Doctors have found that limiting or eliminating certain foods from your diet can help prevent painful and damaging reflux. But can following a gluten-free diet make any difference when it comes to GERD? Recent research has led some experts in the field to believe that there might be a connection. The GERD-Gluten Link An article published in the September 2011 issue of Diseases of Esophagus noted how a number of published studies have shown that a gluten-free diet can efficiently control esophageal symptoms and help prevent recurrence. In one such study from 2009, Italian researchers found that gluten-intolerant people on a gluten-free diet responded more favorably to GERD treatment with medication. They also found that fewer gluten-free dieters experienced a recurrence of their GERD symptoms, compared with the control group. The researchers concluded that a gluten-free diet could help reduce GERD symptoms and prevent damaging acid reflux in those with celiac disease. GERD: Gluten Allergies Some people become sick from eating foods that contain the protein gluten, such as grains like barley, rye, and wheat, due to an allergic reaction to the gluten. The symptoms they suffer, a condition known as celiac disease, can resemble those of people with GERD — including vomiting and difficulty swallowing. This has led some experts to believe that intolerance to gluten might play a role in promoting GERD. GERD: Should You Avoid Grains? Most experts, however, don’t believe that gluten intolerance leads to GERD, or has any connection to GERD. Gluten intolerance attacks and damages the small intestine, leading to gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea, constipation, and abdominal bloating. Any esophageal symptoms are probably coincidental to the true attack on the intestines, they say. “Eliminating gluten for reflux doesn’t make sense because there’s no association for reflux,” says Michael Vaezi, MD, PhD, clinical director of the division of gastroenterology and hepatology and director of the Center for Esophageal Motility Disorders at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. GERD: Find Out for Yourself Believers in the gluten-GERD connection maintain that removing gluten from your diet for six weeks will give you an idea of whether gluten has been promoting your GERD. To follow a gluten-free diet, avoid all foods made with wheat, rye, and barley grains. That includes most types of pasta and cereal, as well as many processed foods. However, you can use flour made from other materials, such as potato, soy, quinoa, and buckwheat. Also, gluten-free breads, pastas, and other products have become increasingly available as the public has become more aware of gluten intolerance. At this time, gluten-containing foods, such as grains, are not among the foods that GERD patients are typically urged to avoid. A more certain way to limit reflux symptoms is to cut down on foods shown to aggravate GERD, including fatty foods, spicy foods, acidic foods, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, and mint.
