Hello and

our topic this week,

our topic this week is a potential new way to reduce reflux symptoms without drugs.

Lisa writes, I recently came across a diet that's supposed to help with acid reflux.

In this diet you cut way back on carbohydrates and replace those calories with fat.

The theory is that your body sometimes cannot absorb certain carbs, so they sit in your gut and ferment, thereby causing gas to bubble up into the stomach and esophagus.

If you cut back on these fermentable carbohydrates, your acid reflux will go away.

The diet that Lisa is asking about is essentially a branded variation of the low Fodmap diet that I've talked about before.

In the low Fodmap diet, you reduce your intake of foods that are high in certain fermentable

carbohydrates. It is true that humans like in certain

carbohidgates. It is true that humans lack the enzymes that are needed to digest certain

carbohydrates. Now that doesn't cause them to sit in your gut.

They travel through the stomach, which is far too acidic to allow for any

fermentation. Enter the small intestine, which is where most carbohydrate digestion and absorption takes place and then on into the large

intestine.

There, if you're lucky, the beneficial bacteria in your gut will digest them by fermenting them.

Now I say, if you're lucky, because this bacterial processing of indigestible fibers

produces several beneficial compounds, and I talked about those in my recent episode on postbiotics.

But the fermentation of fiber also produces gas, lots and lots of gas. People vary in their ability to

tolerate these fermentable carbs. Many people with irritable bowel syndrome,

IBS, get great relief from a low Fodmap diet.

And the latest research suggests that this is a very effective therapy for disorders that involve

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