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Hello everyone. I am absolutely stuck on how to proceed with my diet. I have acid reflux, fatty liver, and diverticulosis. I am 37 years old, 6’2, 205lbs, skinny with a larger-bloated belly. I LOVE food, it’s one of the only things I look forward to right now, but I have always been a picky eater and tend to stray more towards fatty/comfort foods vs healthy foods.
I want to and NEED to improve my diet to align with my health issues, but I have absolutely no idea how to proceed or how to find a diet that would help improve my issues while still allowing me to eat SOME foods that I enjoy. If anyone has any idea what type of diet/foods would work to support acid reflux, fatty liver, and diverticulosis combined or where I can go to find this information I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Do you drink?
Here's the thing: Your liver is by far the most important of your three issues. You can't live without a liver. People with fatty liver disease either have alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) caused by heavy drinking or they have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). People with NAFLD tend to have a lot of belly fat.
I don't want to scare you but NAFLD is an early warning sign of worse things to come. Talk to your doctor. And buy a book called "Skinny Liver". You can get the Kindle version on Amazon.
Consider a mostly plant-based diet. Surely you've heard of the Impossible Burger, Beyond Meat and other meat analogs. Some of it tastes pretty darned good. Have plenty of fruit and vegetables in your fridge. Integrate tree nuts into some of your food. Walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, etc. add easy nutrition to your meals and they are tasty. Eat whole grains and brown rice. Avoid white flour.
I healed my fatty liver in 30 days. I know that sounds crazy but it's true. And I'm somebody who was binging on sugar-loaded frozen yogurt not that long ago.
As far as acid reflux goes, consult a gastroenterologist. S/he may want to do an upper endoscopy to see what damage has been done.
Hello everyone. I am absolutely stuck on how to proceed with my diet. I have acid reflux, fatty liver, and diverticulosis. I am 37 years old, 6’2, 205lbs, skinny with a larger-bloated belly. I LOVE food, it’s one of the only things I look forward to right now, but I have always been a picky eater and tend to stray more towards fatty/comfort foods vs healthy foods.
I want to and NEED to improve my diet to align with my health issues, but I have absolutely no idea how to proceed or how to find a diet that would help improve my issues while still allowing me to eat SOME foods that I enjoy. If anyone has any idea what type of diet/foods would work to support acid reflux, fatty liver, and diverticulosis combined or where I can go to find this information I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Hey movieguy,
It can really be frustrating to figure out what foods to eat and which ones to avoid. And each diet says something different, which doesn’t help. Nutrition is about adding in certain nutrient-dense foods but in many cases it’s about removing “offending foods” as well. The “low hanging fruit” in most cases is to start removing processed (and ultra-processed) foods. So removing many packaged foods, cereals, microwavable meals, crackers, chips, snacks, candy and desserts.
Even though you tend to stray towards more fatty/comfort foods, you’d be amazed at how many healthy substitutions are out there that make you feel better and sometimes taste even better. Most people think of healthy eating as bland eating, but there are some phenomenal recipes out there that allow you to enjoy what you are eating.
To give you some additional ideas, can you share what you eat on a normal day?
You're welcome. I hoped it would be a good start that wouldn't overwhelm you.
Healthy fats: fish (salmon, cod, mackerel, tuna, sardines), avocado, nuts (walnuts, pecans), seeds (chia, flax). Lean poultry. Extra virgin olive oil. Try to find ways to incorporate these into your diet, but don't overdo any of them.
Limit full fat dairy and red meat. Use lean cuts of red meat. If you are in really bad shape, you could eliminate them entirely, at least for a few weeks or months and then gradually add back in if you want (in limited amounts). Avoid fried foods. Limit saturated fat in general.
Try to stay with natural whole foods as much as possible. Avoid highly-processed foods/drinks, including fake meats which are highly-processed foods. They are not healthy despite what the marketing says.
A plant-based diet is mostly plants but not exclusively plants. It's not a vegetarian or vegan diet. It's a nutrient-dense diet of whole foods that doesn't exclude food groups/nutrients. A plant-based diet is when 2/3 or more of your plate consists of a variety of whole plant foods, and small portion of animal-based food. It's highly recommended and is backed with decades of science. I can say that it has been the best thing for my gastro issues, and great health in general.
Judging by your conditions, it appears that you are getting too few plants, little fiber. Start slowly with this and gradually increase your fiber intake. If you consume too much in the beginning, it could increase your gastrointestinal discomfort.
I also want to mention the herbal teas that are very helpful for your conditions: licorice root, marshmallow root, milk thistle, ginger, slippery elm. It's impossible to say which of these are best for you; you have to try to know.
The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is a plant-based diet that guides HBP patients on how to utilize the plant-based Mediterranean diet to control HBP. It ensures that the patient is including enough whole foods rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium - important factors to control existing hypertension without medication.
The Mediterranean diet is actually a pattern of eating, a lifestyle, based on the eating patterns of the world's healthiest populations (blue zones), and documented since the 1950s. Rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, herbs and spices, healthy fats like fish, nuts, seeds, lean poultry; and limits red and other fatty meats and full fat dairy. It avoids or limits over-processed foods, store baked goods and other high sugar and salt foods. Whole foods are naturally lower in sodium.
Scientists and doctors have been recommending the Mediterranean pattern of eating for decades to reduce risks for chronic illnesses (hypertension, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, strokes, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and more), to help manage and even reverse some conditions, and to maintain a healthy weight.
Fatty liver is induced by gluconeogenesis in the liver itself. Most likely, you are consuming plenty of insulin-releasing foods. Sugars and simple starches, which are all digestible saccharides stimulate the release of insulin, which inhibits fat catabolism.
The suggestion of keto is not bad because you will eliminate practically all insulin-releasing foods, which then reduces overall consumption of food.
However, compliance is difficult and just a more generic low carb diet may help provided you don't have a preference for salty foods.
All grains should be purged from your diet.
In order to not sacrifice your bones, you should consider the likes of wild sardines or salmon as your daily meat source and some high quality cheddar to obtain some vitamin K2, calcium, proteins. Eggs are okay. Some berries, maybe citrus will work fine for vitamins.
Here's the thing: Your liver is by far the most important of your three issues. You can't live without a liver. People with fatty liver disease either have alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) caused by heavy drinking or they have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). People with NAFLD tend to have a lot of belly fat.
I don't want to scare you but NAFLD is an early warning sign of worse things to come. Talk to your doctor. And buy a book called "Skinny Liver". You can get the Kindle version on Amazon.
Consider a mostly plant-based diet. Surely you've heard of the Impossible Burger, Beyond Meat and other meat analogs. Some of it tastes pretty darned good. Have plenty of fruit and vegetables in your fridge. Integrate tree nuts into some of your food. Walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, etc. add easy nutrition to your meals and they are tasty. Eat whole grains and brown rice. Avoid white flour.
I healed my fatty liver in 30 days. I know that sounds crazy but it's true. And I'm somebody who was binging on sugar-loaded frozen yogurt not that long ago.
As far as acid reflux goes, consult a gastroenterologist. S/he may want to do an upper endoscopy to see what damage has been done.
Suggesting the Impossible Burger or any other meat substitute might as well be the highest abomination of food advice to exist on the planet, never mind utterly ruining the plant food used to make the faux meat.
Keto is bad for the OP's conditions because high fat aggravates them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SethGrayson
Suggesting the Impossible Burger or any other meat substitute might as well be the highest abomination of food advice to exist on the planet, never mind utterly ruining the plant food used to make the faux meat.
Do you know what foods are problematic for you, as-in foods making your health worse?
I would start by strictly avoiding those foods.
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