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Hi, my father constantly coughs, perhaps every 3 minutes all day. He has been to the doctors and had scans for cancer etc. After doing some research I believe it may be caused by acid reflux. My question is which paleo foods are best for alleviating acid reflux and in helping my father to stop this coughing problem. Note: he has had this for over 16 months now and it is only getting worse:)

Any suggestions?

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3 Answers

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Not sure if this is answered on the site elsewhere also, but Chris Kresser has many articles on GERD. I find his answers explained why my years-long mysterious cough vanished after I went Paleo, especially LC-Paleo early. I'm no longer tightly low carb any more and the cough hasn't returned.

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Thanks Anondson, This is the article the site pointed to and the one I should have read before asking this erroneous question. Thanks for your input its nice to know someone who has actually resolved their GERD (cough) through the diet. Hopefully it is annoying him enough that it will change his food philosophy. Cheers mate. – Mark Aug 29 at 1:44
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Some reflux is bacterial/digestion related and some is structural.

If it is a low stomach acid thing, and the food is spending too much time in the stomach and fermenting before it gets down in the intestines, Betaine supplements can help. He can also get tested for SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) which can cause some reflux issues.

The most important thing for me was to drop anything with HFCS or other concentrated sources of fructose, like agave nectar immediately, even sauces (a bit of ketchup, sweet relish, or BBQ sauce, can get reflux rolling again).

Have him sleep propped up, to stop the acids from splashing up and irritating the esophagus quite so much.

Being overweight in the midsection (or pregnant, which I doubt he is) can cause the stomach acid to get pushed up too. As can having a weak stomach sphincter.

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Thanks for your response. He is definatley over-sized in the midsection to the extent that im not confident in saying that he is not pregnant. As of tomoro he will be drinking water with lemon squeezed in it to try and balance his stomach ph. He is lactose intolerant, has an iron disease and i'm sure an intolerance to gluten so I am not holding my breath that this will work. Will certainly look into the Betaine, HFCS and SIBO but deep down know he needs to stop eating SAD:) Baby steps for him, lol. – Mark Aug 28 at 10:43
Is he even interested in changing his diet? Sometimes there is an "old dog, new tricks" dilemma, and your disappointment in his not getting with the program could rob you of otherwise valuable bonding time together. I'm not a big fan of all the medications used to treat reflux, but if he isn't willing to change his diet, that may be the best bet. Also, if the reflux has been going on for a long time there may actually be structural damage to the esophagus at this point. Has he had an endoscopic evaluation to see what is going on in there? – Happy Now Aug 28 at 19:57
He is certainly very stubborn. However the cough he has developed from what I believe now to be GERD from his high carb diet is now starting to really annoy him. I am hoping that this will push him over the edge into a new way of thinking about food. Also I am sitting down with him later in the week and we are watching a very insightful documentary on paleo eating called "In search of the Perfect Human Diet". If this has no affect on him then there no real alternative. thepiratebay.se/search/perfect%20human%20diet/0/… if you havnt already seen it - im assuming you have thou:) – Mark Aug 29 at 1:49
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SORRY SHOULD HAVE READ MORE BEFORE ASKING THIS QUESTION AS THE ANSWER IS ALREADY ON THE SITE! SORRY PEOPLE:)

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