- Have lemon juice before meals
- Eat slowly and mindfully, appreciating the food as I eat it.
- Do not have drinks with meals
- Drink plenty of water in between meals
- Supplement with S. boulardii (and continue my standard multi-vitamin, calcium, magnesium, vitamin D supplements)
- Use bitters between meals if I feel any discomfort
- Start a batch of sauerkraut fermenting
Over the 10 days, I did stop drinking the lemon juice before meals. It was fine at home, but too awkward when eating out. I did the rest of the items on the list, and the last few days I have added the homemade sauerkraut http://www.alifeinharmony.me/recipe/lemon-dill-sauerkraut/ and whole milk, cream top, plain yogurt to my diet to get more probiotics. My stomach is definitely better.
Bitters work by encouraging your stomach to produce more stomach acid. Lemon juice works by adding acid into your stomach. The reason I cut back the lemon juice was to see if my stomach could still produce stomach acid. Since using bitters is working for me, the answer is yes my stomach does still produce acid. So now it is a matter of encouraging it to produce more.
I also did some more research into stomach acid by getting a copy of “Why Stomach Acid is Good for You”, by Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. and Lane Lenard, Ph.D. Written in 2001, this is still a classic, widely quoted text on the topic.
Your stomach acid when not digesting should be around pH 3 or so. To digest protein, your stomach acid needs to be at pH 1.5-2.2, which is quite a lot more acidic. If poor digestion is a problem (if you have acid reflux you almost certainly have poor digestion), then many people suggest “priming” the stomach acid by sipping something acidic before a meal. Raw apple cider vinegar is pH 2.8. Lemon juice is pH 2.0, so probably a better choice before a protein meal. Red and white wine are about pH 3-3.3, so may be useful in maintaining “normal” stomach acid levels. Beer is about pH 3.8-4.5, which is a lot more acidic than a neutral 7. If your stomach is not producing enough acid, any of these beverages may be useful in getting more acid into your stomach.
Is this why I often enjoy a small glass of white wine while cooking dinner? At a pH of about 3, sipped for 20-30 minutes before eating, that wine could be helping me digest my dinner! Also, I have NEVER had acid reflux at night. I do not have the head of my bed raised. I did not even know about the acid reflux evening protocols for preventing night time problems. But I do drink 500-750 ml red wine (pH about 3.3) after dinner and before bed. Almost every night. For about 30 years. It could be that getting my stomach acid into normal range before bedtime is what prevented acid reflux at night. Not proof, but certainly suggestive.
I’m not suggesting everyone should add beer and wine to their diet, but if you enjoy it anyway, it may be helping your acid reflux problems.
In terms of how I feel this week, my stomach is improved (no reflux, less after meal discomfort), no constipation, I’m still having gas and bloating, but my energy is coming up and my brain is less fogged. From what I have read, it may be many months before I’m really back to normal. I have in the back of my mind to see if H. pylori is a problem. Certainly it is something to check if progress stalls.
