Acid Reflux Disease - Go Back to Eating What You Want?

I was diagnosed with acid reflux disease (GERD) three years ago after mentioning frequent bouts of acid reflux to my primary care physician. He then referred me to a gastroenterologist for consultation. Subsequently, I had an endoscopy performed to examine my esophagus and stomach. I'm glad I sought the specialist consult, as I was diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus, an erosive, abnormal change of the cells lining the esophagus due to many episodes of acid reflux. It's also a pre-cancerous condition that needs to be closely monitored.

I was also placed on Prevacid to limit the acid production in the stomach. Having tried everything from Tums to Zantac, the Prevacid seemed like a miracle drug. I rarely have episodes of acid reflux now and have been taking the Prevacid on a daily basis for the last three years.

The standard four types of treatment for acid reflux disease are:

1. lifestyle measures
2. medication
3. surgery
4. endoscopic procedures

My exam findings had the "strict anti-reflux" diet block checked off. Ergo, one thing you always have in your hand when you leave a gastro doctor's office is a booklet or single page document that tells you what foods and drinks you should avoid and what to limit in order to prevent further acid reflux.

The list of items to limit or avoid included the following, courtesy of Glaxo Pharmaceuticals:

1. Avoid spice, acidic, tomato-based, or fatty foods like chocolate, citrus fruits and fruit juices.
2. Limit your intake of coffee, tea, alcohol and colas.
3. Watch your weight as it increases the intra-abdominal pressure which can result in reflux.
4. Don't gorge yourself at mealtime.
5. Don't exercise too soon after eating.
6. Avoid bedtime snacks and eat meals at least 3 to 4 hours before lying down.
7. Stop or at least cut down on smoking.
8. Elevate the head of your bed with blocks.
9. See your physician if you are taking antacids three or more times a week.

I eat everything in # 1 and #2. In fact, I add red pepper (ground cayenne powder) to many foods as a beneficial substance. I enjoy craft beers (microbrews) and red wine for health. All this without GERD symptoms. In short, I am in violation of the Glaxo chart and expect the GERD cops to arrest me. My wife, a former RN, periodically berates me for this. I tried explaining that if I don't have symptoms, while taking the Prevacid, then no harm, no foul. I also confirmed this with the gastro doc's nurse practitioner.

Now, the very interesting info you've been waiting for if you are a GERD guy or gal: feel free to eat and drink what you want, providing you don't experience any reflux symptoms. I'm not a doctor nor play one on TV, but I get the Johns Hopkins Health Alerts and one of their recent articles entitled "Best Practices on Treating GERD With Lifestyle Changes" made me sit up and read every word of that short article.

You see, The Archives of Internal Medicine highlighted a study that looked at 100 studies of lifestyle measures for GERD and found "Only losing weight and elevating the head of the bed showed a clear benefit in well-designed studies"'

It went on to say that not all the changes are helpful in relieving GERD symptoms and some may be unnecessarily restrictive. The caveat is that if some of these substances and practices cause worsening symptoms, you should probably avoid them or limit them. Sound advice.

This sounds eerily familiar with the reasoning years ago that you should avoid spicy foods, etc., if you have an ulcer. Then, researchers discovered that it wasn't dietary intake that caused stomach ulcers, but a bacteria in the stomach.

If you suffer from GERD, you may want to take a look at this article and discuss with your doctor before making any lifestyle changes. Note, however, that your practitioner might not be aware of the article yet. Take a copy along with you on your next visit.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/mr64q4 (this is the Johns Hopkins article URL reduced from 255 to 25 characters)