Reader who cured GERD with low-carb diet interviewed on TV

Within about 3 days of embarking on a paleo style diet, my reflux was gone.  It always irritates me though in these type of news segments how the doctors always seem to try to play down low carb at every chance.  Anecdotally, I drink coffee like it was going out of style and I don’t get reflux.  I eat one piece of bread and BAM!  I’m in pain.

I had the same reaction.  Why didn’t they ask a doctor to comment on her experience?  Why didn’t they at least speculate on why low-carb would help with reflux?  Why didn’t they find someone (eh, hem) to interview about the mechanisms involved.  Instead they went straight from her to the standard fluff about coffee, smoking etc.

Groupthink at it’s finest.

I have GERD and have taken meds for 10 years. I am 63, white female. I quit the meds 4 weeks ago. I have been on the CSD for almost one year. I still have GERD but it is not as bad as it used to be. Where do I go from here?

Have you read my article Get Rid of Heartburn and GERD forever in Three Simple Steps and tried everything I mentioned?

I went off my antacids & proton pump inhibitors and have been on Atkins for a month. Instead of two days a week incapacitated by stomach problems… I have had one bad day in the whole month. Thanks so much for your heartburn series!

You’re welcome! Happy to hear it helped you.

What a dumb news segment. They had it right with the low-carb information and then switched to the doctor who obviously hadn’t even seen the interview. Tobacco, coffee, please. I used to smoke and drink coffee like mad and didn’t have heartburn. It was only after my thyroid started crashing, I was low on serum vitamin D, and under a lot of stress that I started suffering from a LOT of heartburn and gas. I was also eating mostly pasta, vegetables and ice cream. Went paleo and it all went away.

Pretty amazing how they presented her story and then managed to completely ignore it and start talking about the same conventional nonsense that has failed everyone! Typical. Guess that’s why I never watch or listen to the news.

I agree with all of the above comments.  The doctor lead the viewers to believe that my heartburn went away AFTER I had lost weight, when I specifically said that within 1-2 weeks of eliminating carbs, my hearburn went away.  My weight-loss came AFTER the heartburn/GERD was cured, NOT the other way around, as “conventional” medical “wisdom” would infer.

Also, I was in DC two days ago and had four separate meetings with members of Congress, and spoke of the link between PPI’s (Proton Pump Inhibitors, i.e. Prevacid, Nexium, Prilosec, etc) and increased bone fractures.  PPI’s inhibit the proper absorption of nutrients and the FDA is now requiring these drugs to include this information on the patient information label.  Can we even begin to imagine the explosion of Osteoporosis we are facing with the multi-billion dollar PPI drug industry?  That’s why I spoke as a patient advocate from Florida on behalf of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. 
BOTTOM LINE:  Carbs cause MANY problems!!!  Stop eating them, as they are unhealthy.  I also have been sick just from eating a slice of bread.  I live pain free and will never go back to eating carbohydrates other than healthy fresh-vegetable carbs, i.e. asparagus, spinach, green beans, etc.  Thanks to all for your comments on my Fox news video. 

Comment to Jane:  Have you had a DEXA scan?  THis is the scan that measured bone density  You are at increaed risk of developing Osteoporosis.  If you have not, please have one.  It is likely that if you don’t have Osteoporosis, you probably have at least low bone density and you could still have a preventive approach.  Osteoporosis is a silent disease.  I was a strong and healthy 45 year old diagnosed with the bones of a 70 year old.  Osteoporosis is a silent disease; there are two ways of finding out.  (1) have a dexa scan or (2) wait until a bone breaks.  That’s the truth of it.  Wishing you the best…..please read Chris’ series on heartburn and gerd.  The low carb lifestyle is a lifestyle choice that we can easily live with. 

The interview wasn’t too bad, for the media anyway. (I have low expectations). The talking head spoke to people like they were retarded (GERD is a big word, so I’ll speak sloooowly for all your morons out there).  However, Susan’s story was compelling even if the doctor segment was just more regurgitated blah blah blah.  I think most viewers will  tune out the doctor’s “advice”, that they have probably heard a million times before and focus on the new concept of low-carb eliminating GERD.  So all in all very positive.

Thanks, Martine.  I’m coming upon 1 year of changing over to a low-carb lifestyle and can count on one hand the times I’ve had heartburn.  And each time was when I ate high-carb foods.  I don’t need a doctor to tell me how I feel when I eat carbs – I live it everyday and know the truth.  I just want more people to understand; I can’t stand it that so many people are sucking in PPI’s instead of making a simple diet change and the medical community continues to lie about the food pyramid.  (And we continue getting fatter.)

Hello,

From all my symptoms (initial globus and now for last number of months with heavy draining phlegm throughout day -easing at night) I believe I have LPR or silent reflux). I’ve been trying to eat well, taking probiotics and dig. enzymes fairly consistently but still cannot get rid of phlegm draining and coughing it up.

Just wondering whether anyone with this has been helped on low carb. diet? Many sites tell LPR sufferers to eat low fat and avoid meats. Not sure what the heck to do anymore but just trying to avoid having to get on acid reducers.

Thanks Herve.

Comment to Herve:

I found low carb, high fat helped reduce post-nasal drip, running nose and excessive sneezing, but this was long after these problems had first been substantially reduced by strenuously avoiding salt and salty food.

HTH

I went on a low carb diet for other health reasons and was astonished when I realized one day not far in my constant companion GERD was gone. Totally gone. The only reappearance it made was after one high carb meal eaten as a test. The GERD was gone again a few hours later and hasn’t come back. I’m still eating as low carb as I can get.

It’s the same with the link between obesity and diabetes. I keep telling people the underlying conditions that cause obesity also cause diabetes, that while visceral fat is metabolically active and can make a bad situation worse (ditto for fatty liver), being overweight in itself doesn’t cause anything–it’s a symptom. And how do I know? Eating low-carb lets me have normal blood sugar. I don’t think I have ever gotten to the point of diabetes but I sure was getting reactive hypoglycemia. If my overweight was causing that then it shouldn’t have responded to diet. And the same diet that lets my blood sugar normalize also helps the weight come off. There’s a pattern here and most people refuse to see it.

Coffee doesn’t bother me. Wheat, on the other hand, does.