My new book has now come that will help me work out which foods will cure my acid reflux. I’ve never been one to advocate diets because in some not all cases, they do more harm than good; but I feel I have been left with no choice. I have struggled on and off with reflux for twenty years now.

To me this is about my ability to stay well. It’s a wellness diet that will allow me to start living my life without worrying about reflux. I cannot truly remember a time without having it and although through my moments of clarity it wasn’t something I had all the time; it probably seemed like it was.

Not only is it getting hard for me to live anything like a normal life, the enormity of living with reflux scares me; because it can be very damaging to health. It’s quite a scary thought, but if in the long term I can cure myself from this horrible disease and live a more normal life, then it’s something I have to do.

I also know that cutting out food groups can be detrimental and not always a good idea, but I think that as I get to grips with knowing what works for me, I can experiment and add more foods into the equation. I remember my mother telling me a story about my grandfather who absolutely loved both chocolate cake and tomatoes and although he knew eating them gave him a reaction, he still insisted on eating them.

I think I have had too many reactions in my life now to know it’s time to let go. I would have let go sooner if I knew what acid reflux was. I had no understanding of the disease. Whilst I have reflux, the food that I eat makes my stomach more acidic. The idea behind the diet is that I limit the amount of acidic food. I need to make my body more alkaline; the idea behind the diet is we stick to the PH values of food that alkaline the body.

And what works for one person with reflux won’t necessarily work for another. Some of the foods outlined in the book such as wheat pasta and bread can make reflux worse, yet it will probably be okay for others.

All I know is that I need to correct the problem. I need to give myself the best chance possible of recovery and this may just be it.