Digestive Wellness: Strengthen the Immune System and Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion, Fourth Edition (82 page)

Food sensitivity testing

Celiac testing

Try osteopathic care and chiropractic adjustment.
Seek chiropractic care for hiatal hernia. Cranial-sacral adjustments can often correct gastric reflux, especially in children. Chiropractic or osteopathic adjustment is often all the therapy you need for these problems.

Try acupuncture.
Acupuncture treatments can be effective for GERD.

Make dietary changes and try an elimination diet.
Late-night eating can trigger GERD. Offending foods are individual—you need to discover what yours are. I’ve seen people respond to a gluten-free diet and others respond to an egg-free diet. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease recommends eliminating the following foods and food groups to discover which ones contribute to your GERD: citrus fruits, chocolate, caffeinated drinks, fatty and fried foods, garlic, onions, mint flavorings, spicy foods, and tomato-based foods like spaghetti sauce, salsa, and pizza. Eating a whole-foods diet rich in vegetables and fruits can often help.

If you are overweight, lose weight.
One of the contributors to GERD is being overweight. If you lose weight, it can help.

If you smoke, stop.
GERD is high in people who smoke than in nonsmokers.

Drink plenty of water.
Some people find that increasing water consumption up to a gallon of water a day resolves acid reflux. Dr. F. Batmanghelidj popularized the water cure for GERD and ulcers in his book
Your Body’s Many Cries for Water
.

Place a six-inch beam under the head of your bed.
If you suffer from nighttime heartburn, raising the head of your bed can alleviate symptoms. Although you might think that raising your bed would feel strange, the difference is barely noticeable, and the heartburn improves.

Consider possible H. pylori infection.
H. pylori is a bacteria that has been implicated in gastric and duodenal ulcers. In some cases, it is also involved in gastric reflux. Treatment with antibiotics and bismuth-containing supplements or drugs can eradicate the bacteria.

Try hydrochloric acid supplements.
Heartburn has traditionally been treated with antacid therapy, but often it responds well to supplementation with hydrochloric acid pills. Often, the symptoms of excess stomach acid and decreased stomach acid are the same. (See sections in
Chapter 3
and
11
for more information on HCl.)

Drink cabbage juice.
Cabbage juice is a long-standing folk remedy for heart-burn. Its high glutamine content is probably the key to its success. Cabbage juice has a strong flavor, so dilute with other vegetable juices.