Skip to main content

The Golden Age of Acid Reflux Treatments

A few years ago, my stomach was on fire even though I was taking a proton pump inhibitor. Since there was a three-month wait for an appointment with the gastroenterologist, I talked to the office's nurse over the phone. "I'm not overweight, I don't eat big, fatty meals. I don't understand why I have such an acid stomach." "Some people just do," said the nurse.

Such is the progress gastroenterology has made in 40 years. The 1970s may have been an economic and sartorial failure, but it was a golden age of natural cures for acid reflux, or heartburn. Doctors had learned how to test things like stomach acid and the lower esophageal muscle (LES), but hadn't yet developed proton pump inhibitors, like Aciphex and Nexium, or Zantac, an acid blocker.

An article(1) from 1975 addressed the effects of various foods on the working of the LES, the muscle at the top of the stomach that is supposed to close when it's not transporting food from mouth to stomach. Certain foods, it stated, relax the muscle so much that it cannot close, allowing stomach acid to travel into the esophagus--in other words, acid reflux. The worst food was chocolate. Other offenders were peppermint, caffeine, alcohol, and fat. Smoking caused the same problem to about the same degree. The food that really helped close the LES within 20-30 minutes was protein.

Dr. Jonathan V. Wright, who began practicing medicine in the early 1970s, wrote a very informative book (in 2001) along with Lane Lenard, Ph.D. called Why Stomach Acid is Good for You. Dr. Wright notes that sugar and onions can also make the LES relax instead of close. (Before reading that, I had a York Peppermint Patty and chicken with onion sauce today. Need I say that I had another rough day?) The book's recommendations are too lengthy for this post, but an important fact it gets across is that acid indigestion is an oxymoron. Since acid breaks down food, why would too much acid result in too little digestion? In reality, it says, most people have too little acid, especially those past a certain stage of life. Even weak acid is uncomfortable and damaging in your esophagus--the acid doesn't have to be overly strong.

Why not just eat whatever you want and take a pill? According to Why Stomach Acid is Good for You, stomach acid allows proper nutrient absorption. The book correctly predicted osteoporosis as a result of long-term acid blocker use. Low stomach acid can make you vulnerable to serious illnesses as well.

Even into the late 1980s, medical journals were making recommendations for natural treatments. A publication called Patient Care ran a four-page, fine print article(2) on treating patients with reflux. Prescriptions for Zantac and Tagamet were to be given only after lifestyle changes had failed and several tests were run. The instructions called for tapering off the medicine after a few weeks.

A 1989 article(3) in the Journal of the American Medical Association addressed the aerobic age. Running, it said, produced more acid reflux (even in healthy volunteers) than did stationary cycling, which was less agitating.

Some common recommendations in the 70s and 80s articles I read were to avoid tomatoes and citrus, because they irritate the esophagus; raise the head of your bed six inches; don't eat within three hours of bedtime, and avoid big meals.

For me, one of the best teachers on the subject is my own stomach. I don't know if the PPI I was on temporarily deadened the feeling in it, but this morning I awoke with an odd feeling in my stomach. I took me a few minutes to realize it was hunger. Later, it told me I put something bad in it (probably the onions and chocolate). As for the nuts and salad I had for dinner, well, no news is good news.

Notes:

1. "Diet and the Lower Esophageal Sphincter" by Donald O. Castell, Capt., MC, USN, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 1975, p. 1296.

2. "Reflux Therapy: A Plan of Attack" by Marvin E. Ament, Donald O. Castell, Tom R. Demeester and Mark Devore, Patient Care, September 30, 1989, p. 30.

3. "Gastroesophageal Reflux Induced by Exercise in Healthy Volunteers" by Scott Clark, Barry B. Krause, Jane Sinclair and Donald O. Castell, JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, June 23, 1989, p. 3599.

These articles are accessible through the Denver Public Library's online databases.





Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Peppermint is supposed to be bad for reflux too. I know chocolate is for me (probably the greasy-ness, much like peanut butter irritates or holds open the LES). I wonder about TUMS?
Recently I've had pain in the bony outside esophagus/chest (and have been carb-binging as a type 2 diabetic).
June 27, 2010
Lori Miller said…
Here’s the best of the Golden Age acid reflux solutions from Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution, p. 284. It’s from 1972:

Q. I get heartburn on diets. What do I do?
A. Go on this diet immediately. Nothing clears up faster on this diet than does heartburn.

In my experience, triggers like fatty food aggravate acid reflux if I already have it. But without reflux-inducing carbs, I drink a quart of mint iced tea and a chocolate peanut butter protein shake every day without any reflux at all.

It might interest you to go to the subject index on the right and click on acid reflux to see the whole story of how I got over it.
June 28, 2010
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HHS Doctor on Hidden Camera: "The Vaccine is Full of Sh!t"

Jodi O'Malley, a registered nurse at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center (part of the Department of Health and Human Services), teamed up with Project Veritas to expose severe COVID vaccine reactions occurring but not being reported to VAERS, the vaccine adverse event reporting system, even though medical professionals are legally required to report such injuries. During the filming, a man in his thirties with congestive heart failure was being treated; the doctor believed the cause was his COVID vaccination. O'Malley says she's seen dozens of adverse reactions. "The vaccine is full of shit" and the government wants to "sweep it under the mat," the doctor says on hidden camera. We finally know what's in the vaccine. Screen grab from Project Veritas video . The video also shows a pharmacist stating that off-label medications such as ivermectin were forbidden to be prescribed on pain of termination.  Project Veritas is a nonprofit organization that does ...
Post a Comment
Read more

COVID Test Result is In

I don't have COVID.  On the one hand, it would have been a relief to have finally caught COVID and gotten natural antibodies, especially from having a mild case of it. On the other hand, I was concerned about my dog catching it from me (he's healthy, but nine years old) and it might have interfered with Thanksgiving plans.  Until I'm well, I'll stay home.
2 comments
Read more

Gaining Strength, But...

I had a pleasant surprise when I got out the sawzall today to finish repairs on the front door. Not the way it cut the new door sweep--I probably should have used the jigsaw. It was how easy it was to put the blade in. You have to turn a part on the saw, which I could barely do two months ago when I had nails to cut off . Today--probably thanks to spending my spare time since August working saws, sanders and paintbrushes--it was no harder than turning a knob on the stove.  So I've built up some strength in my hands and probably elsewhere, but my adrenals aren't keeping up with cortisol production. After a day's work (well, three or four hours, to be honest), my neck, back, jaws, and sinuses all hurt and they don't feel better until use a dab of hydrocortisone. Other pain relievers don't help much. This isn't normal muscle stiffness--the kind you get from working out--it feels like I'm inflamed. Last weekend in particular, after a flu shot and a few days of p...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Under-the-Radar Ointment for Hard-to-Heal Wounds

Imagine looking in the mirror one morning and finding the side of your head black and your ear twice its normal size. That's what happened to Brad Burnam, who caught a deadly superbug at the hospital where he worked. Sometime after having emergency surgery--one of 21 surgeries over the next five years--he set out to cure himself.  The result he created was a fusion of PHMB, an antibiotic common in Europe but little known in the US, in a petroleum jelly base (like Vaseline), held together with a stabilizer/emulsifier. It sticks to wounds, keeps them moist, and provides a barrier. It cured his antibiotic resistant superbug. After getting FDA clearance, he formed Turn Therapeutics, and Hexagen is now available by prescription.  Screen shot from https://turntherapeutics.com/about/ Millions of Americans suffer from open wounds--chronic issues like diabetic foot ulcers. Readers probably have their blood sugar under control and avoid this condition, but might have parents, partners o...
Post a Comment
Read more

1972: Carole King, M*A*S*H and...Food for 2014?

I feel well enough to try Atkins induction again. The palpitations are gone, even without taking potassium. My energy level is back to normal--no more trucking on the treadmill early in the morning  to burn off nervous energy or emergency meat, cheese and mineral water stops after yoga. It's back to lounging around to Chopin and Debussy in the morning and stopping at the wine bar for pleasure. I'm using the original Atkins book: Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution from 1972. While looking in the book for a way to make gelatin (which is allowed on induction, but Jello(TM) and products like it have questionable ingredients), I felt the earth move under my feet : those recipes from 42 years ago look delicious and they're mostly real food. It makes sense, though: the cooks who wrote the recipes probably didn't have had a palette used to low-fat food full of added sugar or a bag of tricks to make low-fat food edible. Anyone who writes a recipe called "Cottage Cheese and...
21 comments
Read more