Everyday Systems

Several years ago I read an article that was mostly for Americans traveling or staying in France. It included the names of various medications that could be purchased without a prescription at any pharmacy. One category was medication for acid indigestion. It noted that this ailment is hardly known in France.

When I was looking for the quote about hunger, I read that the author's mother-in-law believed the following:

"The stomach is a muscle. And just like any other muscle, it should be allowed to rest. It shouldn't constantly be asked to work." According to her philosophy, eating too frequently could cause excess gastric acid to be secreted, which could in turn irritate the stomach.

The author didn't know if this bit of folk wisdom had any scientific proof. But it is interesting that where not eating 24/7 is the norm, acid indigestion is rare. Here, where eating 24/7 is the norm, so is acid indigestion/GERD.

I certainly have less gas.

I know that it doesn't take too much overeating to give me a bad case of indigestion. Now that I think about it, it's usually not caused by overeating at one meall; I have to overeat and then eat before I'm hungry. That's when I get in trouble.

I don't remember ever having it due to frequent eating. I have it now because of medication and I also had it when I was pregnant.

Dale wrote:I don't remember ever having it due to frequent eating. I have it now because of medication and I also had it when I was pregnant.

I'm not so sure it's just frequent eating, but overeating, which many people do by eating frequently. Ironically, one of the only times I ever had an issue with it was when I'd been seriously ill and put on medication prophylactically. When I was told to stop it, I had indigestion like I'd never had before. I quickly learned that you need to wean yourself from the medication.

overeating does cause GI distress for me. it is one of the reasons i have to be really careful on Sdays. If i overeat i tend to feel really awful. so that is incentive to be choosy of Sday treats, make sure it's somethign i really want to eat!

At my heaviest weight, I was daily taking acid reduction pills and/or Tums to alleviate burn-a-hole-in-your-esophagus heartburn. Within two weeks of No S (even with over-the-top weekends) this has gone completely. Even if I hadn't lost any weight it would be worth it.