Has anyone on mainly meat diet only suffered from bad recurring acid reflux? What's the best way to deal with it while trying to stay on a meat/high fat ?

I stopped getting acid on my throat when I started eating Paleo, including no nightshades. But I still burp all the time, which my doctor tells me still qualifies as reflux.

I'm just going to keep posting links to this series of articles whenever anyone mentions reflux. It's great:

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/heartburn

Quick summary:

Heartburn is not caused by acid in the stomach. There's supposed to be acid in the stomach! Heartburn is caused by pressure in the stomach, which forces the lower esophageal sphincter to open. The pressure is usually caused by gas from fermenting carbohydrates - the gas is produced by unfriendly bacteria. Although many people get better when they go VLC, some don't, and you and I appear to be among that group. It sounds like this is usually because a tough case of H. Pylori overgrowth will not give up so easily.

To resolve the problem, you must get your stomach acidity back where it should be - this will kill most of the bacteria. However, some people still need to treat the H. Pylori with mastic or antibiotics.

Your first step should be to take Betaine HCl with meals. The last article in the series will give you details about how.

I was wondering if part of the problem could be due to delayed stomach emptying?

A tonic of a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water after each meal carried me through this stage. Wine might also work, or some naturally fermented sauerkraut/pickles. You might also try a good probiotic

I'm surprised by this, since as soon as I cut out carbs, my GERD went away completely. Do you drink coffee or alcohol?

Try kefir for awhile. It can colonize both gut and intestinal system and colon with 'good' bacteria which can make a real difference in things like this.

~TigerLily - I sympathize with you. It is a horrible feeling. I hope you find what is causing it.

I have been having horrible reflux lately (daily and it wakes me at night) and I tried the HCL with pepsin. It seems to make it worse. Does that mean I have to increase the dosage? I just quit coffee a couple of weeks ago. I only drank decaf but am wondering if my stomach was producing less acid because of the coffee I was drinking, since I drank it all day long.

It also seems the lower carb I go, the worse it gets though but that may just be coincidental with the coffee.... Could it be a particular food that I am sensitive to?

I did read the articles that Capmikee posted and it was great info. I threw away the antacids, but now I am really suffering....

I tried HCL and it made it worse. ACV did too. ACV is a good tonic, but it does a number on dental enamel.

I don't have reflux anymore, as in my case it was gluten intolerance. Are you eating more of something that you didn't eat before when you weren't on the diet, like milk or eggs? You might want to check for an intolerance there.

I have been ZC or near ZC for about 18 months, never had reflux before, only the last couple of months. The Dr thinks my reflux is due to increased acid not lack of it, so taking HCL is the wrong thing to do. I have been eating very high fat, so it could be that.

Take lots of biotin and the corresponding B vitamins. Biotin increases...I'm drawing a blank, the hormone that tells the esophogeal sphincter to shut tightly. It helps me a lot.

Your doctor is a victim of the pharmaceutical machine. HCL isn't the problem.

It sounds like you are changing multiple variables - I can't blame you - I never want to be too "scientific" about things when it's my own body at stake. But of course that makes it harder to figure out what's going on. Hopefully with time it will become clearer.

Since I've been doing the HCl, I've noticed slightly more burning in my throat. But the funny thing is, even after taking 16 tablets (8 with each of two "stages" of dinner), I don't feel any burning in my stomach. Here's my theory, based on this comment in the articles:

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/what-e...-heartburn-gerd


Since I've been burping constantly for almost 2 years, I know I still have "reflux." But maybe the reason I didn't feel any burning in my throat is that there is no acid at all in my stomach. Now that I'm starting to build up some acidity, I can feel it a little when the burping opens up the LES. I'm not sure if this could be dangerous to the esophagus, but for myself I'm willing to chance it. The frequency and intensity of burping hasn't gotten any worse, and it may be slightly better. So if the throat burning is temporary until I can build up sufficient stomach acid, it's worth it to me. It's extremely mild, anyway.

I was considering this as a possibility for me, but after reading those articles again, I don't believe it anymore:

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/what-e...-heartburn-gerd


I looked up Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. It's an overproduction of gastrin, the hormone that stimulates acid production. It's usually caused by tumors of the duodenum or pancreas - so if you have that, you've got bigger fish to fry.

I think it's more likely you need the acid to digest the fat. Your stomach needs a LOT of acid to digest meat and fat - I think that's why taking HCl has helped some ZCers adjust.

Taking HCl is a good test to find out whether you have low stomach acid, but if you don't feel comfortable with that, ask your doctor to test your stomach acid directly:

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/get-ri...ee-simple-steps

~capmikee - How close to eating do you take it? I seem to burp all day long when I use the HCL. I feel like the acid comes up and I just swallow it back down. Not a good feeling. Does that mean that I need to increase the dosage? I haven't felt the burning in my stomach either....

So I am a little concerned that I am adding all of this acid to my stomach and the issue with the LES is not clearing up. I am thinking that the increased acid should lead to less pressure in the gut (which is what he is theorizing is causing the problem) and thereby relieving the reflux. Since it seems to be getting worse, I am not sure what to do. None of the sites I've looked to for answers address what to do if the GERD gets worse, but the dose doesn't make the stomach burn.

When I spoke to my doc about the reflux initially, he handed me cute little sample bottles of Nexium, which I promptly pitched. (Grrrr) I don't think he'd be open to me actually trying to cure it....

I've discovered that if I take 5 or 6 tablets before eating, and then don't eat in the next couple minutes, I do feel some burning in my stomach. But if I take 2-4, and then start eating and take 4 more, I feel nothing.

It's frustrating that there isn't more information available. Let me know if you find out what to do!

The most difficult situation for me is when my stomach is burning before I even take the pills, after 20 hours of fasting. Why is that? I don't think it's because of acid, because taking the pills doesn't make it worse and sometimes even makes it better. But it makes me worry that I won't be able to judge the effect that the HCl has.

I've been taking 6000mcg biotin for over a year now.
I started taking B vitamins about a month ago.