Changing My Plans In Case it IS Acid Reflux

My second elimination diet wasn't yielding any results so I started digging a little and found that I may be suffering from GERD (chronic acid reflux).  This kinda freaked me out because I know someone who died of cancer brought on by chronic acid reflux.

I didn't really HAVE heartburn symptoms so I wanted to prove that I didn't really have acid reflux.  I wanted to prove that there's surely something I'm eating that I'm intolerant of and that once I eliminate that food all will be well.

Alas, even cutting out my beloved onions and garlic didn't do the trick.  So, I started reading.  I faced my fears and read article after article about acid reflux... mostly googling "Can I have acid reflux without symptoms?" kinds of things.

One can take antacids, such as Tums, but in typical Laura fashion I wanted to get more to the root of the problem.  I'm almost always against treating a problem by merely making one symptom go away.  And although antacids aren't exactly that, they're kind of that.

They ARE stopping the acid... or rather neutralizing the acid in the stomach which would prevent the GERD (chronic acid reflux), but I feel in a way that's not really taking care of the problem.  Could it be a temporary solution?  Sure.  But I wanted to stop the problem... if GERD is what I have... remember, I'm only self-diagnosing.

Shouldn't I go in to a doctor?  Probably.  They might be able to put a scope down my esophagus and determine if any damage has been done.  Sometimes they probably diagnose based on history of symptoms.

I believe in most cases of GERD, medical professionals try to get the patient to change their lifestyles before starting on medications.  So that's what I want to do... change my lifestyle.

But Laura, you eat so healthily to begin with?  Uh... no I don't.  It's a far cry from avoiding sugar and processed foods to actually eating for optimal health.  Do I currently eat better than 90% of Americans?  For sure!  But that's apparently not the point.  I need to eat better for myself.

A few of the things I can change immediately include losing weight (I've lost 20 of 60 pounds so far so I'd like to take the remaining 40 off sooner rather than later)... and eating smaller meals.  I have a bad habit of stuffing myself.  That has to stop.  Just because it's a bowl of healthy food, doesn't make it okay to stuff myself.

And then there's the acid.  I've said for years that I am a very acidic person.  How do I know that?  Two things.  One is that when I wear metal, I often react to it.  I tend to wear the plating off of plated metal jewelry much sooner than most people.  And if I wear copper or bronze, I instantly turn green and make the metal look dull and discolored.

The second thing is that if you look at a list of acidic vs alkaline foods, I eat a lot of acidic foods.  These are the things I crave.  But it has to stop.

So I made a list of acidic and alkaline foods and I added the attributes of "high-carb, low-carb" as well as "antioxident or inflammation-causing" and ranked the foods.

Now I had a plan... a starting point.

I got some Ph level testing strips and tested myself.  I tested (three times).  I am extremely acidic.

A healthy range is 6.7-7.0 (for morning urine).  I tested at 5.5 (very acidic).  The scale pretty much goes from 4.5 to 9.0 so one or two numbers is a huge difference.

An alkaline diet is mostly vegetarian, if not flat out vegan.  Believe it or not, I'm very comfortable with this as far as how I want to eat.  I used to be vegan but I worried about not getting enough protein and/or vitamin B12 (along with a few other nutrients).  I generally don't like the taste of meat, fish, or poultry... unless doctored.  My version of doctoring means totally over-cooking and adding some masking ingredient like bbq sauce or coconut aminos.

So I'm actually okay with the vegan part of this except that I have the same original dilemma... how to get enough protein without carb-loading (beans, grains, etc).

One thing that I'm unclear on is citrus.  Many articles say limes and lemons are GOOD for a alkaline diet, while other articles say citrus should be avoided if you have GERD.

So I don't know what to do about those... same for peppermint and spearmint (I drink a lot of those teas.  Should I avoid them for awhile?)

There are definitely some nay-sayers in regards to attempting to change one's Ph level...

From WebMD for example: "The alkaline diet claims to help your body maintain its blood pH level. In fact, nothing you eat is going to substantially change the pH of your blood. Your body works to keep that level constant.

But the foods you're supposed to eat on the alkaline diet are good for you and will support a healthy weight loss: lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of water. Avoiding sugar, alcohol, and processed foods is healthy weight-loss advice, too.

As to the other health claims, there's some early evidence that a diet low in acid-producing foods like animal protein (such as meat and cheese) and bread and high in fruits and veggies could help prevent kidney stones, keep bones and muscles strong, improve heart health and brain function, reduce low back pain, and lower risk for type 2 diabetes. But researchers aren't sure of some of these claims yet."

In other words, so long as I do this in a healthy way, I should be better off anyway.  And look, if I can't elicit a change in a month, I will definitely go in to my doctor and have myself checked out.

But what if I've already done damage to my throat?  Shrug.

So my plan is to eat fewer acid-causing foods, eat more alkaline-causing foods, eat smaller meals, and lose weight (which probably also means start exercising).

Maybe I won't blog about everything.  Maybe I'll just check back in here in a month and let you know what's what.