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Gastric reflux question

IanBish

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,197
Location
Cardiff
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I used to suffer from gastric reflux. I used to get it several times a week. In fact I used to keep a packet of antacids on the bedside cabinet to take when it woke me up. But since going low carb it disappeared completely. It's only come back once: when I had a blip, and ate two sausage rolls and two pasties in a day. It disappeared again once I went back to eating low carb.

The question is why? I have eaten some carbs during that time: small portions of rice, small pork pies, sourdough bread etc. Was it something to do with the pastry that I ate, or the high carbs?

I don't intend on eating sausage rolls and pasties again, but just wondered if someone could explain why they caused the reflux, and why it's stayed away for so long.
 
I think it's your clever body saying to you if it causes you pain don't do it .
 
I don't intend to. But what is it about the high carb / UPF rubbish that causes it?
 
Pastry always did that to me in the past, and my mum too, I think it’s quite a common thing
 
I used to think it was buttery mash and buttery crumpets which used to set mine off. But I now know (one of) the culprits. Any idea of why though?
 
I have coeliac and one of the symptoms I had was GERD amongst many others. I have suffered with GERD for years, in fact I was on Proton pump inhibitors. I adjusted my diet and was able to come off them, but certain foods would trigger an attack ( it feels like an heart attack, (crushing and painful chest). It wasn’t until I stopped eating gluten that the GERD ceased altogether. Putting 2 and 2 together it was gluten triggering my GERD - wheat , barley and rye.
You might want to look at gluten being the trigger for your gastric reflux @IanBish .
 
IanBish said:
I used to think it was buttery mash and buttery crumpets which used to set mine off. But I now know (one of) the culprits. Any idea of why though?
Click to expand...
Could be the amount of fat & carbs together making it difficult to digest?
 
Melgar said:
You might want to look at gluten being the trigger for your gastric reflux @IanBish .
Click to expand...
Like I said, there has only been one occurrence of it in the last year or so. But that's interesting.

I've heard a few low carb advocates, for example Dr Berry, saying that low carb cures acid reflux. But they didn't explain why. Maybe you have a point.
 
@IanBish , my chap has a long standing hiatus hernia that behaves extremely well, provided he stays slim and swerves certain types of pastry. For him, the demons are croissant and puff pastry. He just doesn't bother, the vast majority of the time, but had a pastry today and whilst he enjoyed it, he knew he'd likely be reaching for the Gaviscon before too long.

MrBreathe is not diabetic, with A1cs in the mid 20s, eating what he wants, when he wants it. Where he scores very highly is an excellent "Off" switch when he has eaten enough.
 
Going low carb stopped me needing omeprazole. I have some which I take very occasionally when I have something spicy.
High carb rich food and spicy food trigger me.
No idea why, just happy it works!
 
I've been learning to listen to my off switch. Thanks for that info @AndBreathe.
 
Idle speculation, but I assume some food combinations prompt the secretion of more stomach acids.
Mayo clinic says fried and/or fatty foods late at night.
Also alcohol.
Oh, to be young again.
 
The root cause of gastric acid reflux @IanBish stems from a weakened lower oesophageal sphincter which tends to happen with age. Normally, this muscular sphincter acts as a valve that keeps food and gastric acid in the stomach and prevents the stomach's strongly acidic contents from being regurgitated back into the oesophagus where it irritates the lining.

That certain foods exacerbate the symptoms seems to rest on empirical evidence.

Please be aware (you probably are) that it's always best to eat while sitting upright and avoid meals within 4 hours of bedtime. When first hitting the hay, it's best to lie on your left side. Sufferers may also need to lose weight and quit smoking.
 
Too much fat!! Pasties and sausage rolls are heavy in fat, I’m not surprised at issues. Also make sure you are well hydrated - water. Stomach problems can be not enough hydrochloric acid to deal with the fatty food. We are often given antacids, as we age we may not produce enough hydrochloric acid to help digest food and obviously very fatty food may cause problem - what I’d say ‘quantity overload’
 
I am certain that a hiatus hernia is one of the causes.
Another is wind in the way down to the oesphegus.
Another is gut biome bad bacteria, has a knock on effect.
As @LivingLightly has suggested (what she said!)

I know from personal experience that I was diagnosed with the hiatus hernia.
I was also diagnosed with helicobactor pylori a bad bacterial infection within my gut biome.
This was a reason for the patients thought to have ulcers in days gone by.

There is also the explanation that some people cannot (as @Melgar suggests) cannot tolerate grains, gluten and so on.
When eliminated from diet, the surprising benefit is relief from reflux, wind, bloating and other uncomfortable symptoms.

The doctors don't tell you, that some types of the metformin tablets, caused worse symptoms, for those susceptible to these types of symptoms.

I had an endoscopy to diagnose the issues I had.
 
I'm sorry that you had a hiatus hernia and other gut issues, Lamont D. But I'm sure I don't have one. In fact the symptoms have been absent since that fateful day of overdosing on pasties and sausage rolls. I guess that the occasional pasty would be okay. But I still don't understand why too many caused it. But thanks for the reply.
 
it's like the old saying, or the Goldilocks theory.
too little, not enough.
too big, too much.
just enough, just right!

maybe over time, your gut just doesn't like too much pastry!
 
No reflux issues despite lots of "bad behaviour" - fats, late meals, alcohol before bed, etc. but pastry (flaky, short - doesn't matter) is one of those things that will consistently and quickly elevate my BGs way more than would be predicted from its carb content.

No idea if this is at all related to reflux, but maybe somebody knows more about what baking/cooking does to the ingredient mix?
 
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