Experiencing heartburn following low carb diet

[Gracie204]

Hi
Just over a week ago I posted that although I was following a low carb diet I wasn't losing any weight and I'd no energy, and 'bulkbiker' kindly advised me to try and eat just two meals a day, one of them consisting mainly of protein.

And this is what I've been doing for the past six days. I've being having a salad for lunch with either meat, fish, eggs, one tiny slice of the Nordic Stone Age bread, and for the evening meal either meat, fish or eggs with no accompaniments. Coffee with cream and tea with small amounts of Koko milk.

So fasting from usually six o'clock in the evening until noon the next day. And it's worked. Suddenly, I've had the energy to go on the three/four miles walks that I love, felt so much more positive and happier, and haven't felt hungry.

BUT, about three nights ago I woke experiencing burning discomfort running down from my chest into my stomach, and it felt as though I'd undigested food lying there. And since I've experienced a lot of heartburn, which I do not usually suffer with.

I do want to carry on with what bulkbiker suggested, but does anyone have any suggestions to get rid of the heartburn?

Tonight I did have a tablespoonful of apple cider vinegar in water with half a teaspoonful of sodium bicarbonate and this helped a little.

 

[Ryhia]

Just a thought, are you drinking a lot of tea and coffee? Too much caffeine can cause heartburn. Eating low carb made me even more sensitive than usual so that the decaffeinated beverages I normally drink caused issues.

 

[Gracie204]

Hi Ryhia

Thank you very much for your reply. As far as I'm aware I don't think I'm drinking more coffee and tea than before going low carb, so I don't think it could be that. But I could be wrong. I wish I could enjoy drinking plain water, but I don't.

My best wishes to you.

 

[DCUKMod]

Hi
Just over a week ago I posted that although I was following a low carb diet I wasn't losing any weight and I'd no energy, and 'bulkbiker' kindly advised me to try and eat just two meals a day, one of them consisting mainly of protein.

And this is what I've been doing for the past six days. I've being having a salad for lunch with either meat, fish, eggs, one tiny slice of the Nordic Stone Age bread, and for the evening meal either meat, fish or eggs with no accompaniments. Coffee with cream and tea with small amounts of Koko milk.

So fasting from usually six o'clock in the evening until noon the next day. And it's worked. Suddenly, I've had the energy to go on the three/four miles walks that I love, felt so much more positive and happier, and haven't felt hungry.

BUT, about three nights ago I woke experiencing burning discomfort running down from my chest into my stomach, and it felt as though I'd undigested food lying there. And since I've experienced a lot of heartburn, which I do not usually suffer with.

I do want to carry on with what bulkbiker suggested, but does anyone have any suggestions to get rid of the heartburn?

Tonight I did have a tablespoonful of apple cider vinegar in water with half a teaspoonful of sodium bicarbonate and this helped a little.

Gracie - Are you eating more fat than you used to?

I know I have a bit of a personal fat threshold that gives me a greater interest in the small room, rather than heartburn.

It could just be your change of routine, but don't ignore it. If it sticks around, please get checked out. Chest pain should not be ignored.

 

[Rachox]

I found that low carb eating cured my heartburn to the point where I came off my esomeprazole, could have been the weight loss though, rather than the direct result of the diet. However I second what @DCUKMod says about getting it checked out with your dr.

 

[Oldvatr]

I became more sensitive to dairy, especially double cream and I got heatburn after starting bullet coffees regularly. I have eased off them, and my problem has gone away.

 

[Gracie204]

Hi
Thank you for all you help. I do think it is heartburn, but if it does get any worse then I will go and see a doctor. Perhaps it is a reaction to the extra fats I'm taking in.

Thanks.

 

[TerryJK]

I've heard ginger is good for digestion. Perhaps some ginger tea before bedtime?
https://www.healthline.com/health/digestive-health/ginger-for-acid-reflux

 

[Energize]

Mints also help digestion

 

[Gracie204]

Hi

Thank you for these helpful suggestions. I do have some lemon and ginger tea bags, and will give these a try.

The heartburn, I'm pleased to say, has eased off quite a bit. I've found that denser meats such as beef, pork, etc are harder for me to digest, and it's best if I stick more with chicken and fish. Having said that, if I cook the harder denser meats for longer this usually makes them more easy to digest. Previously, I've tended to eat pork and lamb chops cooked for short periods in the frying pan.

Kind thoughts.

 

[mouseee]

Too much rich food is my trigger, if you've added high fat to your low carb that could cause it.
Hopefully it will stay away for you now!

 

[Gracie204]

Too much rich food is my trigger, if you've added high fat to your low carb that could cause it.
Hopefully it will stay away for you now!

I totally agree with you Mouseee about the rich food. Yesterday it flared up again, and in desperation I purchased some Gaviscon Tablets and they really helped. I normally try and avoid taking tablets as a cure for anything, but I do not want to give up on the low carb diet so decided to give them a try and they worked.

Thank you for your reply.

 

[Cocosilk]

I totally agree with you Mouseee about the rich food. Yesterday it flared up again, and in desperation I purchased some Gaviscon Tablets and they really helped. I normally try and avoid taking tablets as a cure for anything, but I do not want to give up on the low carb diet so decided to give them a try and they worked.

Thank you for your reply.

I wouldn’t start using antacids to be able to stay on a particular diet. If you have heartburn, something is out of balance. In this case, I would eat larger portions of salads and vegetables and a bit less fat. I know fats are the cornerstone of keto and low carb, but I get heartburn when I over do it on the fats, possibly in combination with the heavier proteins you mentioned. I love pork belly for instance but I'm sure I've had heartburn from over indulging on the fatty parts in combination with the heavier proteins.
Grains like oats used to always give me nasty heartburn too but since going low carb, it's having more fat than I need that does it to me now. I try to eat larger portions of salads and vegetables and it seems to help me.
My Serbian husband says where he is from they eat/drink plain yoghurt after a fatty meal and that helps somehow.

 

[Gracie204]

I wouldn’t start using antacids to be able to stay on a particular diet. If you have heartburn, something is out of balance. In this case, I would eat larger portions of salads and vegetables and a bit less fat. I know fats are the cornerstone of keto and low carb, but I get heartburn when I over do it on the fats, possibly in combination with the heavier proteins you mentioned. I love pork belly for instance but I'm sure I've had heartburn from over indulging on the fatty parts in combination with the heavier proteins.
Grains like oats used to always give me nasty heartburn too but since going low carb, it's having more fat than I need that does it to me now. I try to eat larger portions of salads and vegetables and it seems to help me.
My Serbian husband says where he is from they eat/drink plain yoghurt after a fatty meal and that helps somehow.

Thank you Cocosilk for this valuable information. I'm trying to keep my meals to just two a day, one of which is a salad with some form of protein. The other one is all protein/fat. As you suggest perhaps it would reduce the burning and acidity if I also included vegetables/salad with the second meal. And perhaps have some natural yoghurt. I'm trying to lose weight and obviously reduce my blood sugar levels, and it is working from the point of view of reducing blood sugar levels, but slow with the weight.

Best wishes.

 

[mouseee]

The weight will come off. I've lost 2 stone in 4 months. I didn't think I could be losing as I was eating cheese, butter etc but it did. I thought I'd have a big loss to start with and tail off but it's just been slow and steady.

 

[Gracie204]

The weight will come off. I've lost 2 stone in 4 months. I didn't think I could be losing as I was eating cheese, butter etc but it did. I thought I'd have a big loss to start with and tail off but it's just been slow and steady.

That's good, two stones in four months! Do you feel better for it? As well as following the low carb diet I've been doing a lot more walking, and whereas the weight isn't shifting very quickly (not much at all) the walking does appear to help lower my blood sugar levels.

 

[Cocosilk]

Thank you Cocosilk for this valuable information. I'm trying to keep my meals to just two a day, one of which is a salad with some form of protein. The other one is all protein/fat. As you suggest perhaps it would reduce the burning and acidity if I also included vegetables/salad with the second meal. And perhaps have some natural yoghurt. I'm trying to lose weight and obviously reduce my blood sugar levels, and it is working from the point of view of reducing blood sugar levels, but slow with the weight.

Best wishes.

I was just reading this post about symptoms when transitioning to a carnivore (very low carb or zero carb) diet and they mention digestive issues from having more fat that you are used to. They recommend digestive enzymes: lipase as a supplement, also Ox bile and betaine hcl. https://meat.health/knowledge-base/carnivore-diet-symptoms-and-cures/

This might help as well https://healthygut.com/articles/4-common-betaine-hcl-mistakes/
I'd probably try apple cider vinegar before I would take betaine hcl as a supplement though.

I believe I read that avocados are a natural food source of lipase, so you could try including avocado with your fatty meats.
Yoghurt and sauerkraut have digestive enzymes as well. Kefir contains lipase too.
https://www.vitacost.com/blog/food-nutrition/best-natural-examples-of-enzymes-in-food.html

The one thing about eating more vegetables that doesn't always work in my favour is that, ironically, since going low carb, vegetables constipate me sometimes, probably because I'm not drinking enough water to handle the fibre - or I'm losing water because of low carb. Just eating fatty meat cuts seems to fix the constipation though because the fats go through you more. But then they give you that nasty heartburn until you get used to them. I'd try and include specific foods with digestive enzymes in them, or supplements rather than antacids. The problem may be low stomach acid rather than too much stomach acid, even though heartburn always feels like too much acid, I know.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hi
Thank you for all you help. I do think it is heartburn, but if it does get any worse then I will go and see a doctor. Perhaps it is a reaction to the extra fats I'm taking in.

Thanks.

Glad you are having success with this way of eating. As far as I know heartburn can happen when we do not have quite enough stomach acid to digest food thoroughly. the stomach is like a drawstring pouch and if the food isn't getting digested by the stomach acid, then the top of the pouch remains open so a little acid escapes hence the burn. As we age we tend to make less acid and if you are eating a little more fat and meat this may require more time to break down in your stomach.
Your doctor may suggest omeprazole (protein pump inhibitor) but I'd be wary of this as it works by further reducing acid which means your nutrients are even less well absorbed and once on it it can be hard to cut back!
I can only suggest experimenting with meal times so you eat a little earlier so you are not horizontal whilst still digesting food. Your body will try to neutralise your ph levels so it isn't a case of eating more alkaline stuff IMO! I can't advise on other ways to get your stomach to make more acid but there's always google/YouTube if you don't fancy taking tablets.

 

[Gracie204]

Thank you for your very helpful replies. Having less fat in my meals has helped and also including salad/vegetables for the second meal of the day whereas previously I was just having protein and fat. It's all a learning curve and each one of us responds differently to certain foods. It's just discovering what suits us best.

Best wishes.

 

[JohnH2019]

Mints also help digestion

Mint is one of the triggers for heartburn. Chocolate and coffee also. Better avoid those during this period.