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Branwyn32
Raw Newbie
Or ex-fiance…or something…it’s complicated…anyway, not the point.
I’m just deeply concerned for his health and hoped maybe some of you could help, especially as I’ve heard lots of talk about the acid/alkaline system thing here but don’t know anything about it.
A month or 2 ago he actually had blood in his urine, and abdominal pain. Then came the acid reflux, and his doc said it the blood and pain was do to excess acid, probably causing an ulcer. He’s 26 years old for pete’s sake, the poor kid. He’s got ALOT, and I mean ALOT of stress and pain in his life right now.
He’s on a SAD diet, well, SUKD as he lives in England. I know he’s a big carnivore (and I think more beef/pork than poultry and very little fish far as I know) too and drinks coffee by the bucket. Lots of traditional English food in his diet and Indian take away. He says for breakfast he usually eats something like Cheerios or granola for breakfast w/milk, lunch is something like a ham and cheese sammich sometimes w/lettuce, and dinner varies. I would venture to say the standard meat/cooked starch & veg would be a good descriptor though if I know him well enough, if not always English fare.
I don’t think just saying “you need to go raw vegan” is a good approach here. But I’m deeply concerned about his health, as he has a family history of alot of health issues like cancer on both sides of his fam. Does anyone have any gentle suggestions for food ideas (get some veggies in for pete’s sake, obviously) and explanations behind them that would help with the severe acid/gastro issues he’s having? I know literally nothing about the acid/alkaline thing…
Thank you!
Comments
I get acid reflux if I a) eat too much food or b) eat a bad combination of food. There are all kinds of food combination rules, I don’t know if they are all true but some of them definitely seem to make sense. I think www.rawfoodexplained.com has a lot of info about that. Like try eating mashed potatoes then a watermelon, your in for some trouble lol.
Eating too much always gets me. Cooked food doesn’t fill me up, there’s not much nutrients so my mind doesn’t tell me to stop. I can eat at manderin for 3 hours straight and not want to stop, but 1 cantaloupe will satisfy me.
So tell him about those 2 things, and also to eat something like papaya when he has the reflux. Papaya helps so many digestive issues, and helps break down protein it’s a great fruit.
I used to have severe acid reflux and they at one point thought I had an ulcer as well. It’s a rough place to be in…..
Okay, here the deal the acid and alkaline. Basically any unnatural foods like, artificial sugar, processed starches, refined sugar, red meat and such are acidic foods. Our body can’t handle high acidic levels and that is often what causes cancer because the cells begin to mutate under those circumstances. Raw food in general and things like steamed veggies, steamed rice, lean baked chicken, fish, fruit and such are very alkaline. The higher alkaline levels you have the healthier you are and more stable your body becomes. Raw food healed my acid reflux but for some it takes more than that. I’ve heard of so many people who are on the SAD…or SED diet that have used cold pressed unrefined extra virgin coconut oil to take care of it. Just taking a tablespoon after every meal literally in days it’s significantly better.
If he doesn’t want to part with his cooked foods I’d suggest telling him about the coconut oil. I’m sure he’ll see a massive improvement.
I hope this helps!
Thank you both VERY much! I’ve emailed your advice to him. I hope he takes it to heart.
Much appreciated! hugs
Indian Curry Sauce is the main culprit in acid reflux/burning sensations etc. Even if he cannot give up other stuff, just ask him to cut down on curries. That will improve his condition a lot.
As SinzOfMan pointed out, Papaya is the best answer for most of the stomach/digestion issues.
tggoesraw Thank you! I will pass that on to him. He and I both love Indian and spicy foods in general, he just has much more access to it as he lives in England, so he eats it alot.
I had terrible acid reflux, in addition to other intestinal maladies. It was terrible. After much suffering (and lots of money spent in doctors and exams) I realized that doctors were not able to help me. They recommend me to avoid spices, tomatoes, garlic, onions, chocolate and the like, but I realized that the real culprits were SUGAR and STARCHES. Spicy food had nothing to do with my symptoms, nor tomatoes or onions if they were not combined with starches.
Anyways, what worked for me was the following:
Absolutely no refined sugars (low sugar fruits OK, such as berries) Absolutely no refined grains (1/4 cup of brown rice a day was OK, quinoa works even better, one slice of whole wheat sprouted bread) Absolutely no fried food. Extra virgin olive oil only lots of greens and vegetables no milk products (promotes acidic environment)
I was not raw at the time, so I ate vegetable soups, home made stir fries, lots of eggs, avocados, etc. It may be a good start for your friend. Usually you can see the change whitin 2 to 3 days of being in this diet. Besides the diet, the thing that help me the most was the probiotics and the cultured food. Acidophilus are very good, raw sauerkraut helped with the digestion in addition to the good flora they provided.
Probably the hardest part would be to convince him that the unhelathy food is the culprit! Good luck.
^ I must agree with raw lizards scenario, funny that we have similar names, I didn’t even see it before. Also highly processed and fatty oils and sauces that I used to eat with my food gave me some horrible acid reflux. At first I thought it was tomatoes like my Dr. had said, since I eat them all the time, and I realized when I stopped eating them so frequently that my acid reflux was still there. It eventually came down to trial and error, where I stopped eating a particular food and see if it had any favorable effects.
I just wanted to thank everyone here for their input. I’ve forwarded all your advice to him.
Unfortunately, he won’t heed any of it. :( It’s so frustrating and disheartening, I don’t know what to do. I’ve suggested him to try slowly eliminating a few foods, even just trial and error one at a time to see what sets the acid off, like the ones troublesjustabubble mentioned, and all he can say is “but I eat all that stuff!” I said “well maybe that’s the problem,” but it seems to make no difference to him. I can’t even process it. It’s like a doctor telling you “you’re deathly allergic bees” and then going and sticking your head in a hive. I keep asking him if he’s gotten the coconut oil yet and he keeps saying no. They didn’t have it in the grocery store across the street so he just gave up.
We spoke over videochat the other day and he had an acid attack…it was so hard to watch sitting there and writhing in pain, knowing he won’t do anything to change it. On top of it he gets sick all the time, it seems he’s got a cold or the flu or a bad cough or a migraine every other month, on top of having messed up knees from an old severe rugby injury and a family history of cancers on both his mom’s and dad’s sides. He’s got alot of awful crap on in his life right now and is extremely depressed, and I think it kinda goes back to that in alot of ways. It just worries me so deeply, seeing him in such consistently poor health, and frustrates me that he won’t do anything to change it.
I know he’ll probably eventually stumble upon this (I’ve shown him the site) and be pissed at me for talking about it, but I just don’t know what else to do. :(
I’m no expert, but most people who have acid reflux are actually not producing enough stomach acid to do the job of digesting their food. The bolus (food in the stomach) just sits there w/o sufficient stomach acid to break down the food, fermenting, and eventually, the LES (lower esophageal sphincter) opens, and the acid splashes back up the esophagus. Very few people who too much stomach acid.
Maybe your friend can start with something simple like digestive enzymes, probiotics, or even some HCl supps. :)