How I cured my gastritis

Hi Alban,

Food discipline is hard, even though it gets easier with time. Recently I read about the paleo diet, so I decided to eat more fat less carbohydrates, and I started getting a little bit irritated with more acid. I guess I am back on the low fat diet.

I took all the supplements I list at the beginning of the post at one time or another. My favorite is DGL licorice. I still take it from time to time, as well as dexilant (on 30 mg now). I might start pepzin GI again as I decrease the doses of dexilant. I will see how I feel.

Ines, do you have a list of foods or a link to look at like ones that we can eat without irritating the stomach? It would be much appreciated. I have taken your advice on board and wrote notes. Is milk cheese a no no? If you feel like eating something sweet what would you go for?

Thankyou lots

Roma

Hi RomanQueen,

I have a list of foods at the beginning of this post, but I can give you a copy of the one I keep for myself here below:

Good foods

- Vegetables: all vegetables except tomatoes, bell peppers, radishes and cucumbers, garlic and onions. I eat my vegetables either cooked or in juice.

- Fruits: Bananas, watermelon, melon, papaya

- Proteins: chicken breast, turkey, lean fish, seafood, tofu, tempeh, eggs, chickpeas, beans, lentils

- Carbohydrates: rice, potatoes, amaranth, white spelt bread, millet, quinoa… all of them as long as gluten free (spelt gluten ok)

- Drinks: fresh raw coconut water, chamomile tea, evamore water, filtered water, fresh carrot-fennel-celery juice

In moderation:

-olive oil

- salt

- nuts except peanuts

- herbs except mint, chives, oregano

- Soy milk, rice milk

- fatty fish like salmon

- maple syrup

To avoid:

- spices (including black pepper, ginger, …, all spices)

- citrus and all fruits except the ones mentioned above

- chocolate, tea, coffee

- dairy, almond milk

- gluten

- tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, garlic, onions

- sparkling water, sodas, juices, aloe vera

- Manukka honey

- alcohol

- fiber supplements, multi-vitamins

- anything fatty, acidic or spicy

________________________________________________________

The problem with milk cheese is that it is made of milk. From what I read and experienced myself, milk at first feels soothing. But then in the following hours it stimulates the stomach to produce excess acid. Another problem with cheese is that it is very fatty. Fat delays digestion and because the food stays longer in your stomach, your stomach produces more acid and will get more irritated. You can read more about this on webmd if you type "webmd fatty food acid reflux" in google. But many people including myself love dairy. So what I suggest is that you avoid it at first and then when you feel good (no stomach pain) you test it on yourself. If you test with cheese, always keep the portions small, like one tablespoon of parmesan or a thin slice of cheese. If you worry about lack of calcium stay away from Calcium Carbonate.

You can see that I avoid gluten in my list but this is for IBS, gluten (wheat bread, ...) is fine for gastritis.

For something sweet I drink cocount water, I eat the fruits that are recommended, I make a juice with watermelon and ice, I make a smoothie with papaya/bananas or bananas/silken tofu, or I cook a banana in my oatmeal (cooked banana is very sweet). You can also experiment with low fat banana bread or oatmeal banana cookies. Sometimes I take a cube of almond paste with sugar (massepain in French), it is not ideal but it is satisfying. There is a bar one can buy that is made of almond paste and honey too. I don't take this regularly but once in a while. The DGL licorice from natural factor is like a candy too but I take it only when needed.

Thankyou!!! Really cant thankyou enough mate. Will just pasted all the list in notes. You have explained it easily and ill refer to all that you have said. Have to throw out the almond milk then! Thought it was better than soy...feeling a bit more hopeful :-D 

Roma

I am not sure what to think of all the milk substitutes including almond milk. There are different brands with different ingredients. I noticed that some hurt my stomach but it is a very light effect, sometimes if I drink one I thought would hurt my stomach and I am ok.

There are those ingredients that are really offensive for almost everybody like garlic, onion, ... then there are the ones that are really good for most people like oatmeal and banana, and then there are the ones in between. I would put all milk substitutes in this last category. The best is probably to try for yourself. If you want to be very strict at the beginning to put most chances of feeling better fast, it might be better to avoid them for a little while. There are mostly made of sugar and a little bit of flour anyway, nothing one really needs. And if you take them for the calcium, a supplement would be cheaper.

The one I find the easiest to digest is rice milk if you need something for your smoothie or cereals but it has no nutritional value really, no proteins, just carbohydrates and added calcium.

Try to take milk half way between your daily meals. Initial have 5 sips of milk a day, then half cup. Try to dilute the green cup milk initially to avoid hurting your stomach. Later increase the milk concentration as well as quantity. Never take milk along with a night meal or along with yoghurt. This worked out for me after 4 months of gastritis.

Thanks Ines,

It is very interesting that I am reading about the Siberian Pine Nut Oil. Some studies says that based on the studies done on some patients with simmilar simptoms (gastritis), it is was very effective in removing it (especially ulcers) or mitigate the symptoms . Have you heard or anyone else in this thread have tried this oil?

thanks

Alban

Where can one buy this siberian nut oil? And how do you take it? 

Absolutely superb process Ines......weening dexllant replacing with something else.then monitor.....i.e. pepzin GI would be my first choice too. . Our Dr. A Weil, back when he was a "real doctor"  (25 years ago) and not a rubber stamp/web head..recommended DGL.Its also in a cocktail in a Chinese Traditional Medicine (the root..not deglycyrrhizinated)..so it can elevate BP vs

DGL.but wager they "customize" quantity.... Claudio

I have just purchased siberian pine nut oil. I will fill you in with how i go. Fingers crossed it will work out for me. 2x 250 mls bottles for 131$ aud australian. From the other option website. Its scientifically proven to help reduce iflammation in stomach being a very good treatment for gastritis. 

Hi RomanQueen, the treatment really depends on the condition. Some people have problems with their LES valvle, some have gastritis, some have h. pylori, some have heartburn, some have a mix of different things. I had only gastritis and oesophagitis, with excess acid as a consequence, but everything else was fine. I don't know any other treatment for that than medication (to reduce acid in the stomach) and diet.

About pine nut oil, I did a bit of research about it at one time. But then I read the reviews on amazon dot com and they did not convince me to try.

I have your exact same condition same diagnosis. I thought id givd the oil a try. It cant hurt. Its natural. I hate the excess acid its bothering me most i dnt hv stomach pain just acid reflux that can be sharp and go upto the throat. Will see how i go. Ill keep everyone updated. Im open to other options. Do you think stressing about it and being anxious about it makes it worst? Lol. Been doing that. I feel this has been the most hopeful blogg in discussing the condition. I signed up just to be able to reply etc.

Hv great weekend spk soon!

Roma

When I said I don't know any other treatment than diet and medication, I meant I don't know any other treatment that works better. Of course there are a lots of supplements that give more or less relief like pepzin GI, DGL licorice, slippery elm. But from my experience, medication and diet is the best way to go. Unfortunately it takes a lot of time to get some results.

I get what you are saying mate. Im just very impatient...just want to keep going not slow down and be hindered by this. I may consider surgery if all else fails...

If you get a lot of acid going up, there might be a problem with the LES valve. I am not sure but I think the doctor should be able to check that.

You do well to try the pine nut oil. Maybe it helps. If it does not, it won't do anything bad. Let us know.

Intense stress is known to be related to stomach problems and heartburn. It is always better to relax. Some GI doctors prescribe anti-depressant and anxiolytic medications for some kinds of stomach problems. The second doctor I saw wanted to prescribe me some but I refused. I started running three times a week instead.

Ok ines thankyou for being helpful. Been lovely chatting to you. I used to teach dancing but stopped cuz of heart burn. Maybe i shud take up running. Ill try to relax and when i see gastrologist ill ask him about valve ill keep you updated:-D 

If you take up running, it is better to wait at least 2 hours after eating so the stomach acid is not shaken up in all directions.

Good night

Sorry not to have been active here...family had to come first......will share my thoughts about GERD.:

 IMO the contributing factors to the pathogenesis  are:

1. defective LES, 2. hiatal hernia, 3.  impaired esophageal peristalsis, 4. delayed gastric emptying,  5. gastric acid production and 6. bile reflux. (could be others...just not sure... enough...) Gastroentrologists are

completely aware of these implications.

And yes, these can be diagnosed some cheap but not others...... unfortunately the $ cost  is usually trumped by the cheaper PPI's that satisfy most patients symptoms...

however in "almost" all cases symptoms resurface

and silent damage is likely ""if"" routine follow up studies are not conducted.

.a fact:, 

 there is no cure for a defective LES or Hiatal Hernia without surgery. 

Sure some physical and medical treatments can and do

help, like supresing acid in alternating ways, positional strategies, diet stragegies, bile reflux control,  some varied supplements (some work some don't, and many won't)  and a few other "possible not proven or trial completed  treatments"....but two points...patients must be disciplined and comprehend's  these are treating the symptoms not the underlying cause/s....claudio

 

donclaudio, thank you for this detailed explanation. I still wonder what are the underlying causes for gastritis and GERD. I mean sometimes it is obvious like NSAID, but in my case the doctor could not tell. I wonder if the modern diet is responsible (we eat much more acidic things than our ancestors did, more citrus, more spices), or stress, or some auto-immune disease, some disturbance of the gastro-intestinal flora because of antibiotics, ....

I know I was eating everything not recommended for gastritis before: lots of salt, lots of spices, lots of lemon, garlic, onions, tomatoes, ... I had a lot of stress too and my doctor prescribed me antibiotics a little while before I got sick. I am not sure what had an impact. I suspect it was mostly the diet but I don't know. My husband can eat anything he wants and he does not have problems.