The Acid Watcher Food regimen: A 28-Day Reflux Prevention and Therapeutic Program

This diet saved my life!
To say that last year was very difficult for me is quite an understatement. Beginning on NYE 2014, I found myself unable to swallow solid food. After multiple tests and doctors, nobody could quite figure out what was wrong. They would look in my throat, see no blockage, and shrug. One doctor recommended esophageal dilatation and was sure this procedure would solve all my swallowing issues. It didn’t. It was now late August and I had gone almost a full year subsisting on smoothies, Ensure and ice cream. And my frustrated doctors began to suggest it was all in my head. It wasn’t.Since none of my doctors couldn’t find anything wrong, I began to see a Speech Pathologist for swallow therapy. It was working okay, and I was able to eat some solid food, but I still didn’t feel “normal”. After about a month, the Speech Pathologist recommended I see Dr. Aviv. Before Dr. Aviv looked inside my throat, he said, “I already know what’s going to happen, because I’ve seen it a million times. I’m going to look at your throat, it’s going to look like an IED went off in there, and we’re going to cure it with food.” Just like that. Totally confident. His confidence inspired mine. And I loved the idea of solving my 9 month saga with heatlhy food instead of drugs or surgery… but would it really work?In a word… YES! And better than I had hoped. Things I couldn’t dream of swallowing just a month earlier (like salad and chicken) were sliding down nice and easily, because they weren’t harming my throat on the way down. And I was eating so healthy –the healthiest I’ve ever eaten. Nothing processed. Just good, whole foods. And what made it easy to stay on the diet is the fact that all of the recipes are DELICIOUS.I would thank Dr. Aviv and his life-changing diet for giving me my life back, but that wouldn’t exactly be accurate. I didn’t return to how I was — I was a better version of who I had been before the swallowing problems occurred, because I became so much healthier. The weight dropped off, and all these months later, my diet is almost exclusively made up of unprocessed foods. I’ve never felt better. I cannot thank Dr. Aviv enough, and I have recommended this book and this diet to more people than I can count at this point. It is a godsend. It saved my life.

Update: I feel great on this diet! Prep gets easier with time.
Update: 6/2021: I used Alleve while rehabbing a painful injury to my shoulder and kicked up esophagealweeks issues. My diet, also, had slipped into a bad pattern for reflux. When I returned to Dr. Aviv’s diet I stuck much closer to his meal plan.The first two were tough: Shopping, prep and cleanup we onerous. I almost gave up, but read some Amazon reviews and decided to keep going. I am so glad I did! Now towards the end of Week 3, I. feel great! My energy has returned and the diet no longer seems overwhelming. I just had one of the best lunches I have ever eaten: Mexican shrimp salad with avocado, black beans and cilantro.I took a picture, but had trouble uploading it.Once you have most ingredients and have prepared most mealscouple of times, it gets much easier. That said, I am home for most meals and doubt I could do this if I were working.I bought this book after reading a positive review in the NYT. After looking through it, I decided that the diet would be too difficult and inconvenient and shelved the book. But I did tell a friend about it who was on three medications for reflux and still miserable.About six weeks ago I ran into this friend. She couldn’t wait to tell me how effective the diet is for her. She had an endoscopy before and after adhering loosely to the diet that showed dramatic improvement.A year ago, I was diagnosed through endoscopy with ulcers in the esophagus and inflammation. My gastro prescribed omeprezole twice/day for three months and then once daily the rest of my life or I would risk getting cancer. After the initial period in which my esophagus healed and I became asymptomatic, I started once daily omeprezole. Before long, symptoms returned in a milder form. I am concerned about the risks of Omeprezole and certainly did not want to increase dosage. Spurred by my friend’s endorsement, I started on Dr. Aviv’s Diet.I bought a NutriBullet, also from Amazon, many of the foods and seasonings Dr. Aviv recommends, and adhere to the diet about 80 to 90percent. I do have a cup of coffee with Hazelnut Coffeemate, and a cup of decaf, most days. But I also have a smoothie every day with a banana, berries, greens and flaxseeds or nuts. I alternate breakfasts between oatmeal with raisins, walnuts and almond milk (and cheat by adding Stevia); and an egg with two egg whites, sometimes with veggies, and toast. Lunch or dinner is chicken or fish with corn or a sweet potato, and the other meal is a smoothie. I eat avocados, nuts and cheat with Skinnypop popcorn at night.This diet is very satisfying says the chocoholic! Most cravings are gone and my weight is good, though I was of normal weight before. I’ve lost a couple of pounds and am no longer struggling to maintain my weight. The diet is not hard to keep at home or in restaurants once you buy the foods he recommends. And it is oh, so healthy! Thank you, Dr. Aviv, and I may soon try to gradually decrease omeprezole!

I have suffered from gastritis and acide reflux for over a year until I got this book. It’s a total lifestyle change but so worth it! Is it hard? Yes! Does it work and is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY ! Once you get the hang of it you can create your own personal recipes, this book has literally changed my life! I would never go back to unhealthy eating, processed foods, fast foods etc. This is not a weight loss diet, but if you have extra pounds; well I lost about 12 pounds in the first month and the weight continues to drop down at a healthy pace. Give it a chance and stick with it for at least a month! Best of luck to you if you decide to purchase this book.

had GERD and this book helped me how to and when eat what type of food. It has great recipes and you can manage that according to Indian stype