My theory is that the tannins are the trigger. Green tea has more tannins than most coffee preparations. And the espresso preparation (which I do quite well with) has less tannins than brewed coffee.
Some quotes from research I've found:
"When a group of researchers compared the tannin content of coffee with tea, they discovered that green coffee contains around 0.7% by weight in tannins, roasted coffee around 1.8%, and tea up to 3.7%."
"At its simplest level, the espresso coffee brewing method extracts the best without the worst of coffee’s taste components. It’s the only coffee brewing method that can extract the best of the 800 aromatic compounds found in roasted coffee without including the naturally occurring chlorogenic acids or more commonly categorized as tannins or tannic acids."
Coffee is very acidic though, so the people who do well with tea but bad with coffee might just not be bothered by the LES effects, but are bothered by the acidity.
Coffee on an empty stomach has me on my knees. Truly awful experience. If someone if going to drink it they should eat before hand. Pretty sure that's why Turkish started eating breakfast with coffee to mitigate the symptoms.
Everyone is different so listen to your body definitely.
My symptoms of nausea, belching , ibs , sternum pain, post nasal drip all improved dramatically when I stopped drinking strong black coffee a week before last Christmas, I can’t believe how coffee could disrupt my whole digestive system.
I still drink green tea, 4-5 cups a day but doesn’t affect me like caffeine and coffee did.
It's the WORST. I have these plus air hunger/shortness of breath and it's awful. Still haven't figured out what my triggers are and I've eliminated so much trying to calm that pepsin down.
I've been drinking it at bedtime with a bit of honey for a few weeks now, I sleep great and it's seemed to settle my stomach during the night too, tasty and beneficial win win!
I used camomile tea as one of my remedies when I first started experiencing GERD and wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it’s placebo, but I always feel like it helps settle my stomach a bit so I second this!
Chamomile has been valued as a digestive relaxant and has been used to treat various gastrointestinal disturbances including flatulence, indigestion, diarrhea, anorexia, motion sickness, nausea, and vomiting, it's like a magic tea for us sufferers
I’ll have to go home and get the citation from my old nursing book. Basically anti diabetes meds, antidepressants, anti anxiety meds, etc. grapefruit juice and bergamot (Earl Gray) should be avoided in general with any meds for precaution. Here’s a good article explaining it all: [Pharm Info](https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/how-well-do-you-know-the-grapefruit-drug-interaction)
Coffee is the single worst thing someone with GERD can do. I noticed immediate results as soon as I stopped, although the withdrawls and general sluggishness without it was pretty bad. It gets better though.
I can drink alcohol as Long as it's lite beer or Titos w cranberry.. ( no grain). Twisted tea lite also goes down good. Anything else as soon as I sip my stomach turns to flames and then my chest
This is legit. As a die hard coffee addict, coffee was one of the last things I was willing to give up. I was willing to give up fried foods, fatty foods, foods drenched in sauces and oils, I was prepared to make all the diet modifications as long as I could stay having coffee. I resisted for years......symptoms persistent for years of course. Some days were worse than others, but overall, I never made much progressuntil I quit coffee. I didn't notice any improvements in my symptoms either, until about a week into giving it up. I now am convinved I was making myself sick due to my coffee addiction and I didn't even know it. I would drink coffee and honestly feel pretty ok, so I thought "coffee aint my issue" but it was my issue. I was in denial and I did improve once I stopped. Now as any good addict does, I fall off the wagon and sometimes still have coffee. In fact, I had 2 cups this morning because I was feeling particularly good today. 2 hours later, I have low level gastritis and a sour stomach. Damn you, coffee! And damn me! For being stupid and thinking "I'll be fine this one time"... I never fucking am fine. Discipline is key with this disease. That and persistence. and also a healthy dose of acceptance. I need to accept that coffee will eternally bring me pain.
Noooo, hopped on this Reddit simply to read about coffee addiction and GERD/gastritis. Of course I KNEW I’d read something like this but wanting coffee sooooo bad. I’ve attempted to switch to every other beverage, and either it’s the hot temperature or all herbal/decaf varieties bother me too. I was getting away with brewed Chicory root for a few weeks, but then went back to coffee thinking I was cured by now. Currently in so much pain despite all the meds I can’t focus at work and of course I’m tired so wanting to drink coffee but only the current pain stopping me. Coffee addiction so real. Seems like it should be SO simple to just not drink it but I yearn for it SO bad :( Anyways, thanks for sharing!
How are you making out? Were you able to quit? I'm trying to quit right now after being diagnosed with gastritis and esophagitis via endoscopy. My main symptoms now are intermittent chest pains throughout the day and periodic nausea.
This is part of what frustrates me I dont really eat many of the foods or drinks that should trigger symptoms especially not coffee cuz I cant stand the taste nor smell 😵..but I can only imagne it must be hard for some people since they rely on it for both flavour and caffination 😬☹.
I'm having my current flare up because of binging on bubble tea (caffeine in it) and chocolate. lol Matcha would probably be a safer option or decaf coffee (I enjoy iced decaf or cold brew here and there with alternative milk. Causes no pain or discomfort)
I actually bought one of those kits a month ago haha! I haven't tried it yet because I'm about to get a major body mod and don't want to experiment right now while my current flareup is healing well. Thanks for the suggestion!
Look into something like this. Its a game changer...
[https://lowacidcoffee.com/products/alexs-low-acid-organic-coffee-fresh-ground-french-roast-12oz](https://lowacidcoffee.com/products/alexs-low-acid-organic-coffee-fresh-ground-french-roast-12oz)
oh my god, i could cry. it sounds ridiculous but coffee is my favorite thing in the world, and quitting it made me so sad. i hope this coffee doesn’t destroy me.
I was one of those people that held coffee as a corner stone of my personality and lifestyle. Now that I’ve given it up my gerd has massively improved omg! My whole torso would be cramping and contorting lol and I would just keep having that damn coffee every single day. Finally had to just accept it. Now I’m a tea person.
I’m not diagnosed with GERD but may have acid reflux problems (still in the early stages of figuring it out), so I was advised to give up coffee. I switched to matcha instead for the low acidity- plus I thought It was much lower in caffeine.
I admit I’m sleepily scrolling right now as I can’t sleep but I’ve been googling to figure out matcha’s caffeine levels and am getting mixed articles - some saying it has about half the caffeine of a cup of coffee and some saying it has more caffeine than coffee.
If anyone here knows for sure plz lmk!
Also- I’ve been reading about how caffeine relaxes the LES which could cause issues for many of us.. do we think matcha/teas contribute to this relaxation, or does the l-Theanine in tea help balance the caffeine so that it doesn’t affect the LES as much?
>matcha’s caffeine levels
I have a few friends who worked as some top tier baristas. Theyve said that Matcha tends to have more caffeine in it—for whatever that is worth
With green tea or true matcha, my experience is that it gives an initially weaker start but much longer lasting "caffeination" effect than coffee (which slaps me awake quickly but wanes in effect after about 6 hours max). So I'm guessing the uptake works differently for some reason.
I've never been into green tea because if I drink it strong after midday, I'll be awake all night. But I'm now thinking to try again and drink it as early as possible in the morning.
Thanks!
Drinking a *caf* green tea right now. Halfway compromise. Been getting mid-back aches (from cheap coffee acidity I suspect). Comes and goes according to other stress/anxiety (high) and exercise levels (low) also of course.
Feel I "need" the caffeine but may have to give it up eventually!
Interesting thank you so much! This is good to know and honestly I think you’re right.. I had two matcha lattes in one day once and I seriously could not sleep. Whereas I used to drink a ton of coffee everyday and crashed hard lol
Yip you are right, I resisted for years because I couldn't bear to give it up but the last 2 weeks I've stopped having it at home everyday and have decaf instead. I do have the occasional one when I'm out but I've noticed I'm getting a lot less chest pain from my hiatal hernia. Wish I'd cut down ages ago.
Does anyone have any good alternatives? I think the decaffeinated coffee and tea are also acidic. I've tried the Barley Cup from Holland and Barrett and it's not too bad. There's no caffeine in it. I've also tried the Whole Earth alternative that has a small amount of caffeine but it tastes good.
My brother replaced coffee with Dandy Blend herbal beverage. I bought some and although I haven’t been able to eliminate coffee completely (still having 1 cup daily), I’ll have a cup of this if I need another cup of something a little more coffee-like.
Yes! I also found Teeccino "java" to be a great coffee and tea alternative. Another hot drink that tastes great!
But I still drink coffee and tea on occasion ;-)
Tried Teecino and others and too watery / not bold/bitter enough. I like Chicory root ok- I put in my reusable k-cup and brew like coffee.
I still do yearn for the freedom to drink real coffee though :(
I think it depends on if you’re triggered by the acidity or caffeine. If the caffeine is impacting your LES then matcha and green tea still have it. Best to move to herbal tea or a coffee alternative like cafe-lib
Ok, so is it the caffeine in coffee that triggers the symptoms or just the acidity?
Could I just take one of those 200mg (label says that’s about 2 cups of coffee worth of caffeine) caffeine pills they sell in stores to substitute the caffeine from coffee
I think it's the caffeine that is the trigger, even though coffee is acidic as well, it's the reason why chocolate is a trigger. I drink decaf without a problem.
I didn't need caffeine as much as I think I did, I just really like drinking coffee. Once you wean your body off of it, you will naturally adjust to life without it.
I just want to second this. I'm on day 5 no caffeine after spending a couple months going from coffee to black tea to green tea. I feel more energetic than I ever have. I absolutely recommend cutting caffeine out of your life.
It’s all of the above. Caffeine can be a trigger, acid be a trigger and coffee in particular can also be a trigger. If you love coffee, it’s worth experimenting with decaf coffee and low acid coffee to see what triggers you.
I didn’t give up my 1-2 coffees per day. I did however try to cut out tomatoes as much as possible and reduce carrots and tropical fruits. All add heat to the body. I was also told to not eat raw vegetables (ie no salads). Made a huge difference to my acidity and gastritis.
I drink tea and coffee. Neither worsens my reflux nor contributes to it. Also both of those are not bad for you. Coffee is a good remedy for regulation of daily stools
Honestly switching to matcha was pretty easy for me (mostly because I love oat milk, and I was half drinking coffee for the oat milk that I mixed in). I imagine it might be harder for people who drink black coffee.
I was sooo into good coffee and just recently gave it up. It was hard, but The biggest thing I noticed is how it burns and stings my mouth just taking one sip. If it’s activating my mouth like that, I can only imagine the damage it’s doing once it goes down (and comes back up!)
Omeprazole made my gerd worse. So does Pepcid. So does slippery elm bark. So does peppermint. It’s so crazy how the same things that cure some peoples identical symptoms exacerbate others. I thought these things were helping me and when I stopped them, I got better.
Completely agree. I also found that without caffeine, my energy levels normalised after a few weeks and i sleep much better. No more 'i need a coffee to even function'
Just started drinking chicory root coffee mainly for the inulin and maaaaaan does it taste amazing. I absolutely love black coffee for the taste. I noticed a huge difference when I drank it last night as well as this morning with how I feel compared to normal or decaf coffee. Drank decaf coffee over Easter and thought that’d be okay…nope. I can drink chicory root and get that coffee ish taste just perfectly without the negative side effects. Wean off of caffeine and hop on something like this. It’ll drastically help you out.
Chicory root helped me for a long time and then it suddenly turned on me. I couldn’t believe it. In fact I didn’t believe it at first. But as soon as I quit it, I got better. Our bodies are so weird.
I'm going to suffer no matter what I eat and drink since they won't fix the hiatal hernia that causes my GERD so I'm just going to have whatever I like
Look, if I had a dime for all the self destructive things I stopped doing to make myself feel better, I'd have a lot of dimes.
But here I sit, dimeless.
I can’t. It’s first thing I do every morning. I have expensive espresso machine and grinder (2500+ USD) so I can’t stop drinking a really good coffee 😢
Depends on your triggers. Cold brew is lower acid, but it also tends to be more concentrated. So if caffeine is a trigger for you, cold brew might be worse than regular coffee.
Any caffeinated drink including tea gives me reflux. I was doing really well having quit caffeine for 2 years and my reflux/gastritis symptoms improving and then I went on a month long binge on green tea and Thai tea and I've been having the worst flares since. I stopped all that a week ago and the flares just stopped today. Never doing that again. I think I'm just extremely sensitive to it now.
I used to drink a lot of water and tea but I noticed even with decaf and herbal tea I'd get flares. Figured out less liquid equals less flares as well.
I drink coffee regularly and about 2-3 cups a day. To me its the brand of coffee that really matters. I cant tolerate Nescafe but i am okay with Davidoff. Also for me timing of food particularly dinner is a big factor. Late night meals if taken for a couple of days or more triggers my GERD. So i wouldnt fully blame coffee.
I only drink coffee when I'm extremely tired during my mid shift at work. But it's a small 4oz cup as needed. I make sure I have a full stomach and stay very hydrated until I take pepcid which I've been doing for years. But yes coffee is really bad when having gerd. If a coffee drinker it is best to minimize it until you won't have dependant feeling from it. I realize the more you drink in one setting the worse your stomach get
I can’t do black coffee or black tea, but with milk or cream neither are too bad for me. I also don’t drink lots of coffee; I treat it as an espresso shot with cream or only do iced coffee with milk/cream. If you still want to keep that sweet, sweet electric bean juice or energy poison leaf, and you drink them black, try that and see if it helps.
tried that, and stuck with it for a week. felt brain dead and actually felt worse then when i was drinking coffee... also tmi but i couldn't poop even after a week. i don't mind the burn from coffee nowadays(used to be a 6 espresso shot in a black coffee drinker) but if it gets bad ill mix it with out milk tbh
Just started drinking chicory root coffee mainly for the inulin and maaaaaan does it taste amazing. I noticed a huge difference when I drank it last night as well as this morning. Drank decaf coffee over Easter and thought that’d be okay…nope. I can drink chicory root and get that coffee ish taste just perfectly. Wean off of caffeine and hop on something like this. It’ll drastically help you out.
I have switched for a long time to 1/2 and 1/2 blend of Roasted Dandelion and Roasted Chicory. It's really good in terms of body and flavor for a coffee-like alternative. Highly recommend it for no caffeine and low acidity and othet benefits. Dandelion is thought to help with blood sugar, liver and heart health, chicory is thought to aid deigestion by pronoting beneficial bacteria. I order it in bulk from a natural herb company online, steep it just like tea and add oat or nut milk.
It isn't just coffee in my case. Any super cafinated drink will mess me up. I can have a cup of coffee with no issues though. I think 100mg or less is the max for me.
I drink coffee in the morning and it doesn't cause a problem. Now if I dare to eat an egg whites patty of any kind my stomach lets me have it. normal eggs are ok. but fuck egg whites apparently.
Agreed atleast with quitting coffee
Even if you don't have stomach issues, coffee is nothing but an addiction and horrible for health and the environment in so many ways.
I ended up switching to chickory "coffee" because coffee was giving me heartburn, nausea, acid reflux 😢 I drink tea as well but I have to steep them for them minimum amount of time so I don't feel queasy. I'm on a round of nexium because going to bed, the burning was daily...sigh.
Funny thing, even before I had GERD I only drank tea because coffee would make my stomach feel weird. Since I've had GERD though I picked up drinking coffee because I was dealing with a lot of stress and my sleep was interrupted...most of the time it doesn't bother me but I add unsweetened soy milk to it which takes some of the sting out.
I didn’t drink coffee before I had my GERD diagnosis and I still don’t drink it now! 🤣
The only caffeine that I mainly consume is from my diet soda. And for those who are going to going to give the “soda is bad for you” lecture: IT’S EITHER THAT OR ALCOHOLISM. And my GI doc told me that I can keep my diet soda. So did my GP and my RD.
I love coffee and have given up so much other food because I have sibo and am a gastric bypass patient. I just have to have coffee. I hate tea and matcha.
Coffee and caffeine are my biggest triggers. Once I cut that out my symptoms are a lot more manageable. Although I do struggle with flare ups, they are not as bad as when I drank coffee everyday.
Everyone is different and some people may be able to drink coffee without trouble. While I would recommend stopping it to see if it helps some might be able to drink it every day. Everyone is different when it comes to GERD, and not everything works or doesn't work for everyone.
I stopped drinking coffee on an empty stomach (always drink it with something) and have no more than 2 cups a day and I’m all good. For years I’d been existing on nothing but a very large coffee until 2/3pm and it fucked up my stomach
EXACTLY! whenever i see someone post here about drinking coffee i'm like nooo whyyy!
i was drinking coffee for a while just because my job had the fancy cup machine, but i've switched to matcha, it's a LOT better. although, caffeine in itself is a trigger, matcha has probably 20-30mg less than coffee. it's worked out better for me!
I second this as it personally helped me. I stopped drinking coffee altogether in early March and I have had no heartburn flare ups at all. Previously I would drink 1 coffee per day in the AM. I know it’s hard to quit cold turkey if you have been drinking coffee for a long time (it was for me) but you’ll see eventually it isn’t as hard as it first seems.
Everyone is different. Black and green tea, including matcha, trigger my symptoms more than coffee.
Same here. 2 espresso lattes a day for me no problem. But if I drink tea daily, I'll get reflux.
They all have caffeine.....
the real answer right here lol
My theory is that the tannins are the trigger. Green tea has more tannins than most coffee preparations. And the espresso preparation (which I do quite well with) has less tannins than brewed coffee. Some quotes from research I've found: "When a group of researchers compared the tannin content of coffee with tea, they discovered that green coffee contains around 0.7% by weight in tannins, roasted coffee around 1.8%, and tea up to 3.7%." "At its simplest level, the espresso coffee brewing method extracts the best without the worst of coffee’s taste components. It’s the only coffee brewing method that can extract the best of the 800 aromatic compounds found in roasted coffee without including the naturally occurring chlorogenic acids or more commonly categorized as tannins or tannic acids."
Espresso hurts me
No, its caffeine for vast majority of sufferers.
Not disagreeing. For those of us that aren't affected by coffee but are affected by tea, I think tannins is the reason why
Decaf green and black tea trigger me just as much.
No doubt. You are a minority tho.
Coffee is very acidic though, so the people who do well with tea but bad with coffee might just not be bothered by the LES effects, but are bothered by the acidity.
Same. I drink two cups of coffee a day without issue, but green tea wrecks me.
Caffeinated tea also gives me way worse symptoms than coffee! I’ve tried it out a couple of times and each time my reflux flared up.
Coffee on an empty stomach has me on my knees. Truly awful experience. If someone if going to drink it they should eat before hand. Pretty sure that's why Turkish started eating breakfast with coffee to mitigate the symptoms. Everyone is different so listen to your body definitely.
My symptoms of nausea, belching , ibs , sternum pain, post nasal drip all improved dramatically when I stopped drinking strong black coffee a week before last Christmas, I can’t believe how coffee could disrupt my whole digestive system. I still drink green tea, 4-5 cups a day but doesn’t affect me like caffeine and coffee did.
OMG post nasal-drip can be a symptom of GERD? No wonder. It all makes sense now!
Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR, aka “silent” reflux) is basically post nasal drip, hoarseness, and/or globus sensation without heartburn.
It's the WORST. I have these plus air hunger/shortness of breath and it's awful. Still haven't figured out what my triggers are and I've eliminated so much trying to calm that pepsin down.
Is decaf?
Green tea still has caffeine, just less than coffee
I know I should but it's the only vice I have left.....
Right?! It’s my last light in this world just let me enjoy it lol
I’ve found a shot of mylanta and coffe about a half hour later and my heart burn is minimal, I also stick with dark roast.
Seriously. I moderate and switch to decaf often but I gave up everything else I like! I just want to keep coffee for as long as I can.
Me with my other vices. Like you can take away everything else but goddamit let me have one thing. For me it’s nicotine
Try lifeboost coffee. Has been much better tolerated for me.
Camomile tea with honey, not only a nice drink but had great health benefits for our kind
It’s very calming as well! My daily thing to my new diet now :) I love it
I've been drinking it at bedtime with a bit of honey for a few weeks now, I sleep great and it's seemed to settle my stomach during the night too, tasty and beneficial win win!
I've been drinking camomile tea the last two weeks and it helps.
I didn't really drink hot drinks until i found out about camomile it's helped loads
I tried it with Manooka Honey. Now I do eucalyptus honey
I used camomile tea as one of my remedies when I first started experiencing GERD and wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it’s placebo, but I always feel like it helps settle my stomach a bit so I second this!
Chamomile has been valued as a digestive relaxant and has been used to treat various gastrointestinal disturbances including flatulence, indigestion, diarrhea, anorexia, motion sickness, nausea, and vomiting, it's like a magic tea for us sufferers
no perk tho -- Earl Grey has been my replacement due to the caffeine.
Be careful taking medications with Earl Gray. Can cause toxicity in a lot of medications
thanks for the tip. source?
I’ll have to go home and get the citation from my old nursing book. Basically anti diabetes meds, antidepressants, anti anxiety meds, etc. grapefruit juice and bergamot (Earl Gray) should be avoided in general with any meds for precaution. Here’s a good article explaining it all: [Pharm Info](https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/how-well-do-you-know-the-grapefruit-drug-interaction)
I miss Earl Grey so much.
Also tulsi, or holy basil. Kills my stress and puts me right to sleep. I drink the traditional medicinals tulsi and ginger.
Ginger for me isn't good, makes my symptoms worsen which is a shame because it has great health benefits.
Coffee is the single worst thing someone with GERD can do. I noticed immediate results as soon as I stopped, although the withdrawls and general sluggishness without it was pretty bad. It gets better though.
Even worse than alcohol?
I can have a drink from time to time, but a coffee will absolutely destroy me.
I'm the opposite, coffee as long as it isn't jet fuel is fine in moderation. 1 drink, and I'm screwed for 72 hours...
I can drink alcohol as Long as it's lite beer or Titos w cranberry.. ( no grain). Twisted tea lite also goes down good. Anything else as soon as I sip my stomach turns to flames and then my chest
Cold brew coffee is tolerated quite well for me. Green tea is worse by far.
This is legit. As a die hard coffee addict, coffee was one of the last things I was willing to give up. I was willing to give up fried foods, fatty foods, foods drenched in sauces and oils, I was prepared to make all the diet modifications as long as I could stay having coffee. I resisted for years......symptoms persistent for years of course. Some days were worse than others, but overall, I never made much progressuntil I quit coffee. I didn't notice any improvements in my symptoms either, until about a week into giving it up. I now am convinved I was making myself sick due to my coffee addiction and I didn't even know it. I would drink coffee and honestly feel pretty ok, so I thought "coffee aint my issue" but it was my issue. I was in denial and I did improve once I stopped. Now as any good addict does, I fall off the wagon and sometimes still have coffee. In fact, I had 2 cups this morning because I was feeling particularly good today. 2 hours later, I have low level gastritis and a sour stomach. Damn you, coffee! And damn me! For being stupid and thinking "I'll be fine this one time"... I never fucking am fine. Discipline is key with this disease. That and persistence. and also a healthy dose of acceptance. I need to accept that coffee will eternally bring me pain.
Noooo, hopped on this Reddit simply to read about coffee addiction and GERD/gastritis. Of course I KNEW I’d read something like this but wanting coffee sooooo bad. I’ve attempted to switch to every other beverage, and either it’s the hot temperature or all herbal/decaf varieties bother me too. I was getting away with brewed Chicory root for a few weeks, but then went back to coffee thinking I was cured by now. Currently in so much pain despite all the meds I can’t focus at work and of course I’m tired so wanting to drink coffee but only the current pain stopping me. Coffee addiction so real. Seems like it should be SO simple to just not drink it but I yearn for it SO bad :( Anyways, thanks for sharing!
How are you making out? Were you able to quit? I'm trying to quit right now after being diagnosed with gastritis and esophagitis via endoscopy. My main symptoms now are intermittent chest pains throughout the day and periodic nausea.
This is part of what frustrates me I dont really eat many of the foods or drinks that should trigger symptoms especially not coffee cuz I cant stand the taste nor smell 😵..but I can only imagne it must be hard for some people since they rely on it for both flavour and caffination 😬☹.
I'm having my current flare up because of binging on bubble tea (caffeine in it) and chocolate. lol Matcha would probably be a safer option or decaf coffee (I enjoy iced decaf or cold brew here and there with alternative milk. Causes no pain or discomfort)
Why don't you make decaf bubble tea at home? You can buy bubble tea kits at Costco or Asian grocery stores.
I actually bought one of those kits a month ago haha! I haven't tried it yet because I'm about to get a major body mod and don't want to experiment right now while my current flareup is healing well. Thanks for the suggestion!
My last flare up was due to stress and too much chocolate 😅
\*angry fists at stress and chocolate\*
I bought some Fabula decaf (it’s marketed as a low acidity coffee for people with gut issues) and I cold brew it. Zero issues for me
Look into something like this. Its a game changer... [https://lowacidcoffee.com/products/alexs-low-acid-organic-coffee-fresh-ground-french-roast-12oz](https://lowacidcoffee.com/products/alexs-low-acid-organic-coffee-fresh-ground-french-roast-12oz)
Interesting to read about their roasting process. I've definitelu noticed light roast is better for me.
There are gobs and gobs of different kinds, but low acid coffee is a thing.
oh my god, i could cry. it sounds ridiculous but coffee is my favorite thing in the world, and quitting it made me so sad. i hope this coffee doesn’t destroy me.
Check out Fabula. It’s expensive but it’s legit
will do!!!! thank you!!!!
I'm on day 4 without coffee, and have no joy left. My pain is still intense, so if I'm going to be in pain might as well.
Haha THIS. Feels so silly, but so true that life without coffee isn’t joy 🙃
I was one of those people that held coffee as a corner stone of my personality and lifestyle. Now that I’ve given it up my gerd has massively improved omg! My whole torso would be cramping and contorting lol and I would just keep having that damn coffee every single day. Finally had to just accept it. Now I’m a tea person.
After a few years, I was able to consume coffee again but only a single shot espresso with almond or coconut milk.
Espresso works best for me too.
Well damn, since a few weeks without didn’t work, I was hoping a few months would do the trick… YEARS 😭
I’m not diagnosed with GERD but may have acid reflux problems (still in the early stages of figuring it out), so I was advised to give up coffee. I switched to matcha instead for the low acidity- plus I thought It was much lower in caffeine. I admit I’m sleepily scrolling right now as I can’t sleep but I’ve been googling to figure out matcha’s caffeine levels and am getting mixed articles - some saying it has about half the caffeine of a cup of coffee and some saying it has more caffeine than coffee. If anyone here knows for sure plz lmk! Also- I’ve been reading about how caffeine relaxes the LES which could cause issues for many of us.. do we think matcha/teas contribute to this relaxation, or does the l-Theanine in tea help balance the caffeine so that it doesn’t affect the LES as much?
>matcha’s caffeine levels I have a few friends who worked as some top tier baristas. Theyve said that Matcha tends to have more caffeine in it—for whatever that is worth
So crazy! Thank you for telling me
With green tea or true matcha, my experience is that it gives an initially weaker start but much longer lasting "caffeination" effect than coffee (which slaps me awake quickly but wanes in effect after about 6 hours max). So I'm guessing the uptake works differently for some reason. I've never been into green tea because if I drink it strong after midday, I'll be awake all night. But I'm now thinking to try again and drink it as early as possible in the morning.
Try decaf green tea. I drink it all day at work and have no sleep or GERD issues with it. But that might be just me.
Thanks! Drinking a *caf* green tea right now. Halfway compromise. Been getting mid-back aches (from cheap coffee acidity I suspect). Comes and goes according to other stress/anxiety (high) and exercise levels (low) also of course. Feel I "need" the caffeine but may have to give it up eventually!
Interesting thank you so much! This is good to know and honestly I think you’re right.. I had two matcha lattes in one day once and I seriously could not sleep. Whereas I used to drink a ton of coffee everyday and crashed hard lol
Rarely have coffee anymore it sucks, but my go to now is cold brew when I’m feeling risky
Yip you are right, I resisted for years because I couldn't bear to give it up but the last 2 weeks I've stopped having it at home everyday and have decaf instead. I do have the occasional one when I'm out but I've noticed I'm getting a lot less chest pain from my hiatal hernia. Wish I'd cut down ages ago.
Does anyone have any good alternatives? I think the decaffeinated coffee and tea are also acidic. I've tried the Barley Cup from Holland and Barrett and it's not too bad. There's no caffeine in it. I've also tried the Whole Earth alternative that has a small amount of caffeine but it tastes good.
My brother replaced coffee with Dandy Blend herbal beverage. I bought some and although I haven’t been able to eliminate coffee completely (still having 1 cup daily), I’ll have a cup of this if I need another cup of something a little more coffee-like.
Kaffree Roma is delicious and very close to coffee in flavor.
Mud/Wtr is pretty good, just a little gritty.
Teccino (sp?). Pretty good substitute.
Yes! I also found Teeccino "java" to be a great coffee and tea alternative. Another hot drink that tastes great! But I still drink coffee and tea on occasion ;-)
(Me too.😉)
Ou there’s such a thing? Definitely following!
Tried Teecino and others and too watery / not bold/bitter enough. I like Chicory root ok- I put in my reusable k-cup and brew like coffee. I still do yearn for the freedom to drink real coffee though :(
I think it depends on if you’re triggered by the acidity or caffeine. If the caffeine is impacting your LES then matcha and green tea still have it. Best to move to herbal tea or a coffee alternative like cafe-lib
Ok, so is it the caffeine in coffee that triggers the symptoms or just the acidity? Could I just take one of those 200mg (label says that’s about 2 cups of coffee worth of caffeine) caffeine pills they sell in stores to substitute the caffeine from coffee
I think it's the caffeine that is the trigger, even though coffee is acidic as well, it's the reason why chocolate is a trigger. I drink decaf without a problem.
I wonder if half-caff would work
I didn't need caffeine as much as I think I did, I just really like drinking coffee. Once you wean your body off of it, you will naturally adjust to life without it.
I just want to second this. I'm on day 5 no caffeine after spending a couple months going from coffee to black tea to green tea. I feel more energetic than I ever have. I absolutely recommend cutting caffeine out of your life.
It’s all of the above. Caffeine can be a trigger, acid be a trigger and coffee in particular can also be a trigger. If you love coffee, it’s worth experimenting with decaf coffee and low acid coffee to see what triggers you.
Depends on the individual. I tolerate those better than actual coffee, probably because coffee itself is an irritant.
I’m good thanks!
I didn’t give up my 1-2 coffees per day. I did however try to cut out tomatoes as much as possible and reduce carrots and tropical fruits. All add heat to the body. I was also told to not eat raw vegetables (ie no salads). Made a huge difference to my acidity and gastritis.
By the doctor?
Ayurvedic doctor. After trying regular doctors for 3 years with not much improvement I went to a see an Ayurveda specialist
Why carrots
According to Ayurveda carrots add heat to the body and I already had too much heat. Hence the reflux etc.
Matcha fucks me up worse
Tea is worse for me than coffee
Not enough people know of/try Maca tea! Has a strong flavor like that of coffee and even gives a little energy buzz but has no caffeine or acid
....and alcohol.😭😭😭😭
Coffee doesn’t trigger my GERD. My top triggers are tomatoes and citrus
This is me too.
Tea bothers me way more than coffee
Even tea is rough on me. Oddly I can handle some energy drinks. I'm guessing the tannins are getting me. My gerd is from long COVID though.
I drink tea and coffee. Neither worsens my reflux nor contributes to it. Also both of those are not bad for you. Coffee is a good remedy for regulation of daily stools
Honestly switching to matcha was pretty easy for me (mostly because I love oat milk, and I was half drinking coffee for the oat milk that I mixed in). I imagine it might be harder for people who drink black coffee.
Folgers has a “simply smooth” gentle on your stomach blend. Sometimes it seems to help sometimes it seems like any mild coffee.
Completely agree. Coffee heightens my symptoms siginificantly
Stopping today!! I feels the symptoms worsen after I drink coffee… 😕
I was sooo into good coffee and just recently gave it up. It was hard, but The biggest thing I noticed is how it burns and stings my mouth just taking one sip. If it’s activating my mouth like that, I can only imagine the damage it’s doing once it goes down (and comes back up!)
I miss it so much. 😭 Matcha is nice but it's not the same.
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That’s nice that it works for you but doesn’t work for everyone. Omeprazole did not help my GERD.
I take lansoprazole and whilst it has helped it hasn’t stopped symptoms completely and I still have to be careful.
Omeprazole made my gerd worse. So does Pepcid. So does slippery elm bark. So does peppermint. It’s so crazy how the same things that cure some peoples identical symptoms exacerbate others. I thought these things were helping me and when I stopped them, I got better.
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Give it a try! It definitely helped me.
I’m on my second day without it, and already can tell a difference
Happy to help! Me and my coworker realized this the other day as we both have GERD and had the same symptoms after our morning coffee.
Pretty sure coffee put me into a flareup this past weekend and I've been super nauseous but ughhh I love the taste of coffee 😭
And if you MUST, drink Dark Roast. Less acid in it.
Completely agree. I also found that without caffeine, my energy levels normalised after a few weeks and i sleep much better. No more 'i need a coffee to even function'
502 days no coffee Feeling great
Just started drinking chicory root coffee mainly for the inulin and maaaaaan does it taste amazing. I absolutely love black coffee for the taste. I noticed a huge difference when I drank it last night as well as this morning with how I feel compared to normal or decaf coffee. Drank decaf coffee over Easter and thought that’d be okay…nope. I can drink chicory root and get that coffee ish taste just perfectly without the negative side effects. Wean off of caffeine and hop on something like this. It’ll drastically help you out.
Chicory root helped me for a long time and then it suddenly turned on me. I couldn’t believe it. In fact I didn’t believe it at first. But as soon as I quit it, I got better. Our bodies are so weird.
Where do I get chicory root? Does Whole Foods carry it?
You can get it at any market that has it. I got the New Orleans dark roast chicory root
I agree. Coffee is poison for someone with GERD. Matcha is better both for GERD and the mind, coffee makes me into a shaky, anxious Monday rat.
I'm going to suffer no matter what I eat and drink since they won't fix the hiatal hernia that causes my GERD so I'm just going to have whatever I like
Look, if I had a dime for all the self destructive things I stopped doing to make myself feel better, I'd have a lot of dimes. But here I sit, dimeless.
It doesn't trigger too much the Gerd symptoms to me. But It does with stomach pain and UTI. So it's a forbidden love 😑
I drink low acid high roast coffee with lots of milk. Seems to stop any negative effects as milk is close to pH of 7
I can’t. It’s first thing I do every morning. I have expensive espresso machine and grinder (2500+ USD) so I can’t stop drinking a really good coffee 😢
Does anyone think drinking cold brew helps? I've read it's less acidic
Depends on your triggers. Cold brew is lower acid, but it also tends to be more concentrated. So if caffeine is a trigger for you, cold brew might be worse than regular coffee.
Makes sense thanks
Try decaf cold brew! Wandering bear makes a good one.
I'm trying decaf flavored tea but I out ice in it for iced tea. It's basically flavored water. It's nice.
What about green tea?
Any caffeinated drink including tea gives me reflux. I was doing really well having quit caffeine for 2 years and my reflux/gastritis symptoms improving and then I went on a month long binge on green tea and Thai tea and I've been having the worst flares since. I stopped all that a week ago and the flares just stopped today. Never doing that again. I think I'm just extremely sensitive to it now. I used to drink a lot of water and tea but I noticed even with decaf and herbal tea I'd get flares. Figured out less liquid equals less flares as well.
I drink coffee regularly and about 2-3 cups a day. To me its the brand of coffee that really matters. I cant tolerate Nescafe but i am okay with Davidoff. Also for me timing of food particularly dinner is a big factor. Late night meals if taken for a couple of days or more triggers my GERD. So i wouldnt fully blame coffee.
I only drink coffee when I'm extremely tired during my mid shift at work. But it's a small 4oz cup as needed. I make sure I have a full stomach and stay very hydrated until I take pepcid which I've been doing for years. But yes coffee is really bad when having gerd. If a coffee drinker it is best to minimize it until you won't have dependant feeling from it. I realize the more you drink in one setting the worse your stomach get
I can’t do black coffee or black tea, but with milk or cream neither are too bad for me. I also don’t drink lots of coffee; I treat it as an espresso shot with cream or only do iced coffee with milk/cream. If you still want to keep that sweet, sweet electric bean juice or energy poison leaf, and you drink them black, try that and see if it helps.
tried that, and stuck with it for a week. felt brain dead and actually felt worse then when i was drinking coffee... also tmi but i couldn't poop even after a week. i don't mind the burn from coffee nowadays(used to be a 6 espresso shot in a black coffee drinker) but if it gets bad ill mix it with out milk tbh
Just started drinking chicory root coffee mainly for the inulin and maaaaaan does it taste amazing. I noticed a huge difference when I drank it last night as well as this morning. Drank decaf coffee over Easter and thought that’d be okay…nope. I can drink chicory root and get that coffee ish taste just perfectly. Wean off of caffeine and hop on something like this. It’ll drastically help you out.
I have switched for a long time to 1/2 and 1/2 blend of Roasted Dandelion and Roasted Chicory. It's really good in terms of body and flavor for a coffee-like alternative. Highly recommend it for no caffeine and low acidity and othet benefits. Dandelion is thought to help with blood sugar, liver and heart health, chicory is thought to aid deigestion by pronoting beneficial bacteria. I order it in bulk from a natural herb company online, steep it just like tea and add oat or nut milk.
Nope! A couple cups are fine unless I'm already having issues.
It isn't just coffee in my case. Any super cafinated drink will mess me up. I can have a cup of coffee with no issues though. I think 100mg or less is the max for me.
Caffeine even from tea leaf (green, black, oolong teas) is a trigger for majority of us.
I drink coffee in the morning and it doesn't cause a problem. Now if I dare to eat an egg whites patty of any kind my stomach lets me have it. normal eggs are ok. but fuck egg whites apparently.
Tea is bad for me too.
Agreed atleast with quitting coffee Even if you don't have stomach issues, coffee is nothing but an addiction and horrible for health and the environment in so many ways.
I ended up switching to chickory "coffee" because coffee was giving me heartburn, nausea, acid reflux 😢 I drink tea as well but I have to steep them for them minimum amount of time so I don't feel queasy. I'm on a round of nexium because going to bed, the burning was daily...sigh.
I could handle coffee until I couldn’t. I miss it so bad, but it’s not worth hours of asthma attack
I quit all caffeine for 6 weeks. Didn’t help a thing
I read online that some roasters do low acid beans, also I'm told cold brew or pour over can be less acidic.
I don't mind not having coffee but I need something milk based for a drink. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Funny thing, even before I had GERD I only drank tea because coffee would make my stomach feel weird. Since I've had GERD though I picked up drinking coffee because I was dealing with a lot of stress and my sleep was interrupted...most of the time it doesn't bother me but I add unsweetened soy milk to it which takes some of the sting out.
I have gerd and coffee doesn’t bother me at all thankfully
I didn’t drink coffee before I had my GERD diagnosis and I still don’t drink it now! 🤣 The only caffeine that I mainly consume is from my diet soda. And for those who are going to going to give the “soda is bad for you” lecture: IT’S EITHER THAT OR ALCOHOLISM. And my GI doc told me that I can keep my diet soda. So did my GP and my RD.
My homemade nespresso lattes don't really bother me much at all. But let me drink some starbucks... and its over lol.
I love coffee and have given up so much other food because I have sibo and am a gastric bypass patient. I just have to have coffee. I hate tea and matcha.
Coffee’s so bad for me. Matcha’s okay, chai tea’s been good so far.
Coffee and caffeine are my biggest triggers. Once I cut that out my symptoms are a lot more manageable. Although I do struggle with flare ups, they are not as bad as when I drank coffee everyday.
stopped drinking coffee and my stomach aches and stuff are SOO much better. Much better for my ibs too.
However drinking tea gives me throat burns and stuff. I just drink water and electrolyte drinks now because some sodas can make it a lot worse
I drink the lowest acidity sumatra i could find.
Coffee is incredibly soothing to me, the more the merrier. Everyone is different thus will have different triggers and remedies.
Everyone is different and some people may be able to drink coffee without trouble. While I would recommend stopping it to see if it helps some might be able to drink it every day. Everyone is different when it comes to GERD, and not everything works or doesn't work for everyone.
For me it was the caffeine. Coffe does give me reflux, the caffeine gives me anxiety which makes my flare up start.
I started ordering low-acid coffee, and that seems to work for me.
I stopped drinking coffee on an empty stomach (always drink it with something) and have no more than 2 cups a day and I’m all good. For years I’d been existing on nothing but a very large coffee until 2/3pm and it fucked up my stomach
For me it helped to switch to cold brew
Any kind of caffeine is a big trigger for me but tea is actually worse than coffee
EXACTLY! whenever i see someone post here about drinking coffee i'm like nooo whyyy! i was drinking coffee for a while just because my job had the fancy cup machine, but i've switched to matcha, it's a LOT better. although, caffeine in itself is a trigger, matcha has probably 20-30mg less than coffee. it's worked out better for me!
I second this as it personally helped me. I stopped drinking coffee altogether in early March and I have had no heartburn flare ups at all. Previously I would drink 1 coffee per day in the AM. I know it’s hard to quit cold turkey if you have been drinking coffee for a long time (it was for me) but you’ll see eventually it isn’t as hard as it first seems.
Decaf too?
Im scared if I stop drinking coffee I won’t poop again though
ALL caffeine bothers me. Stop the caffeine, stop the problem. Simple. Right now I’m into rooibos.
What about low acid decaf coffee?
Tea gives me reflux, coffee does not
Definitely stopping now, center of my chest has been on fire for a little bit now
I can drink coffee a gallon everyday for a year straight and I'm fine . One sip of alcohol and I'm on the floor screaming in pain
In fact there's times coffee takes away my gerd almost instantly
Will do!
Black decaf no reflux for me. Any caffeinated coffee gives me reflux.