Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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With any luck, Melissa from (HGL) can answer this one.

Here's a current list of supplements I'm taking:

Chelated Magnesium
Wild Salmon Oil
Licorce extract
Probiotics
Multi-vitamin
B-vitamin complex
Digestive enzymes
Niacin
Digestive Bitters
HCL + pepsin
Choline
Biotin
L-glutamine

That's all (yes, sarcastic paleo people, I know that's a lot). My main issue is with GERD/LPR. Could any of these supplements (or all of them) be stalling the healing process?

edited May 28 at 13:34

tdgor
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asked May 28 at 3:42

Rigton
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Could it perhaps be due to the HCL? My GERD resolved itself naturally within six months of stopping Zantac (while still eating SAD); I'm weary about messing with the stomach's natural acidity/enzymes in either direction. – raney May 28 at 3:48

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Sleeping on a slightly angled mattress provided a lot of relief during the interim period. Gravity is good stuff. – raney May 28 at 3:52

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No no, my condition progressively got worse during the couple years I let them feed me Zantac and Prilosec (a PPI.) When I cold-turkey quit all antacids, there was a couple weeks of absolute hell, but after that, the healing process began. I'm saying that taking anything that modifies your natural stomach acidity could be potentially exacerbating, HCL included. – raney May 28 at 3:57

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Just a theory; but its the only thing on your list that stands out to me. – raney May 28 at 3:59

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No, paleo didn't factor in, I dealt with all of this many years before I discovered it. I was eating a lot of bland chicken and rice due to stomach ulcers around that time. I went vegan shortly after. The GERD (and the ulcers too) resolved while I was still eating wheat. Getting off of soda and antacids were the big factors for me. – raney May 28 at 4:06

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Bread-Eating Beelzebub · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-28 03:59:32Z UTC

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Yikes. In my opinion that's just too much and makes it hard to ID what's even going on. WHy not try going off them and doing a very low carb diet? Also I'd ditch the HCL. It didn't help me very much. Have a protein rich breakfast of steak or some other meat and chew it well, it should help stimulate stomach acid.

Your doctor is wrong about the Zantac. Very few people with GERD ever get off Zantac because the science shows that GERD is not caused by "acid damage" anyway.

answered May 28 at 3:59

Bread-Eating Beelzebub
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Yeah, he's a great guy, though and wants me to try paleo and everything else first. He just mentioned that some people have no alternative, and that he doesn't want me to wind up with Barrett's or something. I'm confused about this whole low carb thing. I mean, I know what low carb is! It's just that I'm not sure if I'm doing it right (insert random gif here, ha!): Here's what I had today (by the way, I've based this off of your and Chris Kesser's suggestions) 3 ounces of lamb liver 4 ounces of 90% lean grass-fed beef 1 cup of bone broth (homemade) 2 cups of kale – Rigton May 28 at 4:06

5 oz. wild-caught sockeye salmon 2 cups of sauteed spinach 1 cup of bone broth – Rigton May 28 at 4:07

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Yeah, I was on Zantac and/or Tecta for five years...the only thing it helped in was shrinking my bank account. Also agree on the HCl, I didn't find it particularily useful. – JeJ May 28 at 4:10

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As far as I know PPIs, can reduce dysplasia in Barrett's but not remove it. There is no study I can find that shows PPIs prevent it. Most people with untreated GERD do not get it. Also your friends PPIs might not have been working- some people over time develop some immunity to the pain of erosion and then she wouldn't have realized that the PPIs weren't working anymore. That happens more than you would think. Prilosec stopped working for me. I was on Nexium and after I had salmonella that stopped working too. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub May 28 at 5:08

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Your diet looks OK, I might research FODMAPs and remove the kale for now. The supplements are probably not helping and might remove any benefits of being that low-carb if they feed bacteria (anything in iron like the multivitamin is going to do this, some other supplements might also feed them too). You should also try eating some eggs too. And more food in general. You don't have to be LC forever, you might try adding in some rice or fruit after two weeks or so. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub May 28 at 5:10

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missionman · Answer 2 · 2012-05-28 03:58:44Z UTC

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I was taking nexium before paleo. It didn't take long after not eating wheat products for all my IBS and GERD synptoms to disapear. You could also try a GAPS protocol. I'm not a herbalist so I can't answer your question directly, but just stick with paleo and find what works for you. You should be fine in no time.

answered May 28 at 3:58

missionman
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	See for me, the IBS is still a factor, and obviously the GERD. What paleo resolved immediately were my psychological issues (anxiety/depression) and my bladder/prostate and back problems. I will say this about the IBS though, it no longer makes me afraid to go to the bathroom! Seriously, gluten made it feel like the gates of hell where in my posterior! – Rigton May 28 at 4:12
	"just stick with paleo and find what works for you" missionman, well put. I am color-blind. Are you color-blind? Probably not. Not everyone is color-blind. And not everyone will have the same ideal paleo diet. My wife's ancestors were heavy on the fish side of things. My ancestors less fish and more land animals. – bachcole May 28 at 8:01

Rigton · Answer 3 · 2012-05-28 13:26:36Z UTC

Okay, paleo people. Here's my GERD-B-Gone plan for the next two weeks.

1.) VLC (20g or less a day per what I read in one of the reports Melissa posted)

2.) Eat plenty of seaweed, grass-fed beef, wild caught fishes, carrots, spinach, bok choy...any other FODMAP friendly suggestions? (OH, and bone broth with every meal!)

3.) Discontinue all supplements for two weeks except: Vit-D (I tested low for this, and I simply do not get enough sun time), L-glutamine (I cannot imagine this is doing any harm, and I've read to many reports about it rebuilding the gut lining/healing an inflamed gut), the salmon oil (Omega-3) and probiotics (needed for gut rebuilding, right?) unless someone can give me specific reasons why any of those should go. When things settle down, I'll reintroduce supplements one by one.

4.) Start every breakfast protein heavy.

5.) Eat more liver and...eggs gulp (I thought those where against the auto-immune protocol?)

6.) Can I eat sauerkraut while doing this? Cabbage is a major FODMAP apparently, but people recommend fermented foods...

Just a few questions left though: The guy who runs Free The Animal (sorry that I cannot remember his name) says he uses baking soda to quell his GERD while getting everything under control. Melissa says to use AVC. I'm confused. People keep saying, "if it makes it worse don't do it!" problem is, sometimes you can't tell if it's making it worse or not. For instance, did the AVC give me heartburn or did the meal, or did the universe?

bachcole · Answer 4 · 2012-05-28 07:58:15Z UTC

raney, a lot of people swear by home made kefir. I drink multiple cups of home made kefir every day, and I think that it is paleo, but I do not have GERD. But many people swear that it has helped all manner of gastrointestinal problems.

balor123 · Answer 5 · 2012-05-29 14:45:14Z UTC

After a trip to Latin America and a course of antibiotics, I developed what a Radiologist called "Marked Gastroparesis" for about 2 years, causing reflux so bad I frequently lost my voice and burned my mouth. Here's what works:

Get some bed risers and incline the head of your bed. Funky pillows suck.
Get tested for sleep apnea. It is a common and often missed cause of nighttime reflux.
Consider taking Domperidone. It is OTC and generic in many countries but not approved for sale in the US (the only country). It is a prokinetic agent that will reduce the time food stays in your stomach. People have been taking it for decades with few problems esp relative to PPIs. My Canadian GI said he used to prescribe it like its water. I used a low dose and starting seeing benefits in about a month.
Try d-Limonene. It is considered safe but not much is known about it.
Do controlled movement exercises. I found Tai Chi to be very helpful in emptying the stomach. I think the Rhymthic movements help things move along in addition to calming the nerves.
Beware of rebound effects when making any changes.

GERD and supplements!!

5 Answers