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Heartburn with low carbs??

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Krohnie
Krohnie Posts: 286 Member
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So I'm rocking this low carb thing. I'm doing south beach and have lost almost 10 lbs in a month. Over the last three weeks I'm noticing an alarming increase in my heartburn. It's terrible, hurts 90% of the time, builds up in the back of my throat. Could it be a low carb thing? I'm heading to see a doctor this afternoon, but I'm not hopeful, I never have good experiences with drs (even though I am an eye doctor myself!). So my expectations are low there. Any thoughts? Has this happened to any of you?

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  • astartig
    astartig Posts: 549 Member
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    for the most part my heart burn has mostly improved with this diet... there seem to be some triggers left. peanut butter and almond butter are the worst offenders. the other offender is the low carb tortilla wrap. (for me)
  • kiramaniac
    kiramaniac Posts: 800 Member
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    Are you logging? Can you isolate which food(s) may be the cause?

    For me, heartburn is tied to acidic foods. It was much worse before low carb, but I still have occasional issues if I hit things that are highly acidic (marinara for me is a trigger).

    Just looked at your diary. Your carbs are still relatively high (although lower than typical diet). My recommendation would be to lower your carb levels more toward 100g or lower.

    (Mickey-D's always gives me heartburn. I haven't eaten it since going to Low Carb, but it's a likely culprit).

    Good luck!
  • moss11
    moss11 Posts: 236 Member
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    Mostly mine has also improved however I have just recently started having heartburn again and I am going to experiment taking my magnesium supplement in the evening instead of morning. I just started taking it a couple of days ago,and as that is the only thing different in my Lo carb routine I am firstly going to try an evening dose. Probably not much help to you but thought I would share! :-)
  • JamesBurkes
    JamesBurkes Posts: 382 Member
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    I seem to be the opposite. I've never really had heart burn. I went low carb without any problems, but I noticed that once I was fat adapted I would get heart burn whenever I ate carbs (specifically bread). This was never an issue when I was eating higher carb.

    As an additional point of (possible) interest, I now carb cycle and heart burn is not an issue, even with bread. I generally eat 3 slices of wholemeal post-workout (tuna or salmon sandwiches) so my daily carb intake is around 100g or so, and I still get the benefit of low carb but I also get good recovery and get to eat bread (I love low carb but I also love the carby, fluffy taste of bread.... ;) 2 days a week I fast for 24 hours and break it with a big zero carb meal. Seems to be working for me and no "carb-burn."
  • JanetLynnJudy
    JanetLynnJudy Posts: 173 Member
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    My SO and I have experienced the opposite. We used to take antacids daily before low carb. Now I never have too and he rarely has to. People have different food sensitivities. If you are still eating foods with gluten, maybe it could be a gluten sensitivity? I bought a bag of vital wheat gluten a while back (because by itself it is low carb) to add to this almond meal bread I made and I did get a slight heartburn and my SO reported bad heartburn. I believe it's possible we have some form of a non-celiac gluten sensitivity or it could be something else as there is so much still unknown about how different types of foods effect people. It's worth noting also that there was also a recent study that pointed to FODMAPs as being more of an issue than gluten itself for some people with a reported sensitivity. Although, I don't know what the case is for myself exactly. It's difficult to isolate all the variables and I do tolerate some of the things that fall under the FODMAP category well while other things not so much or not at all. I just know I feel awesome when I eat low carb salads, meat and some cheeses and I feel bad when I eat certain carby or gluten-y things.

    FODMAP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP#Sources_of_fructans

    No effects of gluten in patients with self-reported non-celiac gluten sensitivity after dietary reduction of fermentable, poorly absorbed, short-chain carbohydrates. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648697
  • Rei1988
    Rei1988 Posts: 412 Member
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    I used to get really bad heartburn too! Low-carb has actually helped, but too much dairy & processed foods trigger it for me.
  • can3mwh
    can3mwh Posts: 17 Member
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    I notice that my heartburn comes back if I eat more than 4 oz of protein in my meals. As long as I keep the protein portions a bit smaller and increase my greens a bit, then the heartburn is at bay. Good luck on discovering your triggers.

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