Dropping Acid By Koufman, Dr Jamie on 16 Sep-2010 Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B004CGCLLY | Format: EPUB
Dropping Acid By Koufman, Dr Jamie on 16 Sep-2010 Description
- Paperback
- Publisher: Reflux Cookbooks, LLC (September 16, 2010)
- ASIN: B004CGCLLY
My husband has had chronic GERD for years without knowing it. He started having symptoms that didn't make sense around last January. He was short of breath, cleared his throat a lot, had nausea and an upset stomach, and finally passed out in the middle of the night. I found him unconscious on the bathroom floor. After months of tests his GI doctor diagnosed him with Barrett's syndrome, a precancerous condition of the esophagus, but he couldn't explain the respiratory involvement. Worse yet, the only solutions offered were very invasive - surgery to remove the abnormal cells or light therapy with not the best chance of success. We needed a second opinion and we found Dr. Koufman. She ran different tests that tracked his acid level during an entire day of activities, including while eating, sleeping, coughing, everything. My husband had an enormous amount of acid and was refluxing all the way up to his larynx. The standard course of treatment from the GI doctor included a one-a-day medication that did not last the full 24 hours for my husband, so since he took it in the morning, it stopped working while he was sleeping,in the worst position for reflux to again attack the esophagus that was trying to heal all day.
Within a couple of days of meeting Dr. Koufman, my husband was on the strict phase of the diet. It wasn't easy since he was previously working in the wine trade and had to completely stop drinking wine, coffee, pretty much everything except water, milk, aloe juice and camomile tea. She also changed his medications to better control the condition over 24 hours. Within about 3 weeks, he started feeling noticeably better. After a couple of months, he went back for more tests and his condition had improved dramatically.
It's relevant that more information is being published about this annoying problem and Dropping Acid is very helpful. The book has good info about reflux and some nice recipes (although I don't cook much).
Dr Koufman mentions early on about packaged foods generally being a problem and containing alot of acid but, I wish she would have gotten more specific about what to look for. Elsewhere I read that in the 1970's the FDA approved for preservative use in food things like: citric acid, malic acid and absorbic acid. (and who knew 35 -40 years ago that we would eventually consume SO MUCH packaged food. Almost everything in the grocery store is canned, bagged, jarred, boxed, frozen, etc.)
Once I realized this I became vigilant about looking at the ingredient contents of the food I buy. Well folks, you're going to be shocked because this is where you're getting alot of your acid intake. These preservative acids are in many canned veggies, crackers, cookies, cereals, yogurts and frozen meals....oh boy! It's crazy.
Listen, I had been taking 30mg of prescription Prevacid for almost a decade.
Here's what I did, starting Jan 2011:
1) Switched to acid-free coffee (Folgers has one called: Simply Smooth)
2) Eliminated all carbohydrated beverages (never drank much but, realized soda is poison)
3) Consume alcohol moderately. Maybe total of 3 or 4 glasses of wine per week.
4) Bought NOTHING that had any of those preservative acids in them. Clearly, this means more fresh food and only packaged w/o those acids!
5) Eat chocolate and tomato-sauced foods in small amounts (tomatoes themselves have alot of water in them so aren't a problem for me but concentrated things like pasta sauce and chili are an issue.
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