Many, many people who have followed a low-carb lifestyle for a while report that their acid reflux clears up. In the past, I found this a little perplexing, because people with acid reflux are commonly told that fatty foods aggravate the condition, and that they should eat bland (read: carby) foods. (If you follow that link, by the way, all I can say is, look at that pudgy dietician and tell me if you would eat the lasagna with a flour-thickened white sauce that she’s recommending.).
So if fatty foods aggravate heartburn, acid reflux, and GERD, why do so many low-carbers experience such dramatic improvements?
Well, I have figured it out. Low-carb makes your pants looser. 
This brilliant scientific discovery dawned on me Tuesday night, when, apparently out of nowhere, I experienced my first acid reflux burp in months. Tuesday was the first day I tried wearing a smaller pair of jeans from the back of my closet. (My old jeans are so loose they look, to quote one low-carb acquaintance of mine, like I’m wearing a poopy diaper.) Unfortunately, the smaller jeans are still a bit too tight. And anything tight around the midsection can aggravate GERD by squeezing acid back up into the esophagus.
Unfortunately for me, this means I need to go back to the poopy diaper jeans until I lose another inch or so around my middle. The things I do for the sake of my health!
Migraine aura picture from 
I can tell you that my acid reflux has improved considerably since starting LC nearly 5 months ago. I still take ranitidine twice daily for reflux, but on days I forget to take my evening dose, I’ve noticed an absence of reflux even late into the evening. I suddenly remember I didn’t take my acid reflux med and am amazed just how miraculous LC is. I know that eventually I’ll be completely off the reflux med.
Fat [dietary fat, that is] gets such a bad rap! Fat don’t make you fat and fat don’t make you have acid reflux! Fat is our friend. I said, “fat is our friend!” I just love saying that and watching people cringe and give me that strange look like I must be an alien or some other misinformed creature.
As one forum member so neatly said, “we should call fat…sparkle”. It does indeed sound like a politically correct name for such an otherwise offensive word. Oh I love it! “I’ll have my eggs scrambled…and oh yeah, I’d like a little extra sparkle on them.” “Yes mam…I’ve lost 40 pounds on the ‘high sparkle’ diet!” That’s it for me…I’m gettin’ crazy with this!
Ron the Former Donut Junkie
Comment by formerdonutjunkie — November 23, 2007 @ 7:20 pm |
I used to go through Pepcid AC like they were candy,probably because I ATE so much candy, but now I can’t even remember the last time I had heartburn. I’d love to tell that dietician how much chocolate, chili powder, tomatoes and coffee I’m consuming too.
I’ll actually have what I call “heartburn echoes” if I see things like a commercial for IHOP. I used to have strong cravings for all that junk, but now if something reminds me of all that sticky-sweet carby-starchy “food” I’ll actually feel like a bout of heartburn is about to come on for half a second.
And you should really splurge and hit the Wal-Mart or the Goodwill or some clearance racks at the mall and buy you some pants that fit! You deserve them.
Comment by nightwitch — November 24, 2007 @ 8:28 am |
Ron – I love it. On Monday you can expect a post from me about duck “sparkle.”
Nightwitch – Just watching that video, with the flour-coated chicken breasts and the floury white sauce made my stomach turn sour. As for pants, I will buy almost anything in a thrift store but pants. It’s an exercise in frustration, trying on forty different pairs of pants in a wide range of sizes and brands and having none fit. I buy pants new – and in fact, I’ve got two pairs on their way from Land’s End, a brand I’ve had good experiences with. UPS says they’ll be here on Monday. ::excited::
And I’m with you on chili powder, tomatoes, chocolate, coffee — and FAT! Staples of my kitchen. along with onions and a daily glass of wine. This post was a bit tongue-in-cheek; I don’t actually know why low-carb helps acid reflux. It just does.
Comment by psipsina — November 25, 2007 @ 2:08 pm |
Oddly, mine has become worse. I have a hiatal hernia so the reduction of pressure due to loss of weight has helped but I feel like I’m producing more acid these days. Hmmm… Of course if I’m perfectly honest I have to admit my coffee consumption has gone up. It has been my “meal substitute” when the only thing on offer are carbs. Moral: Many of the benefits of low carb are avoidable with the right bad habits. You don’t have to give up moaning about your pains.
Comment by missbossy — November 26, 2007 @ 5:36 am |
Miss Bossy – we’re all different, aren’t we? I don’t pretend that low-carb is a panacea, but it does seem to clear up a lot of stuff. Just out of curiosity, are you exercising more? Exercise aggravates my acid reflux more than anything else, especially the kind of exercise where you bend a lot (crunches, some yoga poses) or shake up the contents of your stomach (running, using the elliptical). I have decided that a few pushups (I do them against a table instead of on the floor – I’m still too weak for floor pushups) and a lot of walking are the best exercise for me. The pushups are surprisingly good at toning the abs without all the bending.
Comment by psipsina — November 26, 2007 @ 1:30 pm |
I had the same experience with the elliptical trainer and various inverting yoga poses: acid galore. My solution for that of late has been complete: I’m on an extended exercise break. I was working out like a demon previously but actually I’ve found it’s harder to lose weight when I exercise because it makes me ravenous. I’ve decided to re-engage in serious training when my BMI is down to 25 (I’m down to 27 now). For now it’s just walking and feel good stuff. I’d also like to engage in the occasional sprinting sessions (per Mark’s Daily Apple) if my knees weren’t such a mess.
Comment by missbossy — November 26, 2007 @ 9:43 pm |
I never new that the size of your pants had anything to do with acid reflux. I did know from personal experts that by losing weight period will reduce the acid reflux symptoms.
But what you say in the article makes since. And with going on a low carb diet you will lose weight.
It maybe difficult to keep it off unless you change your habits of what got you overweight in the first place
greg
Comment by Greg — November 30, 2007 @ 11:04 pm |
After about a year of low carbing with my husband, I noticed he no longer asked me to buy Alka-Seltzer for him. I had been buying it in warehouse sized packages because he took so much of it. When I asked him about it, he said he no longer needed it, even when he goes out to work-related dinners, as long as he lays off the bread, pasta, potatoes, etc. The last package I bought was the smallest available and was tossed out because it expired before most of it was used. He also has *much* less gas. Now when he goes out for dinner, I can always tell if he decided to eat some bread, LOL.
I never had much indigestion, compared to my husband, but it has gone down to extremely rarely now.
Comment by Anna — December 1, 2007 @ 4:36 am |
Welcome, Greg.
This post was, of course, semi-facetious. So many things clear up on a low-carb diet much faster than can be accounted for by weight loss. For example, my joints stopped aching when I’d lost less than 5 pounds. Insulin leads to water retention, which can increase inflammation. So I’m sure there’s more to the low-carb / acid reflux improvement than mere weight loss, though I don’t know exactly what the explanation is.
However, the size of your pants does have something to do with it. Acid reflux sufferers are typically advised to make sure their clothing does not restrict their abdominal areas, because the extra pressure can cause food (and acid) to back up into the stomach.
As for the habits that got me overweight in the first place, they were very simple. I ate a high carbohydrate diet. I don’t intend to ever go back to it. Once I’ve lost a few more pounds I may increase my carb consumption slightly from the 30 to 50 g per day I eat now, but I doubt I’ll ever go beyond 75 to 100 g.
Comment by psipsina — December 1, 2007 @ 2:04 pm |
I’d just like to say thank you to all those who take the time to comment on their experiences so others can learn from it.
Having suffered from GERD for 12 years and PCOS for longer, not once did any of the number of GP’s I have seen mention insulin resistance or low-carb!
I am quite happily shocked to discover it this evening having spent the past week sleepless and eating nothing but soup and carbs…yes carbs! and generally anything soft and devoid of any flavour to stave off the racking pain. I have been pouring over the net to try and find any last resort to help me avoid surgery.
I am on Nexium 40mg twice daily (hich I suspect also are giving Migraines(Aura) and IBS) plus Motilium AND Zantac as I need it….and I’m still having problems….and I hate pills! LOL!
Starting a Low Carb Diet first thing tomorrow….fingers crossed it works!
Comment by ais — February 7, 2008 @ 11:49 am |
Ais – welcome, and thanks for stopping by. I have to reiterate my comment – LC is not a panacaea, but it does seem to help many people. Your mileage may vary. I hope you’ll come by again and tell us how you are doing.
Comment by psipsina — February 7, 2008 @ 11:54 am |
I did not know that wearing pants that are too small can be a contributing factor. Well, anyway I eat high carb foods now and I seem to be messing around with extra acid at this point. Quitting smoking was probably the best decision of my life. Hands down it decreased GERD symptoms and most of my reflux.
Comment by Mark — March 11, 2008 @ 9:51 pm |
I am also an acid reflux sufferer and have been helped greatly by changing my diet.
I used to take 20mg tablets of omeprazole everyday but the doctors decided to change that to 10mg. my acid reflux was terrible on this dosage so i changed my diet and now I do not have to take my medicine daily like before.
And you are correct about the tight jeans. Any tight fitting clothes seem to make my acid reflux worse.
Comment by sidney — April 15, 2008 @ 8:58 am |
If you back off on eating a lot of meat your stomach will not excrete as much acid to digest the meat. If you eat a low carbo diet, it does not use acid in the stomach to digest it, it uses amylase. Reducing acid in the stomach is what drugs do but at they same time they upset your digestive process and can lead to specific mineral deficiencies.
Comment by Rudy (Acid Reflux Diet) — April 24, 2008 @ 12:57 am |
Rudy – there is a factual inaccuracy in your statement. Amylase is an enzyme the digests carbohydrate. If you eat a low-carb diet, you do not use very much amylase at all.
As for meat and acid, I have seen the opposite hypothesis – that your stomach creates the same amount of acid regardless of what you eat, and if you don’t consume enough protein, the acid is not used up properly. I don’t know if it’s true. I just know that eating pasta, bread, rice, and cereal will give me acid burps faster than anything else, and that msot of the things the conventional wisdom tells me to avoid – tomatoes, chilies, coffee, chocolate, fat – don’t bother me at all.
Comment by psipsina — April 24, 2008 @ 9:27 am |
I am a firm believer in the benefits of a low or even a no-carb diet. Not only has it worked for me in losing 36 pounds, but it seems to have also curbed my acid reflux
Comment by TL Tipton — June 20, 2008 @ 11:36 pm |
never new that the size of your pants had anything to do with acid reflux. I did know from personal experts that by losing weight period will reduce the acid reflux symptoms.
But what you say in the article makes since. And with going on a low carb diet you will lose weight.
It maybe difficult to keep it off unless you change your habits of what got you overweight in the first place
Comment by acid-reflux-and-diet — August 25, 2008 @ 6:55 am |
I’ve suffered from acid reflux as well as stomach ulcers for years. I’ve been to no less than 5 doctors regarding my ulcers do to relocations for work. It is amazing how each doctor’s suggested treatment was identical to the previous doctor’s. As far as the GERD (acid reflux), I’ve been to several doctors all prescribing Prilosec. I will tell you that none of the acid reflux medications have worked for me. After spending thousands of dollars for “medical treatment” I finally decided to research my problems myself. Through my research I discovered that acid reflux is often mis-diagnosed by medical professionals. To understand why, we must first understand what acid is. Acid is the opposite of alkaline on the pH scale. Although alkali is its opposite it has the same effects on human tissue. Therefore a proper diagnosis cannot be made without a pH test. The medical “industry” has no such test for acid reflux. If a diagnosis of acid reflux is given and the patient’s pH balance is actually more alkali then the acid reflux medicine prescribed will actually make the problem worse by making an already alkali pH even more alkali. I’m sure you have already heard about the apple cider vinegar cure. Vinegar is an acid and therefore will not cure true acid reflux however if the patient is actually suffering from alkaline reflux, vinegar will lower the pH and have tremendous results. Ovbiously the confusion lies in that no medical terminology is yet available for “alkaline reflux”. I can tell you that I was one of the millions that was mis-diagnosed and have found relief from the apple cider vinegar cure.
Comment by Momo — August 31, 2008 @ 4:53 pm |
If you back off on eating a lot of meat your stomach will not excrete as much acid to digest the meat. I think too.
Comment by Acid Reflux and Diet — September 15, 2008 @ 6:27 am |
I was having terrible acid reflux for several months starting in fall 2004. I found a little article on the web similar to this in early 2005 about how low carb diet can cure GERD, and I went out and bought the book “protein power” and started the diet the next day. At that time I had typical ideas about fat and meat in diet, so I was actually scared of the low carb diet. Well my acid reflux went away literally the next day, and I have been eating a low carb diet ever since. I only take enzymes for digestion now, no ant acids or acid reducers, and I feel great unless I over eat or eat things I know will bother me. I now exercise almost daily – actually I’ve gained about 20 lbs in 3 years of LC diet, but it is mostly muscle.
Comment by gary dempster — November 5, 2008 @ 3:57 pm |
The greatest web site on the net
Comment by Astabassa-it — December 12, 2008 @ 8:42 am |
I looked this up because I noticed that during Passover week, when the only carb I really ate was a little Matzoh, my GERD was better. So I will try to stick to it and see what happens. I also want to say that 2 docs missed the fact that I needed my gall bladder out, which has stopped the really crippling episodes of what I thought was a spasm caused by the GERD.
Comment by Susan — April 16, 2009 @ 9:36 pm |
My Granddaughter has acid reflux. Any information on this is great. Good site!
Comment by Gary Smith — May 14, 2009 @ 6:22 am |
Good stuff, I “Stumbled” you. My DIGG account got messed up but I like Stumbling better anyway.
Comment by Scrubs — May 26, 2009 @ 1:39 pm |
Informative and entertaining. I’ve added your blog to my “reading material.” Keep me updated!
Comment by Scrubs — May 26, 2009 @ 3:37 pm |
Cool article you got here. I’d like to read a bit more about that theme.
Comment by Steave — October 21, 2009 @ 9:28 am |