Almonds Keep the GERD Away

So I realized today that I can eat almonds without ever getting any GERD.  I was surprised today that I was able to just eat a handful of almonds (never too much, because we know over eating is no good). I thought "I'm cured," because I didn't feel any GERD.  So, of course, I went looking for the reason.

Eat Raw Almonds: There is a lot of powerful good things packed into these little tear-shaped nuts that are very beneficial to people that suffer from acid reflux. They are packed full of protein and amino acids. Grind them up into almond milk for another healthy food to replace junk food in the acid reflux diet. Almonds will help your heartburn and acid reflux.

However, some say that almonds is actually a trigger for GERD.  It's definitely not the case for me, but you try it and see:

PropertiesThe USDA reports that almonds have more than 200 calories and nearly 18 g fat per 1/4 cup. Nutritionally, almonds can still serve as part of a healthy diet because most of their fat content is unsaturated and they contain none of the cholesterol that meat- and dairy-based fats have. However, in terms of GERD, the source of fat does not matter; almonds still run the risk of causing the LES muscle to relax or weaken. Prevention and AlternativesIf you have GERD, you may already know that almonds are a trigger food for you, or you may never have experienced symptoms related to almonds. Just because almonds have properties that can encourage reflux does not mean they're a trigger for everyone, so it's not necessary to eliminate them from your diet entirely until you judge your own reaction to them. However, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center does suggest avoiding all nuts if you have chronic GERD and instead, choosing fats such as vegetable-based oils and plain cream cheese. You may also find that traditional GERD remedies, such as wearing loose clothing and maintaining a healthy weight, can offer relief.

Because it seems this topic is still up in the air, I suggest you try eating a bit of almonds and see how you feel.  Like anything, don't eat too much and try to have a varied diet.

Foods to Eat to Prevent GERD

I personally eat these foods, they generally do not aggravate my GERD.

Oatmeal
Drop that doughnut, unless you want heartburn for breakfast. If you have GERD, high-fat food is usually a recipe for pain. Instead choose oatmeal. It's a low-fat, high-fiber meal that can soothe your stomach. Top it off with sliced bananas, which are thought to fight stomach acid naturally.

Ginger
Fresh ginger acts as an anti-inflammatory and is an age-old remedy for stomach problems of all kinds. You can get your daily dose—2 to 4 grams (more than that can actually cause heartburn)—by steeping ginger in hot water to make tea, chewing a piece of ginger, or using ginger generously when you cook.

Pasta (hold the red sauce)
Tomatoes and heavy sauces are a no-no for people with GERD—which rules out a lot of classic Italian dishes (unfortunately). For those with a craving for pasta, the National Heartburn Alliance recommends thin, broth-like sauces. And using a whole-wheat pasta will boost your fiber intake.

I personally like to make a garlic sauce.  Make sure you use locally grown garlic to make sure the import process has not killed off the health benefits of your garlic.

Beans
Certain fatty meats, such as ground beef, are thought to trigger heartburn. Beans are an excellent source of protein and fiber and a great alternative to meat. If you have GERD, they should be a regular feature in your diet.

Almonds
Raw almonds are wonderful if you're looking for a mid-day snack.  It's loaded with protein and vitamins, and you can be quite satisfied by just eating a handful.

I found a chart that's pretty handy, to which I both added and put some notes for you.  I definitely don't subscribe to eating all these foods, particularly the cookies.  But take a look:

Safe Foods for the Acid Reflux Diet

Food Group	Foods With Little Potential to Cause Heartburn
Fruit	• Apple, fresh • Apple, dried • Apple juice • Banana • Melons • Strawberries Try to limit high calorie fruits.
Vegetables	• Baked potato • Broccoli • Cabbage • Carrots • Green beans • Peas • Romaine or iceberg lettuce • Eggplant • Celery • Sweet bell peppers • Lentils • Watercress Some websites warn against eating vegetables rich in starch, such as potato, sweet potato, carrots, brussel sprouts, tomatos and turnips.
Meat	• Ground beef, extra-lean • Steak, London Broil • Chicken breast, skinless • Turkey meat • Egg whites • Egg substitute • Fish, no added fat • Shrimp, crab meat I've read that pork may not be good for GERD.
Dairy	• Cheese, feta or goat • Cream cheese, fat-free • Sour cream, fat-free • Soy cheese, low-fat Just make sure you're not lactose intolerant or that lactose in some way may be the cause of your GERD.  Cut all lactose out then introduce it again to see if this may be the cause.
Grains	• Bread, mult-grain or white • Cereal, bran or oatmeal • Corn bread • Graham crakers • Pretzels • Rice, brown or white • Rice cakes Just keep in mind that your GERD may be cause because of some Gluten intolerance, so try to cut glutens out then introduce them to see how you feel.
Beverages	• Mineral water • Alkaline water I've read some articles on the benefits of alkaline water, so this may be worth a try.
Fats / Oils	• Salad dressing, low-fat • Olive oil • Coconut oil Try to limit the use of oils as much as possible because, as you probably know, grease can aggravate GERD.
Sweets / Desserts	• Cookie, fat-free • Jelly beans • Red licorice • Potato chips, baked I've been staying far away from all kinds of deserts period, but you can give these a try and note how you feel.

My GERD Cause: Water Addiction

Believe it or not, I think my virtual addiction to water may have contributed to me having GERD.

Let me go back, so about 6 years ago I gave up soda and fruit juices.  Like most of you, I read and heard on the radio and TV about how soda is so bad for you, along with every type of drink that has tons of sugar.  So, me, being a pseudo health conscious person, gave up soda.  Yeap, just like that.  Cold turkey.

I went from a about a liter of soda a day to about a gallon of water a day.  I think I got addicted to the drinking motion.  The best thing is that water is quite accessible, and free!

I think my problem started with my obsession with drinking at least a glass of water at night.  I'd just chug down a whole glass then get to bed.  It's only now, with all my GERD research, that I realize that putting water in your stomach is the same as putting food in your stomach.  Water, like the rest of your food, has to be digested.  Also, like I've written in other posts, water dilutes stomach acids.  This means that I was filling up my stomach with liquid that needed to be digested, while at the same time diluting the stomach acid that was meant to digest it.

By filling my belly with water I was forcing my stomach to digest at night (when digestion slows), while my body was lying down (no gravity to help), and diluting the stomach acid that was meant to do the digestion.

My GERD Cause: Eating Too Little, Eating Too Much

My hate of food goes back to when I was young, being told I wasn't skinny enough.  So I started starving myself.  Unfortunately, my love of food would call me back and I would eat and eat a lot.  I'm not sure if I was a binge eater per se, particularly during my college years.  I was quite thin and eating was just something you did between all the other stuff going on.  This all changed when I came back home and started to work.

Once you're working, going out to eat becomes a big part of socializing.  You eat, you drink, and sometimes you eat some more to sober up before you pass out.  However, as I got older and exercised less, while still going out then I started to put in more pounds.  This is when I discovered lemonade cleanses (which most people I knew used as a diet really).  At some point I lost 20lbs doing that cleanse, just to be told by my doctor that I was much too weak because I had lost so much muscle mass.  I also suspect that doing those lemonade cleanse (ie. starvation diets) led to other health complications, which I wont go into right now.

At some point I just couldn't do the lemonade cleanses, so I started doing crazy calorie diets, trying to stop myself at 1,000 a day; though 1200 was the very minimum they recommended for me.  This is when my binging really started.  I would devoutly keep my diet but once I was off the diet then I just lost all control and would buy like $20 worth of candy, ice cream, and cookies.  I wasn't a big chip person, all sugar for me.  You'd laugh now but I was quite good at eating right during the day, organic, local, all that bs that at night I completely forgot.  Also, I'd control myself all day, whether by choice or because I was busy, then just eat as much as I wanted at night, which was always too much.  Then I'd crash.  I think going to bed with my stomach twice the size of what it should be was an every day thing.  I blamed it on my scheduled: work was at fault for me working late hours so of course I have to eat late then go to bed full.