It's been a year and a half since I started the GERD diet. I did it because I was having stomach problems as a result of tearing up my stomach using Aleve. It took a long time to recover. During that time I also had my gall bladder out. Between the pain of my stomach and my gall bladder I could barely eat. Plus, the diet was so restrictive that when I did eat it was so low fat that I wasn't consuming many calories. I lost 55 pounds. After losing our baby, I have gained back 10 pounds from emotional eating and starting to eat things that are not on the diet. Okay, it's probably 10 pounds of sweet tea. But I'm from the south. Sugar is in our blood. Whether it's mimosas, mint juleps, sasparilla, or sweet tea. You've heard of southern hospitality. How do you think we got so sweet? Of all the things I missed, sweet tea was one of the most. When I felt better and became more relaxed I started hitting it hard. If I can kick it again, I'd probably continue to lose. I've been asked several times how I lost the weight. I'll admit it is a hard diet. As soon as I start with it people immediately say, "I can't do that." I always start with the things that people love the most so they can reject it immediately. NO beef or pork, no alcohol, coffee, soda, tea or chocolate. That's usually where people tell me to stop. Well, it required no exercise. So here's the full extent. Basically you are avoiding all fat and acids. Nothing that can aggravate the stomach. So no vinegars (pickles, dressings, olives), citrus or tomatoes, fat of any kind. No carbonation (sodas, beer, champagne, sparkling waters). And look at the labels because almost everything has citric or absorbic acid in it. Basically you have to cook everything from scratch and just drink water.
FOOD GROUP AVOID SAFE
Meat No beef, pork, or other red or fatty Turkey, Chicken, Fish
meats. Lunch meat, processed meat. Grilled, baked, roasted
Fried foods, fat & skins on meat.
Sausages, hot dog. Anything brined.
Dairy All Dairies must be low fat. Sour Cream Low-fat products, Egg
Ice Cream, Eggs, Substitute, Mozzarella
Cheese, Chocolate Milk
Grains All breads must be low-fat. Rice cereals, oatmeal,
Quinoa, rice-pastas
Fruits No citrus in any form, tomato or tomato apples, melons
juice, cranberries or cranberry juice bananas, pears, grapes
peaches, strawberries,
Vegetables Anything Fried Raw Most stuff as long as it
onions, peppers, radishes has not been fried,
pickled or brined
Beverages Caffeine, Alcohol, Carbonated Water, Skim Milk
Beverages, Tea, Coffee Pure juices with no acids
Fats/Oils/Condiments Anything with fat, vinegar, pickles, Seasonings that aren't too
No animal fat products, Butter, vegetable spicy, about 2 Tbls
oils extra virgin olive oil a day
Mint, Curry, Black Pepper, Some Strong
Spices
Misc. Hard Candy, Gum, Chocolate
This is the diet my GI doctor gave me. You will see different versions in your research.
I have GERD too. I am working on eating more healthy so that it won't bother my stomach so much plus I so need to lose a lot of weight.
ReplyDeleteHeather
In my case my stomach hurt so bad that I could barely eat anything. When I first started it hurt everytime I ate, even when I obeyed the diet. For about two months I lived on Soy shakes made with skim milk and fat free yogurt. Then I worked up to adding oatmeal, Chex rice cereal and apples, grapes, etc. It took a long time. I literally could not eat anything that was not in the diet or I was on the floor in a ball. So going cold turkey for me really wasn't a choice. That's the ONLY way I have been able to lose the weight. Then they kept telling me I did not need my gall bladder out. I was to the point where I was going to cut it out myself. Evidently that's the level of pain I need to be able to have the discipline to go on a diet.
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