I read an article from a man claiming his reflux is cured having given up alcohol. I have reflux, it has burnt my gullet. The camera shots show a nasty benign growth down there. Normally, I have swallowing and choking issues often.
On April 12th I gave up alcohol and started dieting. a couple of weeks later I joined the 5:2 fast diet, and started to write on the 31 day challenge thread.
I have not had any reflux incidents since I started both abstinence and the diet. That was five weeks ago.

I’m having trouble with this 🙁 I may have to give up intermittent fasting and I’m not happy about it because it’s the only type of ‘diet’ I’ve ever been able to stick to.

The most probable cause of GERD.

As everyone knows, enormous numbers of bacteria grow in the colon. But what many people don’t know is that bacteria also grow in the small bowel as well. The lower end of the small bowel closest to the colon has the most growth, but bacteria are found throughout. Bacteria in the small bowel dine on the contents of the small bowel; the farther the food goes down the bowel during the digestive process, the more bacteria there are to nourish. The types and amounts of bacteria in the small bowel are a function of the foods coming down the pipeline. If fat and protein are the main foods, fewer bacteria grow, and those that do grow don’t produce much gas. Carbohydrates, however, provide food for rapidly multiplying bacteria that actually ferment the carbs, and the fermentation process produces a lot of gas. If there is an overgrowth of the carb-loving bacteria in the small bowel – a condition called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) – then a substantial amount of gas is released into the bowel. As more bacteria multiply and more gas is released, the pressure inside the bowel increases. The increased pressure then can force the gas, along with the acidic stomach contents upstream, through the lax LES and into the esophagus. And then you experience the symptoms of GERD.

Once I understood this process, it all made perfect sense to me. I realized immediately why a low-carb diet got rid of GERD. Few carbs means few bacteria. And few bacteria with little to ferment means minimal gas. The LES can hold firm against what little gas there might be, and so no stomach acid gets into the esophagus. And the symptoms of GERD vanish.

This SIBO mechanism also explains another phenomenon I’ve had described to me by many patients. A patient suffers with GERD, goes on a low-carb diet, and gets complete relief. The patient stays on the low-carb diet for months and has no symptoms of GERD. Then the patient has a carb blow out, but has no GERD. Eats some more carbs, still no GERD. Consumes more carbs, then, wham, the GERD is back. What happened?

It takes a while for carb-loving bacteria to recolonize the small bowel once the carbs enter the diet again and a plentiful bacterial food supply returns. Until the bacteria reach a critical mass, at which point they are producing enough gas to push through the LES, there won’t be symptoms. But once they do, GERD returns in full force.

https://proteinpower.com/drmike/2013/09/23/gerd-treat-low-high-carb-diet/

Hi Bennettw6, I am in a similar position but take a mega dose of Nezium for acid. I also take one ranitidine at night so I sympathise. My consultant has told me to quit alcohol, caffeine, tomatoes and keep sugar to a minimum. In terms of beverages, he suggested leaving alone decaf for a while too and if possible and drink only water if the inflammation is bad. It does work but it is a big ask. I have two NFDS between fasting otherwise I get a build up of acid. I need a stone off and as I carry most of my excess weight around my waist. I’m intrested in your vocal and posture exercises. What do you do and has this helped? I retired from teaching last year and my stress levels have dropped but haven’t seen a huge change in acid.

The original post by keeptrying is the exact issue I have been having. I am new to this site, so please forgive me for not knowing all the FD (fast diet) 5-2 “rules”.

I have fasted for 3 days. I have had no problems with energy or otherwise and decided it was time again. My diet consists of…water…during the fast. I have tried mint tea and black tea. Regardless, I get the reflux. I rarely have any issues in regular eating days, but I have grabbed cows milk before to ease the symptoms. I have no desire to talk to my physician about how “this only hurts when I do that”, I know how that conversation ends.

I (obviously) have joined this group. I plan to attempt 4 day fast, consecutively assuming I have no ill effects. I will cut out all tea tomorrow to try and notice a change. I’d prefer not to, but I will attempt antacids (Tums) should I find no relief throughout today (Day 3).

Also, my reflux is not keeping me awake, but bothering me during waking hours. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Thank you for your ideas and comments, all of you.
I, too, have developed reflux symptoms last year. I tried out 3 x 5.2 days early last year to promote faster weight loss, but found I was hangry and less sociable at times.
So, I slipped off the pattern, returned to an inconsistent 2 x 5.2.
I developed a night time cough. One GP suggested reflux. I didn’t associate fasting with cough and reflux, but discomfort drew me to eat when I noticed pangs: food dampened the discomfort.
So I then tackled reflux with probiotics and folk meds: higher pillow, sit well during meals, lower coffee intake (I came across ‘TACC’ being: eliminate or lower [Tobacco], Alcohol, Caffeine and Chocolate.) [Tobacco not a part of my life, but all other items were taken into account].
The cough is uncommon now and I rarely suffer heartburn, although I bought but do not take a Mylanta chew.
So, I’m considering a return to 5.2 pattern now. I will use Yakult and yoghurt during my fast days,but I’m a bit unclear about the pattern to adopt…ah well, I used to enjoy both fast days and NFDs. So I hope I will again.

I just get an acid stomach when I eat too much or junk-type foods. I don’t get the reflux very often. I never used to have tummy problems before I started just eating too much of the wrong foods.

I occasionally have acid reflux. Fasting doesn’t seem to affect it one way or the other. What affects it is what I eat and drink. Alcohol, caffeine, heavily spiced and acidic foods make it worse. Meat, poultry, dairy and grains and beans are all acidic foods when they are being digested. Fruits and vegetables are non-acidic except for a few like tomatoes and strawberries. Even lemons are non-acidic once they get into your system. If I eat mostly protein like meat, dairy or eggs on fast days, I can end up with reflux. If I eat vegetables and fruit I have no problem. Protein pump inhibitors have a boomerang effect once you start taking them. If you try to quit, the reflux is worse than if you never took them. I try to avoid them.

BTW, our intestines are inhabited with over 100 trillion bacteria. They are necessary for digestion and for our immune system. Hopefully, most of them are good bacteria that fight off the bad pathogens. Probiotics in fermented foods like homemade sauerkraut or yogurt or kefir help support this good bacteria. We couldn’t live without them. Did you ever travel to a foreign county and get a horrible case of diarrhea from drinking the local water? Did you ever wonder why the local residents can drink that same water every day and not become ill? It’s their gut bacteria has built up the necessary bacteria to counteract the bad bacteria in the water. They’ve built up a kind of immunity to it.

I know some people who cured their gastric reflux simply by drinking water, what they have told me is the one should drink a glass of water 30 mins before every meal. Also, Dr. F Batmanghelidj has a lot to say about the water cure.

I am having trouble with reflux last few days. Thank you all for this info. I am eating daily, in a four hour window. So 20/4. Working really well for me. Am losing 3kgs (6.6lbs) a week. I am eating tomatoes. I will stop, and check back if stopping tomatoes works. The reflux got really bad when I ate them. But before this, I was still having a problem in the back of my throat. I will also try not eating 3hrs before lying down. This makes sense. I drink nothing but water, and plain tea. Not sure about why it started. So will try lots of veg and fruit. If that doesn’t work, I will try the opposite! And again, I will check back with my solution.

Everyone’s stomach acid, sometimes called gastric acid, consists of potassium chloride, sodium chloride, and hydrochloric acid. It’s strong enough to eat away at metal. It has to be to digest your food. It just needs to stay out of your esophagus.

The last bit wasn’t at you. It was for anyone else who read this. There’s a whole lot of other people here. I understand I replied to you, and can see why you thought I meant you.

I also experience acid reflux if I over eat or have bread or overdo coffee. I find that some diaphragmic breathing usually has it go away. I try to avoid the antacids.I read somewhere that for some people when fasting and the stomach is empty it can move about a little. I have felt like this when I have lost some fat from my midsection and been fasting and running I will get reflux out of the blue. Usually drink plenty of water helps it.

Hi keeptrying,
I’ve been doing 5:2 for about 7 years now. In that time I haven’t had any issues with it that I’m aware of. However, about 7 weeks ago I started symptoms that sound quite similar to yours.
I was losing too much weight, so I changed my system a bit in that on a Wednesday I don’t eat anything until dinner time, and then just eat normally from dinner onwards. However a few weeks ago, after having had a bit of a light cold with post-nasal drip for a few days, I ate a bit of bread on one of these days and immediately had quite sharp pain in my throat whenever I swallowed (water, saliva whatever). It got slightly less painful after a while, but I was left with a sore throat that was sore to touch on the outside. This improved, leaving me with a feeling of something being stuck in my throat which I still have. I’m quite a health worrier, so obviously I’ve been assuming the worst, and have another couple of weeks of “wait and see” before getting referred to ENT for more investigation.

I did wonder at the time if the total lack of food for 24 hours, then suddenly opening my esophagus had allowed stomach acid to damage my esophagus and throat. I haven’t had much in the way of the classic burping and burning GERD symptoms, but it sounds as though your throat was the main issue too.

I will try Gaviscon after each meal, elevated pillow etc and see if that helps. I’d also be interested if you had any other advice for what helped you and how long your healing took (so I can put that into context for mine too).

Many thanks in advance,
Aly

I found a solution that works for me. I had some serious gut problems that started when fasting. They lasted over a year. I had a lot of gas belching, pain, reflux. I couldn’t drink coffee. If I ate a large meal or a meal near bedtime I had some serious issues with acid and vomiting. I was visiting a friend who was a farmer with milk cows. I told him about the problem and he said, “I can fix you.” He went to his refrigerator and brought out two enormous jars of his homemade yogurt, made with raw cows milk. He said take this instead of medicine. It didn’t work overnight, but it did work. I could feel it working. After I ate the yogurt 3 or 4 times a day at first (a few tablespoons full) for two weeks, I started drinking raw cows milk. I improved steadily and in 3 months I was totally cured. He later said that I should not drink chlorinated tap water. I was so impressed that I found a local dairy that would sell me raw cows milk near my home. I eventually bought my own milk cow and drink raw milk. Some states allow the sale of raw milk, other’s don’t. I am a dentist and I researched it thoroughly. In my opinion raw milk is safer than taking medicine. As long as I am doing this I can do what I want. I can drink 2-4 cups of coffee and practically any meal I want. I still try not to overeat or eat a large meal near bedtime. You don’t have to drink a great deal, just regularly. It didn’t make me fat. If I fast over 2 days the symptoms start coming back. So I am planning to keep my fasts shorter and more frequent. If I am off of the raw milk for over 2 months, symptoms start coming back. I have been healed now for 5 years. Hope this helps someone. God bless you!
By the way, many people who can not drink homogenized milk can drink raw milk. The homogenization process is to bubble hydrogen gas through the milk to make the fat particles stay in solution. The fat normally wants to separate. This process makes digesting the fat more difficult so some people think that they are lactose intolerant when they aren’t.

@sewerdoctor
Did you ever find any relief? I had a similar situation happen. I have been fasting for about 2 years. I had never had an issue with fasting until a couple of months ago…after swallowing a large pill I felt like it was stuck in my throat. I’m wondering if I injured one of the valves that controls the acid. Right after I started exhibiting all the signs of LPR (silent reflux). They are still driving me crazy today…probably because all the food I eat are acidic. I’m going to cut back on the acid food…but I’m going crazy!

While I have been on the 5.2 for 2 1/2 years now my GERD and my tablets from the doctor has stopped completely…

Christmas and holidays when I am not in control of my cooking my own food, it returns and of course eating crappy things as chocolate, cakes, sausage rolls, pastry and alcohol…I can have A treat but that’s it…not stuff your face…

I had a good talk to my doctor at the beginning ( before 5.2) he told me it’s a weight issue, or too much weight!…also he told me most people wear clothes which are too small for them so there’s pressure on the tummy.

If you are heavy that is more the problem….5.2 should calm it down as your weigh reduces…I am now in healthy BMI…even after a couple of weeks on 5.2 I noticed a big improvement…

In 2014 I started having a problem with acid reflux during the time I was having pelvic radiotherapy. I ended up being on lanzaprazole long term to manage the symptoms. I also suffered with bowel problems caused by the radiotherapy. I was told that the acid reflux was not connected to the radiotherapy. However recently I have discovered that bile acids can come up through the stomach as well as causing bowel problems. I started taking a multi strain probiotic daily, five weeks ago and the improvement on my gut and my acid reflux has been significant. On fast days, I do not not take a lanzaprazole at all. My goal is to come off lanzaprazole completely if symptoms can be managed by the daily probiotic and occasional use of gaviscon.. It needs to be a slow and gradual process as I believe the body becomes addicted to the lanzaprazole. For anyone with gut problems I recommend a multi strand probiotic.

Just a side note about acids: tomatoe and lemon juice (and anything with lemon zest) starts my reflux. Strangely, organic apple sider vinegar does not. I do not like apple cider vinegar in drinks, instead I use it in Georgian spicy sauce called ‘ajeeka’ which is made with canned tomatoes, fresh red pepper, chili, garlic and vinegar. And very strangely, this sauce helps with digestion without triggering reflux. Do not ask me how, I am puzzled myself :).