GERD Diet
59Gastroesophageal reflux disease, popularly known by its abbreviation of GERD, is a medical condition where the contents of the stomach -food juices and acid - flow back up into the esophagus, thus, causing heartburn and other symptoms. Of course, the esophagus becomes irritated and often inflamed in the process.
Symptoms and Causes
It must be emphasized, however, that suffering from heartburn is not in itself an indication of GERD. For heartburn to be considered as a symptom of GERD, you must experience it at least 2 times in a week.
However, heartburn may not be present in all cases of GERD. Nonetheless, these symptoms should alert an individual to the presence of GERD:
- Regurgitation of bitter acid in the throat whilst bending over and/or sleeping
- Bitter aftertaste in the mouth accompanied by bad breath
- Difficulty in swallowing brought by a feeling of throat tightness
- Excessive salivation especially with heartburn
- Persistent dry cough and wheezing
At present, there are no known causes of GERD. Medical science, however, does know that the lower esophageal sphincter becomes unable to close properly, hence, backing up the stomach contents back into the food pipe.
Diet Treatment
Fortunately, GERD can be treated, or at least its symptoms significantly minimized, with lifestyle modifications specifically through diet. This is known as the GERD diet, which is characterized by the avoidance, if not the total elimination, of fatty, fried, oily, creamy, acidic, and spicy and highly processed foods.
The list is long when it comes to the foods that are best avoided in GERD although it can be summarized as follows:
- Whole milk products
- Chocolate and caffeine including carbonated drinks and tea
- Acidic and citrus fruits like pineapples and oranges
- Acidic vegetables like tomatoes, onions and peppers
- Hot spices like cayenne as well as spearmint and peppermint
- Creamy foods including soups and salad dressings
- Oils either of the vegetable or the animal variety
- Fatty baked goods (doughnuts)
- Processed meat foods like cold cuts
- Poultry skin and pickled foods
Now, you might be wondering what kind of foods a GERD sufferer can eat considering that everything seems to be banned. Well, you must opt for healthier food choices based on a low-fat, non-citrus and non-acidic criteria!
Your food choices then will include non-citrus and non-acidic fruits and vegetables (cucumbers, carrots, grapes and apples), complex carbohydrates (cereal, whole grain breads and brown rice), and lean protein sources (lean beef, chicken breast without the skin, and white turkey meat) as well as low-fat and low-cream foods. With time and practice, you will be able to differentiate between foods that are good for you and foods that exacerbate your GERD.
A GERD diet works by eliminating the foods that either increase acid production in the stomach or relax the lower esophagus sphincter (LES) or both. In the first case, excess acid oozes into the esophagus. In the second case, LES is unable to close on the barrier between stomach and esophagus, hence, resulting in GERD.
You may have some difficulty adapting to the GERD diet. With patience, determination and time, however, you can reap the benefits of your sacrifices - little to no GERD!
