Attn: Food "experts" - GERD Again, Fran, PC ...

Fran, PC, and others;

A skeptic one but no longer re: GERD and afib. Have been pouring over the old posts.

I know that GERD can be a physical problem but also caused by our diet. What can eat/take to neutralize GERD w/o medication? I know to stay away from processed sugars, wheat, and calcium, right? What can I be ingesting to help?

Unless my answers are in the conference room (for some reason, I can't get in, I get a "temporaily unavailable page" error message). Thanks all, again.

Liz

Liz,

I don't know exactly why it happened, but on the second day of cutting out all bread, potatoes, rice, sugars, dairy, and processed foods, my GERD completely went away and hasn't returned.

I eat steak, chicken, fish or eggs, always with a fresh salad with a lot of raw veggies cut up in it, and/or steamed vegetables for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I snack on fruits, nuts, and raisins between meals. I do occasionally cheat, I must say, but it has not affected my GERD. I bought a small George Foreman grill to make preparation easy, thanks to Geri's recommendation. My wife makes a huge salad at the beginning of the week, so I don't have to do that constantly. I try to eat broccilli, cauliflower, and asparagus often, due to the sulfur content. Asparagus has actually converted me, but it could have been a coincidence. Artichokes are really good, too. I use butter, organic cold pressed olive oil, and cold pressed grape seed oil, with either lemon or rice wine vinegar, but not the seasoned rice vinegar. I'm still presently using Morton's Lite Salt due to the even sodium and potassium ratio, but need to get Celtic sea salt.

If there's something to metabolic typing, and the fact that my blood type is "O" +, then this diet is complimentary to me, and that's the reason it has helped me so much.

I urge anyone to at least try it, and see what happens. Hope this helps some.

Richard

Richard,

Interesting, I am O+ as well. I have read the book by Dr. D'Adamo. Is this the information where you have based some of your diet from? He brings up curiosly interesting points. I find that I can only keep off the few extra pounds by adhering to the type of diet that you describe.

Are there many A,B or AB type people on this board?

Has Hans ever done a questionaire that included that piece of information, and perhaps the Rhesus typing as well? I know that this effects all types, but it would be interesting to know for correlatory purposes. I will do a back check to see if Hans has posted that information and I just missed it.

Joe

Richard,

The ratio of Potassium to Sodium and Chloride in Celtic Sea Salts is almost 1 to 200. Why would this be better? Especially if the Lite Salt is 1 to 1. Just wondering.

Here is a breakdown of the compound.
[www.curezone.com]



Joe

Liz
I have GERD afib and have been taking "Losec", an Mg based drug that reduces the acidity iof the the stomach, for 2 years with stunning results for my afib which leads me to this question.

Are the high doses of Mg that people are taking MIMICKING THE SAME EFFECTS as the Mg based Losec that I take for GERD?

I have always had the opinion that many people on this website have undiagnosed GERD (I think Fran has) and the Mg they are taking is actually improving their afib by affecting their stomach acid and resulting reflux.

I also think that GERD increases the electrical activity in the stomach and oesophagus and it is this increased electrical activity that zaps the heart in the form of ectopic beats.

If you think about it, the amount of electrical activity that is needed from the brain to digest our food via peristalsis etc. must be enormous and if things go wrong, ie. GERD, does this mean that the electical activity then gets out of control?
Dean

Liz,

I defer any nutrition related questions wrt GERD to those on this BB much more informed on such matters than I. Indeed some have already replied.

However, I will add that broccoli is purported to kill gastric H. pylori. I think it's due to the sulforophanes. The following article underscores the significance of this wrt GERD.

Eradication of H. pylori Stops Development of Dyspeptic and Reflux Disease

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Nov 12 - The results of a study published in the November issue of Gut suggest that Helicobacter pylori eradication prevents the development of dyspeptic symptoms and peptic ulcer disease in healthy asymptomatic subjects.
Dr. D. Vaira, of the University of Bologna, Italy, and colleagues examined the effect of H. pylori eradication on the development of dyspeptic and gastroesophageal reflux disease in asymptomatic subjects. A total of 169 blood donors infected with H. pylori were included in the study.
Of the 169 patients, 81 underwent eradication therapy. The team followed all of the subjects who completed a symptom questionnaire at baseline and then again each year. In 2000, after a mean follow-up of 8.5 years, the patients underwent repeat endoscopy.
Of the 160 patients available for follow-up, 13 developed symptoms. Of these subjects, 12 were H. pylori-positive and one was H. pylori-negative. "The incidence of symptoms in H. pylori-positive subjects was 1.893/100 person-years of follow-up and in H. pylori-negative individuals 0.163/100 person-years of follow-up, respectively," Dr. Vaira and colleagues explain.
H. pylori-infected subjects and those infected with CagA-positive strains were significantly more likely to develop symptoms (p = 0.003 and p = 0.017, respectively). No difference in the development of esophagitis was observed between subjects with and without eradication.
Gut 2003;52:1543-1547.

The real question is: Which is worse, something like Losec or eating broccoli?
(just kidding, I love raw broccoli)

PC

Joe,

I guess I didn't know how much Na was in Celtic salt. 200:1 is a lot. That's even more than salt water analysis, by far. This link for seawater analysis shows it being about 27:1. I wonder why this salt is so much higher. If memory serves me, the body is about 5:1 in favor of Na, and most foods contain about a 1-1.5:1 ratio. Don't quote me on that, as that could have been Ca to Mg ratio. Even though I do use other salts on occasion, I find it peculiar that flecainide is a Na channel blocker, and it works so well for me, although I wasn't using Morton's Lite before AF.

I tried to find out what the ratios of nutrients were in the amniotic fluid, as I figured that would be the perfect balance, but I could never find that info out.

Richard

B negative for mine. This should be real interesting.
Peggy

Greetings Dean
I also take losec however I only take 10mg. How much do you take?. I can't say I've noticed any correlation with Afib and losec.
Take care
Chris H

GERD, or at least gastronomical distress, is definitely related to my bouts of afib. Pepcid keeps it at bay, but I don't like to take anything like that on a regular basis, so I don't. I have noticed several things get to me--doritos, dairy products, peperoni and rich foods. One thing that has helped, I think, is that I have been eating a couple of slices of low fat turkey lunch meat about 9:00 at night. I don't know if the protein helps or if just gives my stomach something to work on, but it seems to help. It is better than the big bowl of ice cream I used to eat most nights; well, not better from a taste standpoint.

Richard,

Amniotic Fluid is Nasty Stuff. It is made mostly up of fetal Urine and some saliva and nasal mucous. Perhaps a more perfect analysis of nutrients would be found in what the placenta allows to pass...... Don't know.

Most Doctor's Think Bright Yellow Amniotic Fluid is good, because it shows the Kidneys are working in the soon to be neonate.

FWIW,

Joe

Type A+ blood. (which flies in the face of the Blood Type Diet, because my ancestry on both sides of the family has been straight English with every generation and traced to England at least to the 17th century. However, my maiden name was Damon and I have often wondered if some Roman blood crept in there way back in the Celtic 1st c. B.C. or A.D.! Is that where the A came from?)

In my case GERD definitely triggers afib and is definitely eliminated by following the Food Combining Principles that promote alkalinity. ( If interested, do a search on the Hayes Diet or food combining) Incidentally, these principles were established in ancient Taoist practice. Also, it is very similar to a Paleo Diet, because it almost eliminates starches, potatoes, rice, processed foods, sugar and the like. It is different however, in that it allows only one protein based meal a day. Therefore, it leans heavily towards vegetarianism. Both proteins and the starchy carbos produce acid.

Also, sleeping with the head of the bed elevated and eating simple and little food 3-4 hours before going to bed helps alot.

I am skeptical of the Blood Type Diet. I think that the purported types of foods eaten in prehistory is so conjectural.

Carol

Carol,

I find the results of my comprehensive digestive stool analysis interesting, as it pertains to PH. My analyte result of PH was 7.6 with a ref. range of 6.3-7.7. Great Smokies says, "Excessive protein consumption, slow transit time/consitipation and inadequate dietary fiber may all contribute to an alkaline (>7.2) stool PH. Acidity of the stool is often related to diarrhea/rapid transit, small bowel bacterial overgrowth, carbohydrate maldigestion or fat malabsorbtion.

I am eating a higher protein diet, so one would think that that would create a more acidic environment. I wonder why that is?

Joe,

I imagined the amniotic fluid as this perfect solution enveloping the baby. Even though this is where the baby's bodily excretions go, I would still believe that the mother's body keeps homeostasis of this fluid, as well as filtering its impurities, because the skin of the baby is like a sponge. It's like a mini-ecosystem of an aquarium, where fish would live. They excrete their bodily fluids into their environment, but good bacteria are in this environment to scour the ammonia build-up and bad bacteria. I did learn through having a pond, that when the fish are developing Ich, it is because the addition of salt to their water is necessary. Once adding salt, the problem remedied itself.

Dean,

I'll have to take a closer look at Losec, to get a broader understanding. Unless one is absolutely sure that over acidity is their problem, one should proceed with caution. In my case I thought I was over acidic, hence I took Prevacid for several years. I think this contributed to my arrhythmia problem, due to further reduction of stomach acid, that is so important for protein breakdown and the killing off of germs that enter the stomach. I'm glad you have had such positive results, however. Could the simple addition of Mg given you the same results?

Richard

Lax oesophagus and weak connective tissue including the heart with stretching effect on the vagus are related to the cause of atrial fibrillation.

Richard - the lessening of GERD with the elimination of starchy type food carbs can be related to Candida - when Candida (yeast) is fed the foods on which they thrive, they produce gas in their normal fashion of growing and dividing. When I had Candida, I also had GERD which in turn usually stimulated an afib event after meals - especially ones containg the fuel for Candida.

While I am also Type 0 and should always adhere to a Paleo type diet - of course, I used to lapse. Then the problems began again.

Now that I'm disciplined to eat meals without starchy carbs, all of those symptoms have gone away and I have tested out as clear of Candida.

True, a higher protein diet metabolizes to an acidic pH, but this is easily neutralized by eating lots of low carb index fruits and veggies.... You know...Fran's diet.

The other thing to keep in mind about digestion is that as we age, we may no longer have the ability to produce the digestive enzymes required and supplementation is an absolute must - Hans has written many times about the importance of not only pancreatic enzymes but others. Additionally, taking a probiotic daily is essential to good bowel flora.

But I can't emphasize strongly enough the need to recognize how Candida influences digestion and accompanying problems.

Just my experience.

Jackie

As I don't have any physical symptoms of GERD it is difficult for me to say that my diet improves GERD. What I can say for definate is that at the end of day 1 on the paleo diet my stomach began to sing (Carols terminology). I felt a release of good energy radiating from my stomach to my chest and even into my head and brain. It was like good energy had been blocked and this diet opened me up and the nutrients were getting to where they were supposed to.

After being Paleo for a while (including all modern additives like MSG in its hidden forms - I have read so much on MSG and GERD) I thought to try the Blood Type diet to see if I could get away with some beans and things. Adzuki beans are seemingly OK for blood Type 0's like me. Other things like my oranages and coconut were out. I have to say it did not work for me. I am so lucky that I found my diet with so little discomfort.

I think that although protein becomes acidic the fresh veggies and fruit neutralise it. And I may be wrong here but I seem to remember that pure sea salt is alkakising where as other salts are acidifying. And with sea salt you get a range of the trace elements needed to sustain life - not just potassium and sodium. I will always stick with my sea salt. I've never found Celtic sea salt. I also know that some of the K salts have forms of hidden MSG in them as it is needed to make a taste.

Fran

Liz,

You might find the following weblink informative wrt GERD.

[www.medscape.com]|-7964821300813016654/184161394/6/7001/7001/7002/7002/7001/-1

PC

My blood Type is AB positive

Ella

Joe,

My survey of 34 afibbers revealed that 4 had blood type A, 1 had type A- and 8 had type A+. One had blood type B, 3 type B-, 3 type AB and 1 type AB+. Seven had blood type O and 3 type O+. You can read more about this in my book (pages 165-66).

Hans

Richard,
All I know is that protein, starches and sugars are acid producing in the stomach.
Carol

Sami,
I am interested in what you said. Can you elaborate on it?

Also, where did you find this information?

Carol