The Acid Reflux Escape Plan: Two Weeks to Heartburn Relief Paperback – August 10, 2015

Oh where do I begin...First off, I'm 36, I live a healthy lifestyle, not overweight (a little underweight actually) but my anxiety had turned my acid reflux and G.E.R.D. into an absolute nightmare around Christmas time this past year. It seemed like my chest and esophagus was at war with every single thing I ate. It was bad. I was seen by Urgent Care dr's, my primary care and a Gastro dr all of which simply seemed to want to medicate with Omeprazole. I hate taking meds and after doing research on the drug and realizing what horrible long term affects it can have on the body, I said there has to be a natural solution to this.After MUCH research, I landed on this cook book. Honestly, I was so desperate I just bought this and was like you know what, if it doesn't work then at least I'll probably get some great recipes out of it hahah I started the diet and within week one I could already tell my issues where starting to get better. With other natural remedies, I continued on to week two and was even better than before.I just had an Upper Endoscopy last week which had been booked a month ago. Everything looked great. On week three now and I am literally just following the plan from week one again, however, I am also starting to reintroduce foods that I used to eat.Through the two week diet, I was actually able to pin point a food sensitivity that I never knew I had....DAIRY! After discovering that, I am now on the journey to switching over to lactose free yogurt, milk, etc.For us with full time jobs and a very busy schedule, do not feel intimidated by the weekly plan for cooking! I was not able to follow the daily plans 100%, however, I always had left overs! All of the recipes I have made so far make 4 servings or more unless it's like a shake or something. So, I could get away with making 3 entrees during the week and meal prepping all of the leftovers for my really busy days/lunches.Additionally, I LOVED that this book actually educates you about acid reflux. I learned so much. In the back, it also has a list of produce that is highly recommended to buy organic and those you can get away with buying not organic based on research found about pesticide usage. As someone who feels compelled to buy nearly everything organic, I loved this.Tip: Cremini Mushrooms are hard to find organic (for me at least) and they are needed for many of the recipes. If you can't find them, Oyster Mushrooms are an incredible alternative and great for your immune system.Tip 2: This amazing piece of gold (the book) actually has a grocery list for the entire week!!! I didn't want to take my book with me into the store obviously and I surely was not about to write all 30 or more ingredients down so with my phone, I simply took a photo of the grocery list and then as I was shopping, used the Markup setting and crossed out things as I was buying them.Tip 3: You will spend a lot of money on groceries your first week especially if you are leaning towards getting organics, however, typically you will not spend even close to that much after that. Once your pantry has been established, it's largely all about reuse and only needing to buy your meats and produce the next week(s).Tip 4: Have fun with it! If you go to the store like I did and couldn't find Halibut, no problem! Do Salmon! A lot of these recipes have flavor profiles that are very versatile and can work with a number of meats and/or spices that are okay for us with acid reflux! For example, if I want a little flavor boost in a recipe, I'll add a pop of Turmeric which is an excellent anti-inflammatory!Tip 5: If you want to taste your food, you will need to use more salt than called for in these recipes!! My recipes in the first week were sort of bland at times. During my second week I made my own rule for salt especially when it came to my meats. With a little more salt these recipes really came to life! I don't like my food too salty, however, just make sure you are taste testing your food as you work on your recipe to make sure you are getting the flavor profile you are looking for.Tip 6: If you don't already have one, you will need a blender of some sort and it's helpful to have a food chopper of some sort to speed up the process of chopping things like 1/4 cup of fresh Parsley, and Cilantro, etc.

I'm still in week one of the diet plan, but so far I've enjoyed the menu. I appreciate the chapters and charts on the guiding principles - those help me to modify recipes and should help guide me in ordering food when I go out for dinner this weekend. I'm not being overly strict, and I keep accidentally triggering tiny reflux flare-ups by napping and occasionally eating too much in one sitting. I like that the daily recipes are broken down by serving, although I wish there was more detailed serving information for all of the recipes (I know the turkey, mushroom, and fennel soup makes six servings, apparently, but do I seriously have to divide it into six in order to figure out how much is in one?). Aside from the tiny flareups I mentioned, my symptoms have gone waaaay down since starting this diet. I experienced immediate relief in the first day just by switching all of my dairy products to low fat and making the recipes as specified.Some of these recipes will definitely make it into the routine from here on out - the red beans and rice are AMAZING. Others are kinda meh (I'm not certain you really want a half teaspoon of salt in the zesty ranch... that makes it waaaay too salty).

I am one of the unfortunate people who has severe reflux. Most days I would have a constant feeling of burning in my chest and throat, could only sleep propped up, and sometimes would have to try and sleep sitting up. Ugh! I am working with a doctor to try and figure out why this problem is so bad and to see what can be done, if anything, to fix it. My quality of life has been so bad that I started researching what kind of foods I can eat and what foods I shouldn't eat. That is how I came upon this book. It sounded good and figured I had nothing to lose, so I purchased it. Best decision I could have made!This book changed the quality of my life. I started the meal plan and within 3 days was able to cut back on acid blockers. After two weeks on this meal plan, I was able to eat, in small doses, some foods that are known reflux triggers for me. For the most part, now that I'm feeling so much better, I am finding that I do not even want to eat the things that make me feel so sick.I will continue to work with my doctor to try and figure out why I have such bad reflux, but at least now I feel and sleep much better and can make smart decisions about what to put in my mouth. I am so happy I found this book! Thank you!!

I am really loving this book! I have been known to eat things that give me horrible acid reflux and have been told to cut down on those types of foods. This saddened my taste buds. I was surprised to find that this book has a great number of amazing meals in it that are actually tasty and healthy! There's actually a section at the beginning on coping with cravings from physical addictions and emotional an mental cravings, which I know all too well when it comes to changing up you diet for the better. There's a long list of foods and beverages to avoid when you suffer from reflux. A lot should be common knowledge, but some, believe it or not, I hadn't thought of. I really appreciated the tips and tricks for immediate heartburn relief section as well. I had always been told to take a spoonful of vinegar, but there were suggestions such as honey, sugar free gum, yellow mustard, and baking soda mixed with water, which coincidentally is also a great way to alleviate a UTI as the baking soda balances out your PH levels.The meals in this book are delicious and visually appealing as well, as we all know that if it doesn't look good, who wants to eat it? Absoltuely recommend this book!I received this at no cost in order to bring you an honest review. All thoughts are strictly my own and have not been influenced in any manner. Your opinion and/or experience may vary from that of my own.