| Howard McCollister 2006-10-14, 9:26 pm |
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"Anne" <xzakisax@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1160863380.622530.245600@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> I've been looking into starting an alkaline diet due to my heartburn. I
> was reading that lemons and tangerines are alkaline, as well as most
> citrus fruits. These fruits almost kill me with the pain of heartburn
> they cause. What gives?
>
Individual food tolerances vary in terms of their contributions to LES
relaxation and therefore GERD, but generally speaking, an alkaline diet
won't help you a bit. The pH of foods that you eat is negligible compared to
the pH of stomach acid, and that's assuming that your reflux is *acid*
reflux -- about 40% of GERD sufferers have *non-acid* reflux.
That said, there's nothing wrong with changing your diet around to try to
minimize your symptoms - I just probably wouldn't start by switching to
foods that contain citric acid, like lemons and tangerines.
HMc
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