Skip to main content

The Triple Crown: Solving Three Problems in One Stroke

The readers of this blog have spoken: a lot of you are suffering from bloating and acid reflux and want to know what to do about it. At least, that's what my statistics tell me: the top two posts for the past month are Gas Bloating: The Incredible Shrinking Waistband and Exploding Intestines and My GERD is Cured: Low-Carb Hits the Mark. If you're like a lot of people, you might also have made a resolution to lose weight. I sympathize with all these problems: I used to suffer frequently with gas pain and acid reflux and a year ago I set out to lose 20 pounds.

Why do so many people have bloating and acid reflux this time of year? Too many Christmas cookies, too much stuffing and mashed potatoes, too many holiday potlucks with dishes made of cheap, high-carb food, and too much dessert. In other words, too many carbs. That's the short answer.

What do Carbs Have to Do with It?
Dietary fat doesn't give you gas. Protein gives you very little gas, and it's farther along in your digestive system. Carbs, however, do create gas when they're consumed by your digestive bacteria.(1) Certain carbs are worse than others. Wheat and apples are the worst two for me; others are bothered by lactose and certain vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower.

In susceptible people, that gas pushes up the stomach acid into the esophagus, causing acid reflux. At least, that is Norm Robillard's theory as he's described in the book Heartburn Cured. His theory also squares better with reality than conventional wisdom on avoiding onions, coffee, spicy food, dietary fat, and so on. I had acid reflux so severe that it gave me an esophageal ulcer. Once I cut down on the carbs, to about 50 grams per day, I could have all the coffee, fatty meals and spicy food I wanted. My theory of why these foods are associated with acid reflux is that dietary fat makes your stomach acid stick to your throat and the spicy, acidic foods make it more painful on your delicate esophagus, which was never meant to come into contact with stomach acid.

What to do? You can take a product like Gas-X for bloating, but I never found it very helpful when I was so bloated I looked pregnant. You can take medicines for acid reflux, but beware: they're expensive, they disable the first line of defense in your immune system (most germs die in your stomach acid unless you've neutralized it), and they interfere with absorption of vitamins and minerals. (See this post; scroll down to Antacids.) Going off proton pump inhibitors can give you a nasty bout with acid rebound, which I suffered mightily with. (See this and this.)

What if you could solve both problems--and possibly lose weight--in one stroke? You can: cut down on the carbs. A low-carb eating plan is a time-honored way of slimming down. Before the low-fat craze, our great grandmothers knew that if they wanted to lose weight, they cut back on the bread and potatoes and skipped dessert. Long before Great Grandma was around, our stone age ancestors lived almost entirely on meat, eggs and plants, not fat-free bagels. Paleontologists say they were stronger and healthier than their agricultural descendants.

There's no one diet that's right for everyone. Look into some low-carb diets like Atkins, Protein Power, South Beach and various paleo diets, and see which one you think you could live with best. Commit to a two-week trial--that's about how long it takes for your body to adjust to using fat for fuel. (Yes, I said fat: by all accounts, you'll have a rough time trying to live mostly on protein.) Consult some other low-carbers if you run into problems; we're a supportive community (see blog roll on the right). And have a healthy, happy new year.

(1) Heartburn Cured by Norm Robillard. 2005.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Lori
My n=1 experiment may not generalize very well but it may be of interest. I reduced fibre to 12gm/day average and significantly (estimate 2lb min.) reduced the colonic population (polite euphemism). I also fasted one day/week. It took 6 weeks to produce results. No bloating and I can pack away huge meals without any distress. The happy sounds of a well functioning intestines, just like in my youth, have returned.
Morris
Lori Miller said…
I'm glad you're feeling better. There are those who say that fiber isn't really necessary for good bowel function. I can't say from experience; my GI problems were mostly farther up.

Popular posts from this blog

Dana Carpender's Podcast; Dr. Davis on YouTube; Labor Day Sales

Dana Carpender, who's written several recipe books and other works on low-carb, has a podcast and is still writing articles at carbsmart.com. She's a terrific writer and amateur researcher (otherwise known as reading , as Jimmy Dore jokes ). I use her book 500 Low-Carb Recipes all the time and I'm looking forward to hearing more from her. I've embedded her podcast on my blog (click on the three lines at the top right if you don't see it, or go to Spotify or other podcast source if you're getting this by email). Carbsmart.com doesn't seem to have a blog feed, so if you want to see the latest posts there, you can sign up for notifications at their site. Dr. Davis has been putting a lot more videos on YouTube, so I've added his channel to the lineup. Click on the three lines on my blog if you don't see it, or go to his channel here .  * * * * * Primal Kitchen is having a Labor Day sale-- 20% off everything. They sell high quality collagen powder, con...

Fermented bread and butter pickle recipe ft. L. Plantarum

After Dr. Davis said the other night that  L. plantarum  may reduce some of the effects of the herbicide glyphosate (which is everywhere), I'm re-running my recipe for fermented bread and butter pickles. Pickling cucumbers naturally have  L. plantarum  bacteria on them, and fermenting them with some brown sugar multiplies these bacteria. (Just don't use chlorinated water to wash them.) And if you're growing your own cucumbers, avoid spraying the fruits with  Bacillus thuringiensis , or Bt (leaves and vines are OK). It's unclear what effect a big dose of Bt would have on humans. Another benefit of DIY pickles: no emulsifiers like polysorbate 80, which is a common ingredient in pickles. If you have GI problems, it could be from emulsifiers. These sweet-and-sour pickles are the tastiest I've ever made. There's just a little added sugar (some of which the bacteria will consume) and turmeric that gives the pickles their bright color.  Special equipment Quar...

Collagen-filled Low Carb Burritos

Low-carb, grain-free Mexican food is hard to find, but it's easy to make your own at home. This recipe has an authentic ingredient: carne de lengua, or beef tongue. Don't be put off: beef tongue is tender, delicious, and full of collagen. Look for it directly from farmers in your area. To cook it, cut it in 1" to 1-1/2" slices and pressure cook for one hour. Enjoy the delicious broth as a bonus. Ingredients 1 slice cooked beef tongue, peeled and cut into small cubes 1 egg wrap (I use these  from Egglife) 1/4 cup cooked black or pinto beans Chili pepper Oregano Garlic (powdered or minced) Cumin Guacamole (with no emulsifiers) Salsa Shredded cheddar cheese Sour cream or homemade cream cheese  with no emulsifiers  Put the egg wrap on a plate and put the beef and beans down the middle of it. Sprinkle with the herbs and spices. Wrap, turn over and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Spoon salsa over the burrito and sprinkle with cheese. Add guacamole and sour cream or homemade crea...

15% Off Starter Culture

Starter culture for the wonderful cream cheese I made is 15% off for the next two weeks (through June 18, 2025). The shop (BacillusBulgaricus.com) also offers rennet and starter for other cheeses, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, sour cream, fermented vegetables, and more. They ship to 118 countries across six continents. The coupon code is LORI_sekd3tkb at bacillusbulgaricus.com .  Photo from Pexels .

Cardio: A Waste of Valuable Dance Time

"I'd rather hold a girl in my arms than a football." -Joe DeCicco, friend and dancing fanatic Have you heard that it takes a woman 77 hours of exercise to lose a kilogram of fat? (For us Americans, that's half a pound.) That's according to a study cited by Dr. John Briffa .(1) The women who huffed and puffed three hours a week for a year ended up 4.4 pounds lighter than the sedentary women. That doesn't surprise me: my own weight loss involved a lot less exercise than what I'd been doing. I did no cardio workouts, just strength training . I had more time and energy for dancing, which is a stress reliever, helps keep me in shape, and it's a ton of fun. It's not expensive to dance (as long as you stay away from the studios). I've found excellent lessons at clubs where the teachers really care about the students getting it. Here in Denver, there are dancing clubs that are run by nonprofit organizations, where the prices are reasonable and...