Heartburn Sufferers, Rejoice!

Recently I saw Dropping Acid on my doctor’s bookshelf. Wondering what such a book could be about, I looked more closely at the book’s spine, and read its subtitle: the reflux diet cookbook & cure. I was suffering from acid reflux in spite of taking anti-reflux medicine. Perhaps help was at hand. I bought the book and read it right away. It’s by Jamie Koufman and Jordan Stern, both distinguished physicians – Dr. Koufman is an expert on laryngopharyngeal reflux and Dr. Stern is an otolaryngologist. Marc Bauer is a “master chef” who provided appropriate recipes (gorgeously photographed) to accompany the text.

The authors explain that it’s not your stomach acid that causes heartburn, but pepsin, a digestive enzyme. Imagine that your stomach is full of seawater and lobsters, write the authors. The seawater is acid, and the lobsters (big, aggressive ones with mighty claws) are the pepsin molecules. When you reflux, the seawater splashes around. Some of it splashes upward into your throat. The lobsters ride this wave of seawater and attach themselves to the shore wherever they land – the shore being the delicate tissues and membranes lining your throat, larynx (voice box), esophagus, and lungs. Once a pepsin molecule is bound to, say, your throat, any dietary source of acid can reactivate it: Soda pop. Salsa. Strawberries.

Anti-reflux medicine reduces the amount of acid your stomach produces when you eat, but so far no medicine has been found to reduce the pepsin. The authors recommend modifying your diet to keep those lobsters away. First, they recommend that you “wash out” the pepsin in your throat, larynx, etc. by following a strict low acid, low fat, low caffeine diet for two weeks. Then you can follow a less constrained diet, but you will always have to me mindful of what you eat and drink.

For the “washout” phase, which the authors term an “induction” or “start-up” diet, they provide a list of forty permitted foods and drinks, from Aloe Vera to whole-grain breads. Afterward, you can broaden your culinary possibilities. As a guide to what items to choose, the authors indicate the acidity (pH) of common drinks and beverages, from Coca-Cola (pH=2.8) to avocado (ph=7.8). (Note that heartburn sufferers should avoid this last item because of its high fat content.) In addition, they provide the pH values of some common prepared foods, dressings, and condiments, from Texas Pete hot sauce (3.1) to Best Brand black pitted olives (7.3). The pH scale is logarithmic, with lower values indicating greater acidity, so that, for example, a food with a pH value of 4 is ten times more acid than one with a pH value of 5. A pH value of 7.0 is neutral, neither acid nor alkaline. The pH values of stomach acid vary from 1 to 4, so nothing below 4 is recommended. The authors provide further guidance in www.refluxcookbook.com.

After a few days on the induction diet, my heartburn disappeared, and I put my bottle of TUMS back into the closet. Having followed the induction diet for two weeks, I’ve started to broaden my diet, choosing according to the pH values that the book presents. So far I’ve suffered no acid reflux. Heartburn sufferers rejoice! Deliverance is at hand.