Heartburn

wannabewalker
wannabewalker Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone, I'm coming back to MFP after a break. Just wondering what plans other people use for gut health. At the moment I'm experiencing a lot of heartburn. When this happens I take oemaprezole and figure out which food is triggering it. Usually it's bread or spices or some pasta sauces.

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,053 Member
    For good gut health, a large variety of not highly processed foods seem to be best as this allows for lots of gut bacteria to thrive. But I don't think gut health has anything to do with reflux.
  • Redux6x86
    Redux6x86 Posts: 9 Member
    I’m a long term GERD sufferer. Aside from avoiding trigger foods, the key for me is not eating too close to bed time; no snacks or meals within 5 hours of bed if possible - or I’ll be woken up in the night with reflux.

    I also find being in shape really helps, if I find myself getting symptoms frequently it’s often a reminder I need to work harder - there’s some science behind this, lower bf% often alleviates reflux.

    For acute symptoms, I use calcium carbonate sparingly, it’s not ideal long term because it risks hypercalcemia with chronic use. I’ve tried PPIs in the past but try to manage it as naturally as possible.

    There’s some evidence that d-limonene is a good natural remedy for reflux.

    I don’t know if reflux is linked to gut health, although I did hear it’s more likely if you suffer from h.pylori which I do not.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,097 Member
    PP has a good point implied, too: Have you discussed recurrent heartburn with your medical team? H. pylori is one possible issue, and there are simple medical tests to check that, and there are treatments.

    My sudden-onset recurrent heartburn turned out to be gallbladder adenomyomatosis (different from stones/sludge), and was only relieved when the gallbladder was removed. That's a fairly uncommon condition, though . . . but more likely if obese, older, a smoker, and slightly more common in women.

    Heartburn if from gastric reflux can contribute to developing Barrett's esophagus, which itself can be a precursor to esophageal cancer. (Esophageal cancer is quite rare, so I don't totally want to scare you: I admit I'm probably over-sensitive about it because my husband died of it at 45.)

    You don't mention your weight, but if overweight reaching a healthy weight reduces or eliminates heartburn for quite a few people. If it's night heartburn and there are sleep/snoring issues, I know of at least one person for whom treating sleep apnea reduced heartburn significantly.

    There are also stronger prescription meds for heartburn than we can get OTC.

    What do you mean by "gut health"? IMU, gastric reflux itself may actually negatively affect gut health, so whether gut health improves reflux/heartburn may be a complicated question, maybe even with causation in both directions.

    So far, I think we're interpreting "gut health" in terms of gut microbiome here. I'm not sure that's what you intend.

    If it is, IMU the research on gut microbiome is pretty young, but it's interesting. As a hugely broad generality, gut microbiome diversity seems to be a helpful thing, though which microbes are present matters. What seems to improve gut microbiome diversity is a diet high in varied whole foods fiber sources (veggies, fruits, whole grains, nuts), plus some probiotic foods (such as live-culture yogurt, kefir, kombucha; raw vinegar; unpasteurized raw sauerkraut and kim chi, etc.). Things that seem to hinder gut microbiome diversity or quality may be some additives in highly processed foods; possibly excessive amounts of sugar, alcohol, or saturated fats; high stress; some medications.

    Funny, isn't it, how that's congruent with what's often recommended as a generally healthy way of eating? ;)

    I hope you find a solution!

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