Try High Fiber Diet to Combat Digestive Diseases

When I was diagnosed with food intolerances and gave up gluten and dairy, my chronic heartburn/acid reflux symptoms disappeared within a couple weeks. 

One thing that may have helped was the fact that I replaced a lot of the processed foods I'd been eating with more fruits and vegetables.  I had to; just about every box, can, or packaged item at the grocery store has wheat in it somewhere.  While you can find ready-made gluten-free substitutes for wheat products (gluten-free breads, cookies, donuts, pizza crusts, etc.), I was never that crazy about the gluten-free versions, especially of bread.  Instead I ended up eating more salads and stir-fry meals.  (No, I'm not a health freak... my kind of salad has a bunch of meat, seeds or nuts, and a tasty dressing slathering it.)  This ended up in a diet that was much higher in fiber than I'd known previously.  According to Dr. Loren Cordain, in The Paleo Diet, that higher fiber diet can be a big help in fighting off digestive diseases (as well as other "Syndrome X" diseases):

"Fiber is absolutely essential to your health--and at least thirteen illnesses can result when you don't get enough fiber in your diet. Some of the most common digestive diseases that develop when you eat the standard American diet with its overload of refined grains, sugars, and processed foods are:

• Constipation
• Varicose veins
• Hemorrhoids
• Heartburn
• Indigestion
• Appendicitis
• Diverticular disease of the colon
• Crohn's disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Duodenal ulcer
• Hiatal hernia
• Gallstones

The Paleo Diet is naturally high in fiber because of its abundance of fruits and vegetables--about three to five times as much fiber each day as there is in the average American diet."

Check out the book for more on The Paleo Diet (I find it too restrictive to stick to 100%, but the book is an interesting read, and I suspect even making vegetable/fruit choices over grain/sugar choices half of the time can help). 

Comments

[Alvin]

Hello,

I just got diagnosed with reflux and am one of those people who is supposed to be too young to have it. My doctor wants to put me on a pill and suggested I change my eating habits. I don't like the idea of being dependent on a pill so while I was investigating my options on the internet
I stumbled upon this doctor's blog at http://www.refluxcookbookblog.com/. She seems to be advocating for a natural cure, or at least, in some ways steering away from just a PPI pill route. Given your experiences, I was wondering what you thought. Do you think it's just someone trying to sell a new book?

Thanks, Alvin

[Marielle]

I just found your blog and am so thrilled. Thank you for all of your important information. I have suffered from reflux for over a year and am now learning how to remedy it with natural alternatives. What test did you get for the food allergies? Was it Alcat? Thanks, M.

[Lindsay]

Marielle, it's been several years now but that sounds familiar. They took a blood sample and ran it against the 90 or 100 most common food allergies, and then I got a graph back that showed low, medium, or high sensitivity to the various foods.

[Lindsay]

Alvin, it might be worth a look. If you haven't been tested for food allergies, I'd definitely start there. Someone might suggest eating yogurt daily for the probiotics, but if dairy is one of your triggers, then that probably wouldn't help. For me, I avoid gluten, and then I have no trouble whatsoever with heartburn, no matter what other crazy stuff I eat. :)

[Marielle]

thank you Lindsay for commenting back! It's so nice of you to continue to help us who are trying to uncover ways to rid ourselves of reflux. :) When I am all better and reflux-free, I'd like to do the same.

[Marielle]

Alvin, if you read this email me at MaryLiseL@aoL.com. Maybe we can compare notes as we try the dietary changes. It would also be nice to have a buddy who is going through this as well!!