More tips to relieve heartburn and acid reflux

What would you be willing to give up to rid yourself of chronic heartburn?

In the e-Alert “Pain at the Pump” (7/27/09), I told you about a study that showed how Nexium, Prilosec and other proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) may actually prompt heartburn – the very condition they’re supposed to treat.

In response to that e-Alert I received an e-mail from an HSI member named Mark whose experience may be useful to others who suffer from heartburn or acid reflux.

Mark: “I suffered from chronic acid reflux up till about 4 years ago. As you might expect, my doctor prescribed a PPI to control the problem and after a little research on Google I found out what this drug could do to me so I stopped taking it after 7 weeks. Within two days my acid problem came back so I once again headed for Google, typed in “Home Remedies for Acid Reflux Disease” and found several sites that listed the causes of acid reflux and ways to prevent its reoccurrence.

“While Dr. Spreen is right in saying refined sugar and flour may cause acid reflux the site I used also said you should avoid milk, coffee, alcohol, cured meats like cold cuts and ham, chocolate, cheese (unless it’s old cheese), yogurt, bread, soda pop and several others.

“The author of the article suggested that a ball of undigested glucose from these products sits in the stomach causing the PPIs in the cells to fire continually trying to digest it causing an abundance of acid in the stomach, which eventually moves upward causing acid reflux. I used to get heartburn from bread, milk and yogurt so I stopped using them along with everything else on the list until the problem went away; it took several months.

“I can now enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning and I use dark rye bread made from 100% rye flour, no sugar and no yeast on occasion. If and when I get a little bit of acid reflux I take a tablespoon of raw cider vinegar, which works well. As for a milk substitute I use almond milk.

“You have to give up a lot to curb the acid, but the health benefits are worth it!”