The Acid Reflux Solution: A Cookbook and Lifestyle Guide for Healing Heartburn Naturally Author: Susan Wyler | Language: English | ISBN:
1607742276 | Format: PDF
The Acid Reflux Solution: A Cookbook and Lifestyle Guide for Healing Heartburn Naturally Description
Heal Heartburn and Lose Weight, Naturally
If you suffer from acid reflux, you’re not alone. More than 50 million Americans have GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease, and while antacids can be effective for short-term relief, they can also cause dangerous medical conditions if they’re used for more than the recommended fifty days at a time. Luckily, The Acid Reflux Solution offers a simple plan to help you gradually and safely reduce—and eventually eliminate—the need for pills while alleviating your heartburn.
In this combination medical guide and cookbook, gastroenterologist Jorge E. Rodriguez, MD, has teamed up with registered dietitian and food writer Susan Wyler to present a three-step program to heal heartburn naturally. This isn’t a formal diet plan—no calorie counting required—but you’ll probably shed some pounds while following The Acid Reflux Solution because these recipes were designed for good health. In fact, Dr. Jorge has not only healed his own heartburn since developing this plan, but he has also lost more than 30 pounds!
In step one you make some simple lifestyle modifications, like raising the head of your bed, loosening your belt, and eating less but more often. These are easily achievable goals that you can start working on today. In step two, you start eating to avoid reflux. With 100 high-fiber, low-fat, portion-controlled recipes to choose from, this step is the most delicious—and surprising. The list of foods that actually trigger acid reflux is smaller than you might think, which means you can enjoy meals that you probably thought were off limits, like Cuban Black Bean Soup, Grass-Fed Beef and Portobello Blue Cheese Burgers, Asian Barbecued Chicken, and even Spaghetti and Meatballs.
In the final step, you reduce the dosage and frequency of the medications you were taking to control your heartburn because you won’t need them anymore. The Acid Reflux Solution combines the latest medical research with reflux-friendly recipes to help you feel great, lose weight, and live heartburn free.
- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Ten Speed Press; 1 edition (March 27, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1607742276
- ISBN-13: 978-1607742272
- Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I was absolutely in a hurry to get this book, because GERD is for me a big issue. I literally had to change my eating habits (for example, I don't eat a big dinner nor do I eat after 6:30pm.) This problem is shared by many people, a lot of them women, and many other health issues (thyroid problems, asthma, and obesity) are associated with acid reflux disease or GERD. It isn't healthy--you can get throat problems and it sure is a pain. Sometimes there are no symptoms save hoarseness in the morning, but it's no less a health concern.
The book is comprehensive but easy to read. The author goes over the symptoms and causes of GERD (and you should see your physician about this--for me, it was my allergist who told ME I had it, then I noticed the symptoms later.) He goes over the various pharmaceutical treatments, but all of them have pros and cons. Better if you can control GERD naturally by diet and weight management. I agree.
The book also has food advice and recipes and this is helpful. I had to learn by trial and error--for example, he mentions spaghetti and meatballs as a trigger. No kidding! I limited pasta to lunchtime for a while, and NOW I cannot even eat pasta at lunch--instant fireball in the stomach. The author also warns about foods with modified food starch, a common ingredient used as a thickener that can trigger GERD. The recipes feature high fiber and ingredients that are less likely to trigger GERD so you have a place to start, some ideas to make meals that are more stomach-friendly. And at the risk of sounding like a killjoy, Rodriguez recommends cutting down on alcohol and smoking. I know from experience that even a glass of wine, too late in the evening, is like drinking a blowtorch. Good news however; by limiting alcohol, you may easily lose weight.
Part one of the book has a lot of background information on GERD, medical treatment of GERD and lifestyle changes to help manage it. This is all useful stuff, is easy to understand, and is nicely put together, although most of it you can get from a quick search on the internet. As some of the other reviewers have mentioned, there is a lot of emphasis on weight loss as being the solution to GERD so as someone who is normal weight I was a little disappointed as weight loss and most of the other lifestyle changes didn't apply to me. For example from p31, "And most will find, as I have, that losing 10 to 15 percent of body weight completely eliminates GERD. For people who are normal weight or even underweight and still suffer acid reflux after following the Acid Reflux Solution and adopting our anti-reflux recipes, there is probably a genetic or chronic physiological reason for it, and some ongoing medication or possible surgical intervention may be necessary."
Part two contains the recipes. For me, they are a bit too fancy to be cooking every day. However, I have made two of the recipes - the Spanish Chicken and Rice and the Morroccan Spiced Pork Loin with Apricots and Chickpeas. Both were delicious and the recipes were well written but I found that they did exacerbate my symptoms. Note the book does differentiate between foods that trigger reflux (by relaxing the valve (LES) in the lower esophagus) and foods that exacerbate the symptoms ("acid foods"), and the recipes seem to be geared towards reducing the foods that cause reflux and losing weight, rather than reducing the "acid foods". For these reasons, I think maybe some of the recipes would be okay after you get your reflux symptoms under control or to help with weight loss but not necessarily to "heal heartburn".
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