by There is so much to learn about acid reflux. From what to eat to how to manage this condition, where do you find solutions when you don’t have a background in medicine or nutrition, you don’t know anyone in those fields and also when you do not know anyone who has attempted to treat themselves without prescription pills. The best place I found for educated opinions was in books authored by medical professionals.
I’ve reviewed this to help you get the answers you need.
Today, I’m providing my thoughts on the acid reflux book Tell Me What to Eat if I Have Acid Reflux, authored by Elaine Magee MPH, RD—the revised edition, which was published in 2009.
This book has a short introduction where a medical doctor shares how many people they believe suffer from acid reflux, what the patient response is for drug therapy, and why your physician may not be able to provide you with approaches to lifestyle and diet changes you may need to heal from acid reflux.
After reading this book, I wish I had this information when I started experiencing acid reflux discomfort.
What I liked about the book
There’s many things I like about this book. Above all else, I love the format. The book is set up in a question-and-answer structure which I found very engaging. The answers were simply explained and it feels as if you’re having a conversation with a medical professional.
I like that it’s an easy read because readers of various levels can easily understand the author’s message.
The book has tons of great information on acid reflux. There’s a section that talks about over-the-counter and prescribed medication. The author expands into the side effects of a bunch of medications, listing in detail the side effects of taking particular medicines and she even provides details on who should not be taking certain medications and why. I loved that section because it enlightened me to the side effects of medication and how much you should beware of what you ingest. Now I ask tons of questions about any course treatment that is prescribed by my doctors.
This acid reflux book has a lot of questions you probably would need help to think of asking, which makes it invaluable. For example, the author asks: “Do high protein diets help or hurt acid reflux?” And, “can acid reflux relapse? I particularly liked this last question because of what I went through. I thought I was healed after my first round of prescription pills and chose not to renew the prescription. Then, my reflux came back months later, and it surprised me!
It’s great that it’s a short book because it feels manageable to read. You get to the answers right away. Minus the index, the book is nearly 180 pages long. It’s a small book in size, and the font is average. It’s a quick read.
I absolutely love that a healthcare professional writes it. When I started researching solutions for my heartburn, my first instinct was to get on Google and YouTube, and there, I found guidance that made my condition worse or did not improve it. The information contained in this book, would have set on the right path.
It had a whole chapter on weight loss – that passage in the book, I found, was especially uplifting to read. The authors talk about maintaining the joy of eating, which I feel goes away every time we try a new diet. They talk about having a “health” mindset and persevering in the face of challenges because we are all created differently, and some people’s bodies struggle to shed excess weight compared to others.
I liked the restaurant guidance section because it was unexpected and it provided advise on how to be careful when you eat out. One simple thing that the author suggests is to dress your own salad, which I had never thought about doing.
What I disliked
It might sound shallow, but I disliked the cover of the book. The cover is yellow and brown; the colors are flat and dull, and it makes me think of “things” that go in the toilet. Still on the cover page, the plates and cup are brown, black, and empty; it looks so sad!
I was not fond of the recipe section of the book. It could have been better organized regarding what to eat and recommended portion sizes. Then there were some ingredients that the authors recommended you avoid eating, but that were present in the recipes. A subtle example is the consumption of cloves.
The recipes shared in the book don’t sound appetizing to me. Had I tried to eat one of these dishes at a time when I was still experiencing reflux, I know that it would have triggered my acid reflux symptoms. In my case, I couldn’t handle sugars, vinegar, and processed foods when I had GERD. The recipes in this book are full of these ingredients. They call for granulated sugars, molasses, corn syrup, pancake syrup, powdered sugar, alcohol, and vinegar. Dairy is used a lot; you’ll find it in almost every recipe.
There’s the use of a few processed ingredients like mayonnaise, canned soups, and ham. These foods used to irritate me.
The author also does not talk about snacking, which is one of my favorite things to do!
I think the recipes could have been more wholesome and included more fruits and vegetables too.
Conclusion
Overall, I give this book 3 stars out of 5. The information about acid reflux was insightful. The recipes, I personally found disappointing, but again, its because I know that they are not appropriate for the reflux I had. In addition, I don’t think
there aren’t enough recipes to make a whole week’s worth meal plan. AND! It is just too far from what I’m used to eating. I love variety in my food, different flavors and spices, and that was missing for me.
I also cannot tolerate the amount of dairy suggested in the recipes, so the fact that it’s in practically in every dish is a complete no-no for me. As well, I don’t have a sweet tooth, so the fact that there’s sugar in almost every recipe is another big turnoff.
But don’t get me wrong, the book is positive and uplifting, and it gives hope that you can heal through a change in lifestyle and diet. It also has a dedicated section for weight loss, which targets individuals who could benefit from losing weight to ease their acid reflux. This section, to me, was priceless. Even though I don’t need to lose weight, I would recommend that section to anybody else who does.
In my opinion, this book targets individuals who occasionally experience acid reflux and those who eat primarily an American diet with a lot of dairy and sugar.
Let us know what are your thoughts on this summary.
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Or this one : 8 Alternative Medicine Treatments for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
