A friend of mine who had been a Nexium for years recommended this book to me. I put it off for a while but after getting frustrated that first Omeprazole then Pantoprozole and finally Dexilant weren't working for me (even with all of the lifestyle changes on this page which have previously worked) I gave it a shot.
The basic premise of the program is to avoid foods that will ferment in your small intestines and feed the 'bad' bacteria that may be growing there. If you don't avoid these foods, they feed the bacteria, the bacteria produce gas, the gas pushes up on the contents of your stomach and I think you know the rest from here!
I've previously been diagnosed with SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth) so I knew at least that this was targeted at me. The book isn't overly long and includes a discussion of what heartburn is, why this diet could work, your other treatment options (showing their upsides and downsides), and then the diet itself. There's a chapter on recipes (with my other food issues I skipped over this) and a listing of the FP points of different foods.
The Fermentation Potential (FP) of different foods is the crux of this diet. You're allowed to eat anything you want as long as you calculate your FP points and stay under your daily limit. Obviously this will necessitate eating less and smaller portions of high FP foods and more and larger portions of low FP foods. Foods that contain more carbs and that digest more slowly seem to cause the biggest problems. The low hanging fruit for me were to quit sugar and instead use Splenda, cut out most fruits other than melons, avoid green peas, and use only Jasmine rice for carbs. I'm even grinding Jasmine Rice into flour in my Nutri bullet and using it to bake bread and cookies. There is a fairly complete list of foods in the book and also a formula for calculating the FP of foods not already listed. The formula is moderately complex if you aren't mathematically inclined but there is a simple website where you can go and just plug the values in (Glycemic Index, Total Carbs, Sugar Alcohols, and Dietary Fiber).
I've been on the diet for about two months now and just this last week I finished weening myself off of Dexilant. I am still having some chest discomfort but I'd say it is about where I was before I began the diet (back when I was still on Dexilant). If the only thing I've done is traded a medication for a diet I'm good with that! I have read of and personally know a number of people who have had much more dramatic and rapids improvements on this diet. Overall, I'd recommended the book and diet even if I'm not yet at 100%, it's much better than 3 years of PPIs have done for me!
