother me, but I generally avoid even them within 2 hours of bed time if I can.

DO NOT bend over or lift ANYTHING with in 4-6 hours after eating! You cant always avoid it, but unless your stomach is empty, you are asking to make things worse, both immediately AND long term.

I feel confident that you can potentially live a fairly normal life if you do as I have done. You may never have a 100% normal diaphragm again, but the trampoline and breathing exercises can help strengthen it so that it will keep your stomach where it should be more normally, especially if you avoid your personal food allergens and avoid the drinking situations that I mentioned.

REPLY   10      

Ward (Atlanta) on 08/27/2015:
5 out of 5 stars

in 1985 I was diagnosed with hiatal hernia and stomach ulcers.Tagament pills for ulcers and Galviscon for my hiatal my doctor wanted to book me in for surgery as I could not lie down without my stomach acid burning my throat. anything I ate gave me pain and heart burn.

I have always hated hospitals so I refused, I cured myself by not eating and drinking anything with acid eg: tomatoes lemon, oranges, beer, no white bread or pastries that was doughy. I only ate brown bread and veggies with meat no gravy not much fruit but I did add peppers to all my food.

After 6 months, my hiatal hernia was healed and my stomach ulcers gone.my doctor scratched his head. He had never known that one could heal hiatal hernia as the valve had been stretched open and surgery was the only option.

It is now 2015 and I do not suffer ulcers or hiatal hernia. Ulcers is sores in the stomach breeding on bacteria, kill the bacteria and the sore heals. I believe pepper did the trick.


EC: Hi Ward,

Thank you for your feedback. Can you please let us know what kind of pepper you used. Was it cayenne or black pepper? Thank you!

REPLY   28      

Marsh57 (Denver, Co, Usa) on 11/09/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

I was diagnosed with a hiatel hernia in 1988 at 30 years old and was told it would be prescriptions the rest of my life. A chiropractor taught me how to push it back into place on my own and a kinesiologist helped to determine food allergies and aggrevators. Stayed on a diet without wheat, sugar, caffeine and dairy for a year when my physician said it wasn't bad enough to operate on. I can't imagine what 'bad' was! Anyway, the diet worked for over 20 years. It helps to eat on a regular schedule and not to wait until your stomach is growling. It began coming back about a year ago so am careful to eat and manage stress. ACV definitely helps with the reflux.
REPLY   2      
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