apple cider vinegar for stomach problems-advice... - Thyroid UK

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apple cider vinegar for stomach problems-advice wanted

shipscat profile image
11 Replies

Hi All

I recently bought some organic ACV with mother. I've been taking one teaspoonful twice a day after meals mixed with water and honey to make it more palatable. I have an under active thyroid and have suffered from heartburn, acid reflux, bloating. wind etc for years. my doctor prescribed me Lanzaprazole for occasional use, I was led to believe that I had high stomach acid. After some research including reading posts on here I decided to give ACV a go as I came to the conclusion that I must be suffering from Low stomach acid.

For the first 10 days I thought it was a wonder drug, but during the last two days the burning returned and the top of my stomach felt sore (it feels like it was the sphincter at the stomach entrance) and I had acid reflux. I couldn't seem to eat anything without problems, so today I have had to resort to taking Lansaprazole.

Anyone know why the ACV stopped working, was I taking too much, or at the wrong time? Why did the symptoms return with a vengence?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

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shipscat
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11 Replies
Clutter profile image
Clutter

Shipscat,

ACV should be taken before meals to raise stomach acid to aid digestion.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.

radd profile image
radd

shipscat,

As Clutter says ACV should be taken BEFORE meals to encourage gastric acid secretion and help with digestion.

However, it can be taken AFTER meals as well to help with your heart burn as the acidity will help the LES valve to close tightly.

Taking another dose upon waking will help natural gastric acid secretion and absorption of thyroid meds (similar to Vit C).

If ACV doesn't cut it for you, try Betaine HCL with pepsin which is lots stronger.

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

You could also try increasing the amount of ACV. I take one tablespoonful in water with honey or molasses twice a day, once before breakfast then again before main meal in the evening.

LuxN profile image
LuxN

Not sure if it will help or is relevant to you but I recently discovered that I have an issue with what is known as Resistant Starches (RS). Google can explain in better detail what they are. Point is, the kind of food we've been encouraged to eat precisely because it is starchy and low GI, causes a problem for those of us with low stomach acid. Bad bacteria thrive because of the slow transit of food to the bowel, they release gas and this travels back up to the stomach, causing the reflux. I've probably summarised that wrong, lol, but it's something like that.

I am sharing this info because I did some research, trying to find out why things I could tolerate when I had reflux before, like bread, pastry, rice, cereal and potatoes, are suddenly causing me problems now. For a while I thought it was gluten, but gluten free products also cause me issues if they have rice starch or rice flour, or potato starch/flour in them. It turns out, it's not about cutting things out of your diet as such - short grain rice can be tolerated but long grain rice has more resistant starch, so will cause probs, for example - but more about eating foods that will not pass through the gut too slowly. Apparently, foods that have been part cooked or cooked, and then chilled, are the worst...like that frozen, ready to microwave, mashed potato, or bake off bread rolls.

ACV didn't help me much to be honest, and I think there is some mention online about how it doesn't help if you are having probs with starches - don't quote me on that though. I find that HCI works best for me. I eat a bit of my food and take the capsule halfway through my meal with a little cold water. As long as I don't over-indulge, I seem to be ok. I've also been taking a multivit with the right kind of probiotics every night and I have tried to cut down on the resistant starches. The endless tummy rumbling seems to have stopped since I started them and my reflux seems just about under control.

radd profile image
radd in reply toLuxN

Lux,

Interesting comments. I too have been researching RS & am finding it beneficial taken mainly by food consumption (especially cold potatoes ! ! .. ).

It is thought an intolerance is down to gut dybolsis as RS stimulates the good bacteria in our intestines. Chris Kresser says if you can't tolerate RS foods, you can add without the digestible carbs by using Bob’s Red Mill Unmodified Potato Starch (NOT potato flour), Plantain flour and green banana flour usually added to a smoothy drink. Just introduce slowly to avoid bloating, etc as beneficial gut flora increases, etc.

There is research into adding psyllium husk to further increase butyrate production in the colon which as you must know acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and decreases intestinal permeability.

I too take Betaine HCL with pepsin.

.

Chris Kresser & RS

chriskresser.com/how-resist...

.

Resistant starch

valemaisalimentos.com.br/ma...

.

in reply toLuxN

Very interesting post! This could explain why I never feel well after eating things like beans and chickpeas...

machineman profile image
machineman

any type of bitter herb sends a signal to your stomach to increase gastric acid production.

decrease the size of your meals the more food you eat the more enzymes and acid your body has to produce in order to digest it

chew your food for a lot longer so it is a mashy juice, this helps the stomach as the enzymes in your saliva are doing the job for your stomach.

Do not eat anything after 6pm at night and only have sips of water or a cup of elm bark and silymarin this would be especially good as it would give your intestines a real rest overnight.

only heat your food to 40c, above that you are removing the enzymes that accompany the food in order to digest it this means that your body has to provide them and takes nutrients away from your organs.

take 1 teaspoon of slippery elm bark in boiled water wait till the water has cooled down to body temperature before adding the silymarin 5 drops.

the elm will coat your intestines and allow them time to heal the silymarin will quell the inflammation and regenerate your liver

remove as much fluoride from your diet as possible, so no toothpaste use sodium bicarbonate instead, pharmaceutical grade is better than food grade due to having the mining impurities taken out,

no Teflon coated pans try and buy Clay, Ceramic or Glass cooking pans Xtrema use an organic coating there are probably other companies,

no tap water or bottled water whether your water authority add fluoride into your supply or not they do not filter the water supply enough and the residue from toothpaste stays in the water supply they also add fluoride into most beverages even though they do not tell you this. distilled water is the way to go. and coconut water is also a valuable aid in helping stomach problems

fluoride will be destroying your pancreatic enzymes as well as attacking your thyroid by attacking the hydrogen ions in the enzymes it also inhibits iodine uptake.

do you eat dairy products if so remove these as your body stops producing the enzyme to digest the sugar in it also what with all the pasteurising and homogenising the dairy ends up being completely useless and just feeding bad bacteria

also grains contain mycobacteria which will digest your stomach as do shelled nuts although nuts in there shells are fine :-)

and I would not have any rice due to the high arsenic content and complex starches are not much good for you anyway seeing they are so hard to digest,

unless you are eating wholegrain bread your stomach does not digest the bread and only increases the oestrogen and mycobacteria content going into you and also depletes the nutrients out of your body

organic heirloom veggies and fruits are the way to go, gives you the right kind of protein that your body uses far more efficiently than meat, in fact when you cook meat above 38 Celsius it destroys the protein LOL add some linseed or tahini for your linoleic and linolenic acids

its no wonder so many are ill hey these are simple to do

also lemon and limes are great for the stomach peel the lemon and lime 2 is better than 1 leaving the flavonoids on (the white bit around the flesh) take the pips out then blend it up add 8 ounces of water and heat to 37 Celsius body temperature then drink while it is this heat you can add honey but only if you have bought raw this is always preferable directly from a beekeeper or manuka honey, manuka has a UMF label on most other honeys are not honeys as they are fed on High fructose corn syrup and not actual pollen.

beetroot is also very good for stomach acid replenishment

Fethiye profile image
Fethiye in reply tomachineman

That's very useful info machineman, especially for those of us with multiple food intolerances. But - when you wrote 'food and veggies are the way to go' I did feel a twinge of despair, most fruits are off limits to me because of fructose intolerance, and similarly a lot of veggies because of oxalate intolerance. The intolerance makes itself felt by a terrible hangover the next day; pounding head, nausea and shakiness, feeling like I have been poisoned. Add to that a histamine sensitivity, gluten causes heartburn so I avoid it, and of course an intolerance of alcohol, and life is somewhat restricted. Practically the only food I can eat without any perceived intolerance is meat, (as long as it is not processed), but I don't want to eat meat all the time, or even every day. I think, although it is hard to be sure, that I am OK with dairy as well. If you have any helpful ideas I would be very grateful.

shipscat profile image
shipscat in reply tomachineman

Thank you machine man, there are some handy tips that should hopefully be useful to many of us on this forum.

shipscat profile image
shipscat

Thank you to all for your comments and suggestions. I'm going to see how I get on with the ACV and probably introduce a probiotic aswell. LuxN I find I'm OK with boiled and jacket potatoes (you need to be careful with chips as a lot of the frozen type are not 100% potato) but seem to find wheat flour a problem so I am now eating gluten free bread and other GF products. I don't eat a lot of rice but will certainly look into RS as I had never heard of it apart from a mention in diet info relating to weight loss. -If it helps that too i'll be more than pleased-LOL

BadHare profile image
BadHare

Hi,

I take ACV occasionally, but always before food, not after.

Sometimes I add it to green tea, for my first drink of the day before breakfast, but only when I have a craving.

I also add a good slosh to salads, as it makes a nice dressing. It's also tasty with a bit of hazelnut oil.

These article might be useful:

my.chriskresser.com/wp-cont...

my.chriskresser.com/wp-cont...

chriskresser.com/kefir-the-...

I rarely suffer indigestion since eating kefir every day, & then it lasts a few hours, not days or weeks.

M*

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