Sample chapter for new reflux cookbook, what’s good to eat if you have heartburn, hoarseness, cough.



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Introduction: The Accidental Chefs

This book came about because of the intersection of friendship and purpose. Two of the authors were trained as ear, nose, and throat specialists (medical doctors), and the third was trained as a Master Chef. The doctors wanted to write this book – at the urging of their reflux patients whose frequent questions about diet were not being satisfied by a two-page reflux brochure – with the collaboration of Chef Bauer whose delicious French cuisine was sometimes being challenged by customers with reflux.

The conventional antireflux diet seemed so restrictive -- no fried food, no chocolate, no soda -- so we came up with new recipes. Wait until you try our oatmeal-crusted snapper! Our recipes are original, healthy, and delicious; and just make good sense. But indeed it is important to recognize that the dietary rules have changed because of research in “silent reflux,” an idea that is just now striking the public’s awareness.

Almost everyone has reflux, the upward backflow of the stomach’s contents. Reflux is the most important, misunderstood, and preventable disease of western civilization. Reflux is not just about heartburn. Many people have silent reflux … about half of people with sore throats, voice problems, asthma, chronic cough, and sleep disorders have it. In addition, severe long-standing reflux can even cause cancer.

When we set out to write this book, we already had experience treating thousands of patients with reflux disease. We knew all about the notorious bad-for-reflux foods; we knew that some foods cause reflux by disabling esophageal defenses; and we also knew that acidic foods caused reflux symptoms. The latter point was a new discovery.

We had been listening to our patients all along, and we realized that we also knew a lot about what reflux sufferers could and could not eat. Reflux management has traditionally concerned itself with minimizing the impact of acid from the stomach below, but our research and experience with patients taught us to be just as concerned with “acid from above.” In other words, we found that for many reflux patients a diet that was too acidic was just as detrimental as continual gastric reflux.

We tested the acidity of many common foods

and beverages using an ISFET pH Meter

In this book, we doctors have shared what we all learned when we merged forces with a creative chef. We emphasize certain principles and recommend certain foods. Just remember that almost everything we recommend as good is going to be bad for someone’s reflux. That’s just the way it is. Oatmeal is a great breakfast item for most refluxers, but there are some (very few people) who have problems with oatmeal.

And this book is not primarily about weight loss; that is not our first goal, but if you eat our healthy reflux diet year-in and year-out, you will also lose weight. When you look at the entirety of the ideas and recipes in this book, you will hopefully conclude that this is a delicious, healthy, and sustainable diet.

There are foods that just must be avoided. Barbecue ribs, French fries, and chocolate pie never make a good meal if you have reflux. But we all love the taste of fat. In this cookbook, we create a diet in which fat is used as a flavoring, not as a main ingredient. Indeed, good food, good for reflux that is, can form the foundation of a day-to-day diet that solves the unpredictability of too-acidic, high-fat eating habits. But be prepared to consider some new ideas. Whole-grain breads, for example, are very good for most people with reflux and a slice or two makes a great meal or snack.

The authors talked, cooked, and ate their way through every recipe in this book, and we believe that our collaboration honestly reflects the state of the art and our combined years of experience. We welcome questions, comments, suggestions, and new recipes at refluxcookbook@aol.com.

This book came about because of the intersection of friendship and purpose. Two of the authors were trained as ear, nose, and throat specialists (medical doctors), and the third was trained as a Master Chef. The doctors wanted to write this book – at the urging of their reflux patients whose frequent questions about diet were not being satisfied – with the collaboration of Chef Bauer whose delicious French cuisine was being challenged by customers with reflux disease.

The conventional reflux diet seemed so restrictive -- no fried food, no chocolate, no soda pop -- so we came up with new recipes. Wait till you try our oatmeal-crusted snapper. Our recipes are original, healthy, and delicious; and just they make good sense. But indeed it is important to recognize that the dietary rules have changed because of research in “silent reflux,” an idea that is just now striking the public’s awareness.

_____________________

Everyone has some reflux, the upward backflow of the stomach’s contents. Reflux is the most important, misunderstood, and preventable disease of Western civilization. And reflux is not just about heartburn. Many people have “silent reflux.” About half of people with sore throat, voice problems, asthma, chronic cough, and sleep disorders have it. In addition, reflux causes esophageal cancer, the fastest growing cancer in the U.S.

_____________________

When we set out to write this book, we already had experience treating thousands of patients with reflux disease. We knew all about the notorious bad-for-reflux foods; we knew that some foods caused reflux by disabling esophageal defenses; and we also knew that acidic foods caused reflux symptoms. That latter point was a new discovery. We had been listening to our patients all along, and we realized that we knew a lot about what reflux sufferers could and could not eat.

There is one huge disclaimer here: Many people with reflux have foods that are idiosyncratic! That means that they have atypical responses. We know that some things like onions are idiosyncratic, that is, some people can eat them and others cannot. As a matter of fact, some people can eat onions cooked, but not raw … and even visa versa. In this book, we doctors, are going to share what we know and what we learned by working with an excellent chef. We will emphasize certain principles and recommend certain foods. Just remember that almost everything we recommend as good is going to be bad for someone’s reflux. That’s just the way it is.

And this book is not about weight loss; that is not our primary goal. When you look at the entirety of the recipes in this book, you will hopefully conclude that this is a delicious, healthy, and sustainable diet. In addition, it is the best medical advice we can give to people with reflux disease.

There are foods that just must be avoided. If you have reflux, pork barbeque, chocolate cake, and a Coke don’t ever make a good meal for you; however, we all love fat. In this cookbook, we create a diet in which fat is used as a flavoring, not as a main ingredient. Indeed, good food, good for reflux that is, can form the foundation of a day-to-day diet that solves the unpredictability of too-acidic, high-fat eating habits. But be prepared to consider some counterintuitive ideas. Whole-grain breads, for example, are good for most people with reflux and a slice or two makes a great snack or meal.

The authors talked, cooked, and ate their way through every recipe in this cookbook, and we believe that this work honestly reflects the state of the art and our many years of clinical practice. We welcome comments and suggestions at refluxcookbook@aol.com.