How do I eat healthy with GERD? Help!

melissaduthler1
melissaduthler1 Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've just recently been diagnosed with gerd, and after learning all of the possible trigger foods, it makes since why I am always sick. Almost everything I eat can be a trigger! I'm at a loss on what to eat that is healthy but won't have me feeling sick all the time. I literally season everything I cook with black pepper, garlic and onion so I don't even know how to cook anymore!

Replies

  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,024 Member
    How long have you been on your weight loss journey? I had severe Acid reflux disease with symptoms of GERD also....I was sick all the time and throwing up acid from my stomach. Changing my diet to clean healthy foods, no sugary drinks and nothing fried, has completely reversed my problem. I'm a little over 4 month into my journey and down 61 lbs.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,979 Member
    Figure out what really triggers a flareup. It won't be easy to figure out, but this can be so individual that it's difficult to give any advice really.

    Mind you, for me it's eggs, also food with lots of egg. And dairy that is particularly low fat, lean meat can be a trigger. On the other hand I can have acidic drinks, lots of hot spices, tea and all the other things I'm not supposed to eat *shrugs* Oh, and if my thyroid medication is not spot on I have lots of issues.
  • melissaduthler1
    melissaduthler1 Posts: 5 Member
    I'm about 4 months also. I do eat a pretty clean diet, however the foods I've been eating are the problem. For example, I have a salad for lunch most days that consists of turkey, spinach, cucumber, red and green peppers, tomatoes and onion. Ground Turkey seasoned with taco seasoning for taco salads, also filled with peppers, tomato and onion is another favorite.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    You are a perfect candidate for an elimination diet. Take all those possible triggers you have researched and eliminate them from your diet for a couple of weeks. Assuming you are feeling better, start reintroducing foods, one at a time, with a day or two back in the strict diet in between. It should be clear what your personal triggers are, rather than trying to restrict all possible triggers.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    I never eat any solid food and no acidic liquids after dinner. Nothing solid - not even a dinner mint. Now 7 years completely free of reflux episodes.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    I had to literally drop to one food and then add foods one at a time. It was boring and frustrating, but I have identified my worst triggers. I can still get heartburn for no apparent reason (eating foods that didn't cause it previously).

    I hope you are seeing a gastroenterologist. I hope you have been tested for H. Pylori. I hope you have an upper GI scheduled to look for possible hernia, ulcer, etc. I hope you can try different medications and doses to find the one that works best for you.

    The basic eliminations (as I remember) are chocolate, peppermint, coffee, caffeine, carbonated beverages, tomato, citrus fruits, saturated fats, peppers, onions, spicy food, fried food. This approach was unsuccessful for me, which is why I eventually went down to one food.

    Also recommended is raising the head of your bed (I bought a wedge), not eating for the 3 hours before bedtime, eating small meals, eating at a table and not reclining after meals, losing weight if you are overweight, not wearing tight clothes.

    I really did have to change the way I cooked and ate. But, on the plus side, I was lucky that chocolate isn't a trigger for me. Dodged that one!

    You can add me as a friend if you want. I truly get your frustration.
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    edited August 2019
    I have to avoid garlic and onion due to IBS (it is a FODMAP issue), not GERD, so my advice may not be applicable, as I'm not sure exactly what the issue is for GERD.

    With FODMAPs, one has the option to fry whole garlic cloves in oil, remove the garlic, and then continue cooking with the garlic oil - this is because the FODMAPs are not fat soluble and so do not enter the oil. Alternatively, you can buy garlic infused oil at many stores, you just have to make sure there's not actual garlic chunks in it anymore. (E.g. Trader Joe's sells garlic infused olive oil for very reasonable prices - online it can be obscenely expensive.)

    Onions are also a major issue for IBS, for the same reason as garlic. However, green onions are fine - if you only eat the green parts. You can also similarly make onion infused oil as with garlic - fry big chunks and then remove them.

    Again, I'm not sure if this is applicable to GERD, but it's worth looking into. I do get symptoms similar to GERD if I eat too many things containing fructans (which is the problem with onions and garlic) or greasy foods (e.g. bacon), but actually have IBS.

    Some people also use the spice asafoetida in place of onion or garlic.




    edit: warning! If you make your own onion or garlic oil, use it immediately. It can quickly develop botulism when stored. Commercial products have more to the procedure to make them safe for longer.
  • slimgirljo15
    slimgirljo15 Posts: 269,456 Member
    edited August 2019
    I found since I started drinking a 300ml bottle of diet ginger ale with lunch and dinner my reflux disappeared. Totally unexpected and I only started drinking it because I found I liked the taste and was looking for something different to drink. It wasn't till about 2 months after I started drinking it that I realised I hadn't had reflux in ages.
    It's probably just me though as my daughter tried but it didn't help her 😔

    Edit.. It has to be Schweppes 300ml diet ginger ale.. it's super gassy.

    It's been 3 years now..
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,640 Member
    I had the reflux from hell. The variety with barf bags in the car, and prayers I wouldn’t make a fool of myself in public. Even if I could find a toilet in time, I worried I’d wet my pants. Staying up at night because I couldn’t lay down. Nightmares about choking on reflux and waking to find that I was.

    I did an elimination diet, with the side benefit of weight loss. After two weeks, many years of pain, suffering and humiliation vanished. No more omeprazole or proton inhibitors, or whatever they’re called. That was one of my main reasons for continuing the weight loss.

    I’m down 75 and never even think about it anymore. I am proudly making spicy carnitas and beans for dinner, and just scarfed down a tomato with lunch and enjoy an orange every day! For this reason alone, I will continue to work my bottom off to never put the weight back on again.

    I did the ifm.org elimination diet my doctor recommended (I initially eliminated foods for joint pain, so the GERD relief was a blissful surprise), but it’s pretty similar to others I’ve read.

    I sincerely believe reflux is weight related. I could tell you almost to the pound when it would flare up, and when I’d get under that threshold, the symptoms would lighten up or go away.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    I sincerely believe reflux is weight related. I could tell you almost to the pound when it would flare up, and when I’d get under that threshold, the symptoms would lighten up or go away.

    I believe you meant to say "I sincerely believe MY reflux is weight related" rather than generalize for everyone.

    Reflux and GERD have many causes, weight being one of them. I was just on the border of normal and overweight BMI when my GERD was diagnosed. Weight loss was never part of my care plan. I have met people who vary from underweight to obese with GERD. My sister, who is obese, was given meds but not given further testing (probably because the doctor assumed it was a weight related issue). 15 years later when being examed for a different issue, they found her stomach was herniated. She could have been saved from 15 years of pain and meds if someone had looked for that initially.

  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    Some healthy foods that I was able to eat as I added foods in. Although, every person will have different results, I wanted to give you a few ideas. I am pescatarian.

    Microwaved sweet potato with hummus (very plain hummus)

    Salmon

    Tuna salad made with mashed avocado and Greek yogurt

    Plain Greek yogurt 0%

    Sauteed greens (using a small amt of canola)

    Apples and peanut butter

    Whole wheat bread (originally only Heartland brand, but was able to add others)

    Rice cakes

    Eventually, I was able to eat lots more.

    For me, here are some foods I have not been able to add back, even after almost 2 years: plant-based milk & cheese, raw bell pepper and onion (cooked is fine), cucumber, strawberries, watermelon, oranges and other citrus, tomatoes, spicy foods, deep fried foods, coffee, carbonated beverages, black pepper.

    I am still on a high dose proton pump inhibitor. It does a good job most of the time. I also take Tums or Tums+Gaviscon about 4-5 times a week. I would be a good candidate for surgery if I didn't live in the US.
  • TheRealSlim_Shelly
    TheRealSlim_Shelly Posts: 66 Member
    I developed GERD postpartum (not during and never had it before). I was also 40-50lbs overweight. Now that I’m pre-pregnancy weight, it’s virtually gone. That being said I’ve found that up’ing my dairy (especially in combination of acidic foods like tomatoes) and eating more bananas especially (I actually eat 2 per day now) has helped tremendously in the process. I also take a quality probiotic containing specifically rhamnosus (there are studies for and against probiotics being helpful but I’ll take my chances). When the GERD was at its’ worst I went on basically a BRAT diet for a month until things calmed down. Then I slowly started working in new foods to see how I would react, in addition to the dairy and bananas. Yea it sucks, but the pain of eating the wrong foods was way worse to me than eating really plain for a while. Honestly, I was more scared to eat than anything else in the beginning because the pain was that bad.

    I do take some preventative measures now, even though I haven’t experienced any symptoms in the past 8 months. When I happen to eat right before bed or eat something that may be a trigger, I prop myself up to sleep on an extra pillow or two so I’m not laying flat. I also never drink alcohol anymore (that was my trigger twice when it was at its worst) or eat really spicy foods. On the other hand, I can still eat pickles or have moderate amounts of vinegar. (Even though at one point vinegar was a huge NO-NO for me). I’ve also stopped drinking coffee and I eat small meals every 3 hours.

    This was a purely anecdotal account, GERD is extremely individual. Some don’t have enough acid, some have too much acid. Each trigger is going to be different for each person and it’s worth mentioning I know plenty of “thin” people with GERD (losing weight isn’t a cure in every case). Dairy helped me, but I know some with reflux and GERD who can’t handle any dairy. It’s so so SO important to work with your doctor about this issue. It’s not one to take lightly or trust the advice of strangers on the internet. Please take everything here with a grain of salt. Hope you feel better soon.

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