X posted: help me feed my son with GERD

[kathymuggle]

Meal planning seems to move a little slowly, so I though I would try here.

My DS (14) has recently been diagnosed with GERD. We are trying dietary methods (in addition to conventional medecine) to get it under control.

Here is what he is not allowed to eat:

greasy or fatty food
acidic food: tomatos, onions, garlic, vinegar based stuff
caffeine - including fizzy drinks, chocolate and coffe.
spicy food
milk (He may or may not be lactose intolerant)

We used to cook Italian, mexican, thai....lots of spice, lots of tomatos.

Our diet is so boring and repetative at the moment.

I swear if I cook chicken and rice or chicken and noodles for supper one more time I am going to scream! If I hand him oatmeal for one more breakfast he is going to scream.

please give me some meal ideas - I would love both meat and non-meat. We do try to eat non-meat most nights of the week.

help!

Kathy

[organicmidwestmama]

this MD has good info on naturoathic treatments- he recomends less carbohydrates, more fat and protien-

http://fourfoldhealing.com/2007/11/08/gerd/
"the solution is not to inhibit production by eating less protein, but rather to increase protein (and fat) consumption so as to give the acid something to do, which is to digest the protein." also
"I have used this low-carbohydrate approach for the treatment of GERD for many years and with many patients. I can report that it is one of the most effective interventions that I use. It is not unusual for people to report relief even within a few days. There is no longer any doubt in my mind as to which of the above theories in correct."



i actually spoke w/my own md about this and he said it is generally not eating fats (or "grease") that causes gerds symtoms, buts he believes the worst offender is carbs. he did also say chocolate, alcohol and cigs, though i doubt your son partakes of the latter two. I ersonally would sto gluten if he is eating it, and see if that helps. my husband has had gerd since childhood and upon quitting wheat he no longer needs the medication he took for 15 years.

meal/food ideas that dont include dairy or wheat;

baked sweet potatoes with coconut oil or ghee rather then butter.

roast chicken stuffed with chopped celery, chopped nuts and raisins with rosemary and garlic.

polenta with salt and pepper and sun dried tomatoes.

ground lamb meatballs, using arrowroot or rice flour as a thickener if needed.

salmon poached in coconut milk and lemon juice.

shrimp and pineapple or strawberry kabobs, grilled and basted with olive oil.

white fish fillets (ie. walleye, tillapia) of any kind breaded in almond or ppeacan or hazelnut meal, fried in coconut or olive oil. served with green beans or broccolli.

the best breakfasts include protien, which oats have not much of- try;

egg omelet with fried mushrooms and steamed broccolli inside

sausage links or patties- turkey, chicken apple, pork etc.

parfait of fresh fruit, chopped nuts and coconut milk yogurt

hard boiled eggs and sauteed kale (destem kale, sautee in olive oil, ghee or coconut oil until wilted, add dried garlic or other seasoning)

homemade hashbrowns with over easy egg on top. fry hashbrowns in coconut or red palm oil or tallow or lard.

gluten free pancakes made with either a boxed mix or almond meal- check out www.elanaspantry.com for recipes using almond flour

[Rosehip]

In response to the previous post, my cousin, who suffered TERRIBLE reflux for decades, saw an incredible decrease in symptoms once he cut down on carbs. He eats smaller amounts of carbs, and always balanced with fats & protein.

If it's not clearly helping, and you're not sure he's lactose-intolerant, maybe keep dairy in for the moment. It seems like a lot of changes at once. He could always try the lactase supplements or lactose free milk. Just a thought.

For breakfast, does he eat eggs? Hard boiled, poached, etc?
any kind of grilled meat - shrimp, burgers, chicken

[cristeen]

I completely agree with the pps... a bowl of oatmeal or rice will have me burning for hours. But protein, veggies, etc., don't.

For me, wheat is a trigger even if it's paired with protein/fat. So to get rid of the reflux, I have to remove wheat completely, and actually do best with no grains at all. It takes a couple days, but then the reflux if completely gone.

ETA - if I skip the rice and the bread then I can eat all the spicy stuff I want. Mexican (no tortillas, no rice), Thai (no rice, no noodles), heck, during pregnancy I kept a bottle of sriracha on my desk at all times.

[sahmmie]

I just read a book called Fiber Menace which was very enlightening. Our bodies really were not meant to digest insoluble fiber. I also read another book called In Defense of Food, and another called The Makers Diet. These books are not specifically written to help people with GERD, but GERD is addressed in all of them. These books suggest eating no processed foods and only sprouted grains. When I don't eat processed foods and processed grains I feel so much better. I always wondered why my GERD bothered me so much when I ate Cheerios. Now I know.

I agree; fat is not the problem. Carbs are more likely to cause GERD symptoms than fat.

[kjbrown92]

reflux is often caused by food intolerances, and the top 4 contenders are dairy, gluten, soy, and corn.

Poached or baked salmon
tuna mixed with avocado (as a sub for mayo)
fruit: banana, apple, cantaloupe, plums
veggies: steamed broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus
roasted chicken or turkey
baked potato
sweet potato fries

[kathymuggle]

wow! Thanks everyone.

I had been skipping or going skimpy on the eggs and meat as I was afraid the fat content would agravate his GERD. Indeed, he thinks grease will aggravate his GERD (and he has felt icky after eating greae). but wmaybe we have some stuff a$$ backwards??

I am going to research more - particularly on the role of fat and carbs and GERD

The good news is when he is healthy he will eat anything. It will be a matter of finding out what is the best food for him and his stomach.

[celestialdreamer]

Just wanting to also post to say that I suffered with reflux for years and no sugar/less carbs has cured it. I even took conventional meds for years because of the severity of it, but I still would have times I was symptomatic. From what I understand reflux can be caused by a *lack* of stomach acid which makes the sphincter weak. I am very strict with my no sugar diet (and I avoid most carbs except in the forms of nuts, seeds, veggies and fruit) as well as take raw apple cider vinegar daily (yes really!). Whenever I accidently have too much honey or starchy veggies and get symptoms, I take a little ACV in water. It seems totally terrible at the time, but within about 20 min I feel totally better

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

Indeed, he thinks grease will aggravate his GERD (and he has felt icky after eating greae).

How often do we eat grease when it is not accompanied by a large portion of starch, though? Virtually any fried food is going to contain a good portion of starch, whether you're talking fries or something that's battered. In fact, I can come up with very few "greasy" foods that don't have starch in/with them. Often it's the grease that's blamed, but usually it's not the contributing factor.

[organicmidwestmama]

eggs really dont have that much fat, only 5 grams per egg (http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/Egg_Yolk.html). even if you are following the usda's recomendations of 65 grams a day, thats not much, just 10g in 2 eggs. my husband thought it was fat causing his reflux until he quit gluten and realized that was a major culprit. and yes, most docs will repeat the "grease" is aggravating gerd schpeel because the ada and the ama all support a low fat diet which is a whole other issue...

[altondavis]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

Meal planning seems to move a little slowly, so I though I would try here.

My DS (14) has recently been diagnosed with GERD. We are trying dietary methods (in addition to conventional medecine) to get it under control.

Here is what he is not allowed to eat:

greasy or fatty food
acidic food: tomatos, onions, garlic, vinegar based stuff
caffeine - including fizzy drinks, chocolate and coffe.
spicy food
milk (He may or may not be lactose intolerant)

We used to cook Italian, mexican, thai....lots of spice, lots of tomatos.

Our diet is so boring and repetative at the moment.

I swear if I cook chicken and rice or chicken and noodles for supper one more time I am going to scream! If I hand him oatmeal for one more breakfast he is going to scream.

please give me some meal ideas - I would love both meat and non-meat. We do try to eat non-meat most nights of the week.

help!

Kathy

hi
I can only advice you to add some kind of vegetable and fruit juice to your meal. For information relating to various kind juice you can get from fruit and vegetable juice

[sahmmie]

I haven't tried it but I did read about Apple Cider Vinegar being a natural cure for GERD. If you try it make sure you dilute it!