GERD stands for Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease. “Gastro” refers to the stomach and esophageal refers to the esophagus which is the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach. The word reflux means to flow backwards or to back up. GERD is an ailment in which acid, bile and partially-digested food in the stomach back up into the esophagus.
Since partially digested food contains a strong acid a well as very powerful enzymes that are designed to break down food, when the acid and enzymes come into contact with the esophagus, they cause irritation, discomfort, and other painful symptoms. The esophagus lacks the protective layer that the stomach has to protect itself from the acid, so it is vulnerable to damage from this backflow. Many people think that acid indigestion or (heartburn, which is a burning sensation behind the breast bone that usually occurs after a meal) is a separate disease, however, this is actually part of GERD.
Food allergies, food sensitivities, and food intolerances seem to be very prevalent in our society and in our experience seem to be related to GERD, however, they are generally undetected or ignored since mainstream medicine does not consider them a problem in most instances of GERD.
However, we see food allergies and sensitivities (hereafter combined under “allergic”) as having a significant effect on physical symptoms such as GERD, as well as other GI issues as IBS and Gastritis. We have found that when a patient stops eating the foods that have been identified as an allergy food for them, it can have an enormous effect on their GERD, often completing relieving their symptoms. There is a great amount of discussion going on about sensitivity to foods (IgG) versus food allergies (IgE), with sensitivity being the more common problem since it is believed that probably 80% of the population has undiagnosed food sensitivities. That means that the naturally occurring chemical composition of the foods eaten have a direct effect on the body. You do not need to have IgE antibodies for that, however, the lack of an IgE response is the reason that mainstream medicine is not recognizing this type of food reaction as being a problem. A true food allergy (IgE) creates an immediate and pronounced effect such as an anaphylactic reaction with shock and breathing difficulties. However, food sensitivities (IgG) foods can cause reactions that takes several days to result in symptoms, so you might eat a food one day and then another three days later and then develop a GERD or intestinal symptoms, and they are usually IgG mediated. We have found over the last 5-6 years that getting patients off the foods to which they are allergic can relieve these symptoms, allowing the patient to get off the medication and to feel and function better usually within a very short time span.
There are several books on the subject, and one of the best is called “Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat” by Roger Deutsch and Rudy Rivera , MD and another is “Brain Allergies” by William Philpott, MD.
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