The Health Reasons Diet

Health is something you take for granted in your youth.

In short, I feel old. I've been feeling this way for quite some time now, like every time I start yawning when the clock strikes 10:30pm, or when I think to myself that my siblings will turn deaf by the time they reach my age if they keep listening to their sounds at that volume. But I finally have proof that, indeed, my age has caught up to me.

I had dinner with my cousin last week at Jack's Loft and ordered my usual pasta meal: penne in tomato cream sauce. It was a Monday night and it had been a stressful day, so when she said, "I think I'll get a drink," I decided what the heck, I'd get a cocktail too. So I ordered my usual cocktail, a tequila sunrise. We had a pleasant chat over dinner, I felt slightly buzzed from the drink, but nothing I couldn't handle.

Until 3 A.M. rolled in and I found myself heaving into the toilet bowl, leaning against it as if it was my best friend. Actually, we did become best friends because I found myself hanging out with it four more times that day, even if I could heave no more. All the while I thought to myself, "I am never drinking again!" I went so far as to take a two-hour nap in the office's clinic, hoping I could sleep off the hangover.

I knew it wasn't a hangover when I ran a fever, had to go home, and couldn't eat a thing. I knew for sure it wasn't a hangover when, the next day, I still couldn't eat and was feeling nauseated even after naps. So the next day, I went to see the doctor, and after a long line of questioning, he finally told me, "It seems like you have a gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD."

Say what?? The only way I could explain it was in comparison to hyperacidity: if hyperacidity is when your stomach produces too much acid, this GERD means my body expels the acid, usually by belching and you can generally taste something acidic near the throat. Once he said that, I realized he was right. And I thought my constant burping after meals was normal-- apparently, that was the acid reflux in action.

As a consequence, I now have to make changes in my lifestyle and diet. No skipping meals-- even if I don't skip meals, I do have a tendency of eating very late. Lunch at almost 2PM, dinner at 10PM. None of that now. I also have to eat something every two to three hours, even if it's just crackers.

Best of all, I have to avoid the following, as they stimulate acid production in the body: caffeine, milk, softdrinks, alcoholic beverages, acidic and spicy foods. The doctor says I can still take them, as long as I've eaten a real meal before doing so, but I can't have them frequently. In any case, I'm still choosing to avoid them because I noticed that since I obeyed my doctor's orders, the condition seems to be more under control. I keep drinking water now, and I have crackers with me at all times, and I'm realizing that I don't need caffeine and sweets to function. Now if I lose some weight in the process, that would be great!

Oh, and with that list, I figured out what happened to me on Monday night: it turns out that tomato is considered acidic food, and partnered with the alcohol, it was a double whammy and my acid-producers probably went wild. It made me realize that when I was younger, I never thought of these things, how the things I ate could be the cause of a real illness and not just an upset stomach. Controlling my diet seemed like something I would do in mid-life, not quarter-life. But I guess there's no age limit to being healthy and taking care of your body.

Lesson learned? There's no day like today to start eating on time, getting enough sleep, and turning down the volume of the stereo!