Day 2 and Horrible Heartburn

[k7laaby]

Hi. I'm on day 2 and have horrible heartburn. Any compliant suggestions to relieve it? I've tried apple cider vinegar, lemon/ginger tea and they didn't work. Thanks!

Karen

[SugarcubeOD]

Heartburn is often a sign of not enough stomach acid... the recommendation is to take the ACV after each meal followed by a glass of water, but it sounds like maybe that's not working for you.

Can you list what you've been eating (including portion sizes) for the last two days and we can see if there's something that could use some tweaking.

[Brewer5]

If the problem is that you have too much stomach acid -- the ACV will actually make it feel worse.  I do not recommend continuing that, if you suspect that may be the case.

 

A digestive enzyme (Whole 30-approved, of course) could do you a world of good here.  My husband has gotten tremendous heartburn relief and avoided acid-blockers for years, simply by incorporating a good digestive enzyme.  ...And of course, avoiding the things that are obvious triggers for him.  

[praxisproject]

Peppermint tea (hot or cold) may give you some temporary cooling relief, but it's not a cure.

 

Have you had heartburn before?

[k7laaby]

Thanks Everyone. I forgot to mention I did not have heartburn on Day 1. I did try the peppermint tea and that helped temporarily. I used to have heartburn before but found that was tied to Gluten Exposure so once my stomach healed after I cut out gluten it went away most of the time with the occasional flare up.

I haven't ever tried digestive enzymes. Is there a compliant brand that is recommended?

Here is what I ate. I tried to stay true to portion recommendations.

Yesterday: Day 1

Cucumber, sausage, fruit, 1 hard boiled egg

Post workout snack: Apple and almond butter

Lunch: Zucchini Soup and small bowl of chili (both Well Fed Recipes), 1/2 avocado

Dinner: slow cooked chicken, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes and spinach salad with almonds and strawberries

Day 2 today

Breakfast: sausage, eggs, potatoes, raspberries and blackberries

Lunch: Zucchini Soup and small bowl of chili, 1/2 avocado

Snack: almonds

Dinner: (lime marinaded) skirt steak, asparagus, baked sweet potato

Thanks for your help

Karen

[praxisproject]

I wouldn't jump into the enzymes just yet, you might be better off with some menu tweaks.

Your days are quite similar though.

 

When did it start on Day 2?

Do you drink liquids before, during or after your meals?

 

Liquids can dilute your stomach acid, so drinking with meals can sometimes make heartburn worse, if it's having trouble digesting, it can overproduce more acid.

I only drink if I'm thirsty with my meal, I wait about 15-30 minutes and then have a small amount and more later.

 

The hard part is working out whether you've got too much or too little acid.

 

Peppermint tea will give some relief, but chili may also make it worse, if you can, I'd skip the chili just until it goes away. Chili doesn't cause heartburn, but it has a few ingredients that can make it feel worse.

[k7laaby]

Thanks for the response Praxisproject,

 

The heartburn started Day 2 immediately after breakfast.  Pretty much lasted all day on and off.  Today (Day3), was good until after lunch.  I had a chicken spinach salad with strawberries/almonds and other veggies and some avocado.  I'm thinking it might be the fat (i.e. avocado) so maybe I will try to not eat as much.  Maybe my body isn't used to eating the higher proportions of the healthy fats.  

 

I will also take your advice to limit how much liquids I drink during meals as I do typically drink a full glass of water while i'm eating.  

 

Thanks again.   

[jmcbn]

Thanks for the response Praxisproject,

 

The heartburn started Day 2 immediately after breakfast.  Pretty much lasted all day on and off.  Today (Day3), was good until after lunch.  I had a chicken spinach salad with strawberries/almonds and other veggies and some avocado.  I'm thinking it might be the fat (i.e. avocado) so maybe I will try to not eat as much.  Maybe my body isn't used to eating the higher proportions of the healthy fats.  

 

I will also take your advice to limit how much liquids I drink during meals as I do typically drink a full glass of water while i'm eating.  

 

Thanks again.   

It could be that your body doesn't particularly like that type of fat specifically, avocado being a high FODMAP food & problematic for many, especially when there's a build up in the system.

I wouldn't cut back on fat, but rather switch to another source.

[MeadowLily]

Have you by chance been drinking any black coffee or black tea.   I used to be able to handle them in the morning but not anymore...can't do either of them.

[jmcbn]

Have you by chance been drinking any black coffee or black tea.   I used to be able to handle them in the morning but not anymore...can't do either of them.

Or coffee with coconut milk - that can be another problematic one too.

Also, just looking back at your postWO snack - you should be aiming for protein & starchy carbs - no fruit before or after a workout as it preferentially replaces liver glycogen when you want to be replacing muscle glycogen, and no fat after for optimum results as it will slow down the absorption of nutrients to the muscles.

Hope this helps!

[k7laaby]

Thanks everyone! good suggestions.  

 

I'm going to try to limit the coffee too.  Before Whole30 I would have my coffee with flavored coffee creamer.  I replaced the creamer with Almond Milk as I am having a hard time with it straight black.  Its just weird because I haven't had heartburn like this since I found out I was gluten sensitive and got rid of it over time with healing my gut.  I'm eating a lot of the proteins/veggies/carbs that I previously ate before whole 30 just have now cut out all the junk  and grains and diary and everything else ;-)  

 

Thanks again for the suggestions.