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Most of us have graduated from the season in life where we have to go on dates and worry all the time about impressions, but hopefully most of you still make time to go out from time to time to see the sights, take in a good movie, or to dine on tasty cuisine.<\/p>\n
A reader and Acid Reflux client of mine had commented that he and his wife of 45 years go out at least a couple times a month for their regular \u201cdate nights,\u201d but lately have been not going as much.<\/p>\n
He explained that his wife hadn\u2019t been as interested in going out and was campaigning more and more to just stay home with a video and some home cooking.<\/p>\n
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He thought originally it was because she was being a good steward of their finances and trying to keep the entertainment budget down during the recession. He was a little disappointed, though, because he always loved date night and the chance to get out with his \u201cbeautiful bride.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he opened up about how she spilled the \u201cbeans.\u201d She had been avoiding public dates because of a habit he had developed that was worsening\u2026a lot of post-meal burping and flatulence.<\/p>\n
He had noticed it but didn\u2019t think anyone else had, but when he pressed her on why she was suddenly not interested in going out she said she didn\u2019t want to hurt his feelings, but it\u2019s gotten to be too embarrassing.<\/p>\n
He was floored. And then came the questions\u2026Why did you wait so long to tell me? Why does this only happen when we go out and not at home? What is causing the problem, anyway?<\/p>\n
Like most people who have lived in the same area for most of their lives, they had their favorite restaurants and their favorite dishes at each. They had been pretty loyal to not only the dining establishments but the specific menu items at each place.<\/p>\n
Consequently, he didn\u2019t think anything of it when he started having gastrointestinal disruptions after eating the food he\u2019s loved for many years. After all, he\u2019d survived just fine for more than 60 years on his ol\u2019 standbys, so why fix something that isn\u2019t broken?<\/p>\n
She sure thought something was broken, though. That\u2019s why she preferred to do the cooking\u2026she had noticed that when he ate certain meals, she was in for a whopper of an embarrassing evening afterwards. So if they stayed home, she could control what went on the plate, and therefore into his mouth.<\/p>\n
The culprits? Beans, peppers, potatoes, hamburger buns, and carbonated beverages. Where there used to be a cast-iron stomach before in his younger days now was replaced with a temperamental bag of gas. His favorite foods had become the enemy. She knew it, but was too afraid of hurting his feelings to bring it up.<\/p>\n
As we age, our tummy\u2019s ability to squelch the belch weakens along with the sphincter at the end of the esophagus that guards the entrance to the stomach. More air gets in, added to a weaker ability to digest foods that were formerly no problem, and wham! A cacophony of malodorous sound begins. And that\u2019s just the burping part.<\/p>\n
From the other end, the carbohydrate-loaded foods were finding it easier and easier with his aging digestion to turn the body\u2019s normal process of digestion into a compressed gas cylinder factory.<\/p>\n
His wife had been completely changing his diet at home, and that helped a lot. But when they went out, she had no control over what he would order. She\u2019d make recommendations, sure, but he apparently figured she was just buying into those \u201corganic tree-huggers\u2019 messages\u201d and dismissed it as so much fad nonsense.<\/p>\n
His reason for writing was not just to talk about what he could and could not eat anymore. Rather it was to bring some awareness to others in his situation that while a rumbling of gasses might be cute and funny for the grandkids, it\u2019s no laughing matter when you still have a ton of romance left with your one true love and suddenly eruptions come to crash your date like an evil third wheel.<\/p>\n
More importantly, he discovered after the gas conversation (which led to an appointment with the doctor) that he had developed Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD. So his new diet had taken on even more importance because of the added health consequences.<\/p>\n
His comments were in support of the guide and to thank us for helping to save the romance on date night.<\/p>\n