A streamlined stack of supplements designed to meet your most critical needs - Adapt Naturals is now live. Learn more

Audio Interview on How to Cure Heartburn and Gerd without Drugs

by

Published on

iStock.com/tiler84

I was interviewed last week on Joanne Unleashed about the recent series of articles I wrote on heartburn and GERD. We cover the following subjects:

  • Why acids leave the stomach and enter the esophagus
  • The harmful effects of taking antacids and acid stopping drugs
  • How antacids perpetuate heartburn and actually make it worse over time
  • The role of stomach acid in digestion
  • The bacterial component in acid reflux
  • Why you get gas and belch
  • Which nutritional deficiencies are common with acid reflux
  • The association between acid reflux and IBS, Crohn’s, and other intestinal diseases
  • Which inexpensive supplement will help reduce indigestion
  • Which foods cause heartburn
  • Which foods you should eat to heal the gut

Click here to listen to the MP3 file, or right-click to download it.

Affiliate Disclosure
This website contains affiliate links, which means Chris may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. You will pay the same price for all products and services, and your purchase helps support Chris‘s ongoing research and work. Thanks for your support!

24 Comments

Join the conversation

  1. I’ve read all your articles on GERD, but I haven’t ran across an article of what to do to increase stomach acid or what to do to close the valve?

  2. About 21/2 months ago I started “Eat to LIve” by Dr. Joel Furhman. I lost 30 pounds in 2 months. Problem: A month 1/2 in I got a sore throat that persisted/persists now for 1 month. I went to ENT, and was diagnosed with GERD, and given a pill (generic prevacid). I am nursing a 9 month old, and don’t want to take a pill! Plus, I had no other symptoms, except sore throat. (and if I have reflux I’m not aware of it at all, and I’m up nursing 2-3 times a night) I don’t have any of the symptoms for silent reflus (at least from doctor Oz silent reflux quiz) I am wondering if this is reflux,or if it’s dietary. Did I a) eat too many beans that caused reflux due to bacterial overgrowth? (I had eliminated yogurt) or b) was I eating too spicy food? (Spicy food has never been an issue before, but???) (I was eating spicy homemade bean soup daily, and lots of beans) I also wondered if it was a detox symptom, but it’s driving me nuts. Not knowing what is going on is also driving me nuts. Now my left ear hurts too. (but maybe that is referred pain or stress) I made an appt. with a naturopath b/c I was not satisfied at all by my diagnosis of Gerd. I felt that the ENT doctor did not listen to me at all, when I was telling about my revamped diet. I basically only eat veg, fruit, beans, nuts and green juice in the am now for 21/2 months. I cut out caffeine, sugar, dairy, animal protein, oils. Why a sore throat now, after being so healthy? (The diagnosis by ENT was by looking in throat only, not an official test. She said my irritation in the throat was a 3 out of 4). She also said I looked to have allergies because my nasal and ears were slightly swollen and prescribed a spray. I only started using that just to see if it would help with the sore throat (I’ve never had allergies before to my knowledge, but it’s possible now). The only thing that seemed to help with my throat pain in any way was raw garlic, but I’m afraid to eat anything spicy at all now….

    • Alanna,

      Hope you are feeling better. Check out the book “Fast Tract Diet – Heartburn”. The theory is that GERD is caused by incomplete digestion of carbs, specifically certain types that are more difficult to digest. The undigested food then feeds bacteria in the small intestines, causing gas which pushes back up into the stomach and esophagus. Beans are one of the worst offenders. Some fruits are ok in small amounts (canteloupe, watermelon, strawberries) … anyway, if you’re still having problems, download the book. I’m only a few days into it, but I’ve started weaning off my ppi. Good luck… 🙂

  3. Do you feel that following the 3 R’s also applies to Silent Reflux as well as LPR? Going to start HCI with Pepsin today to hopefully get on the right track. Have the golfball (tight) feeling in the throat that I can’t seem to resolve.

    • My “stuck in the throat” feeling began while low-carb Paleo, the 3 R’s has not resolved it, still working on it after 3 years. I guess I went too low carb and ended up crashing, so I have added carbs back in to my diet.
      The silent reflux IS much better after doing Mastic Gum/Monolaurin for H.pylori protocol, but I still have the “gas trapped” in my throat feeling mostly every day along with a white coated tongue & belching.
      Chewing gum (which I do not want to do) or ice are the only things that relieve the “golfball feeling” for me.
      My vagus nerve was a culprit for some of my ordeal, as well. A functional-nuero chiro helped me along in that area.

    • That’s because the person that interviewed me is now requiring registration on her site to listen to it. Unfortunately it’s out of my hands.

  4. I need help to get off this Gerd medication cycle….can you email me links to the articles you wrote on this subject?

  5. Hi Chris,
    I came across your site when I googled “low carb and heartburn” last night. In the past one week, I accidentally discovered that eating less carbs had alleviated my GERD symptoms at night and also made me feel surprisingly energetic during the day. However, last night after I took a tablet of Nexium, my heartburn became worse within an hour and I couldn’t sleep because of the gas.
    So I decided to look for the reason. As I read into your articles, everything starts to make sense and I finally understood why I had these problems. When I first had the stomach problem back in high school, I was under a tremendous amount of pressure in life. I had anxiety and insomnia. It has affected me both physically and mentally, and definitely affected my learning. I managed to get over the problems on my own. Now I’m in my early 20s, I wish I understood this earlier and made the life style change back when the problem first started.
    I want to thank you for sharing this valuable information! Your help is making great changes in people’s lives!
    I want to try taking HCL before breakfast. Do you think using Enzymes would help more or not necessarily ?

    Best wishes,

    Teemix

  6. Thanks so much for what you do.

    Wondering if the audio for this podcast is available?
    I’ve tried to download and/or listen on the site but to no avail.
    Is there something I’m doing wrong?

  7. I read with interest the first five parts of your comments on GERD. I’m trying to find the final part (how to feel better without proton pump inhibitors) but all I can find is this audio link which I can’t access because I can’t register with Unleashed. Did you put the final chapter in writing? Where is it? Thank you.

  8. It seems the interviewer is now requiring registration to her site to listen to any of her programs. Follow the link just above the audio player to register.

  9. Regarding DGL~
    Most of the DGL chewables I have found, that slowly dissolve in your mouth, contain artificial sweetners such as sorbitol & fructose.  You said to use DGL, which I do.
    Do you have any sources that do not contain artificial sweetners?  I did have had one source that tasted great and contained (unspecified) fruit sugar…again sugar.
    Thanks in advance for your reply & thank you too for all the work you do!
     

    • Pure Encapsulations makes a product with no sweeteners. They’re one of my favorite supplement companies, because they don’t use fillers of any kind. Here’s a link to it on Amazon. Pure’s products are expensive, but worth it if you appreciate the quality. You may be able to shop around for a better price – I just linked to the first one that came up.

  10. Nice to hear your voice!  Two questions that came up while I was listening to this:  What do you think of sourdough in that it is fermented, low-glycemic?   And, I may have heard wrong, but did you say it’s okay to drink water with meals? Your final article on GERD says to avoid liquids with meals to not dilute stomach acid. Could you clarify that for me?

    • Hi Jeanne,

      Glad you enjoyed the interview. I’ll be doing more of that kind of thing in the future.

      Sourdough rye seems to work for many people who can’t otherwise tolerate gluten. My advice would be to let your body be your guide. If you have no reaction after eating it, it’s probably fine.

      I don’t recommend drinking liquid during meals, with the exception of soup broth or small amounts of red wine.

  11. Ian,

    Check out this post by Art Ayers at Cooling Inflammation.  Follow his suggestions and I’d be very surprised if your joint pain doesn’t diminish significantly.

    Christian,

    Thanks for your feedback.  I’m hoping to do more of that kind of thing.

  12. I’ve been trying out your recommendations for GERD for about a month now and they’ve been relatively successful (although I’m still struggling with it a little bit).  Hopefully it’ll be 100% soon.  Do you have any recommendations for joint health?