Norm Robillard, Ph.D Website: https://digestivehealthinstitute.org (free ebook, "Gut Microbes and Digestive Health - Fast Tract Diet 101" is available for download) Books: Fast Tract Digestion Heartburn: https://amzn.to/2ApSBFS Fast Tract Digestion IBS: https://amzn.to/2LORML8 Mobile app: Fast Tract Diet (available on Google Play and iTunes) named Best Gut Health App of the year by Healthline http://bit.ly/2AGuFsD Consultation via phone & Skype in the US and internationally: http://bit.ly/2dPhBJx The BEST way to absorb your Magnesium: https://livingthegoodlifenaturally.com Use Coupon Code LTH for 10% off!   Acid Reflux http://learntruehealth.com/acid-reflux Most of us resort to taking medications whenever we have acid reflux or digestive issues. And more often than not, we either get too addicted to drugs or our digestive problem doesn’t go away at all.  Well, I’ve got great news! Apparently, we can solve our digestive upset and even reverse gut issues with food and my guest, Dr. Norm Robillard, Ph.D. will teach us how. Personal Experience Dr. Norm Robillard has his own story with chronic acid reflux. Through his personal experience, he realized there were some connections between acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome. “There’s a study that showed pretty conclusively that people with IBS have something going on with too many bacteria in the small intestine, possibly even excessive fermentation,” shares Dr. Norm Robillard. “I spent most of my career in biotech. But at that time, I was suffering from chronic acid reflux. I had a minimal idea of what it was and what caused it. Plus, I also had no idea if it had a connection to diet.” Then in 2004, something accidentally happened to Dr. Norm Robillard. Through the influence of his son who was an athletic trainer, Dr. Norm Robillard went on a low carbohydrates diet. He was amazed that his acid reflux went away! Deeper Research When Dr. Norm Robillard’s acid reflux went away just by changing his diet, he started reading about it and discovered that carbohydrates somehow cause heartburn and acid reflux. “I studied how the three food groups are digested—fats, proteins and carbs. Bacteria love carbohydrates,” Dr. Norm Robillard said. “They prefer carbohydrates as a food source, and they produce a lot of gas. It is also well-known that people with GERD have more pressure in the stomach.” But Dr. Norm Robillard says the good thing is, it opens up new treatment options. There are ways of controlling the reflux itself while keeping stomach acid in good health. He further explains that it’s called acid reflux because essentially, what’s in your stomach is refluxing into your esophagus. If it happens a lot, then it’s a chronic condition. Heartburn, on the other hand, is one of the significant symptoms of reflux. “So that’s how I got into it. I couldn’t work in drugs anymore and work on creating diet strategies, behavioral and cause analysis,” said Dr. Norm Robillard. The Right Diet Dr. Norm Robillard admits that a plant-based diet is challenging because of a lot of highly fermentable materials. Legumes and certain starches, for example, are very fermentable and will cause bloating and belching. Add on to that; there are harder to digest carbohydrates and people who are lactose-intolerant usually have a hard time. Fiber can also be an issue as well as sugar alcohols because they cause G.I. distress. Another is resistant starch which behaves like dietary fiber. “Bottomline, as you increase this load, you have a higher chance of having symptoms. But also, if your digestion is out of whack, you don’t digest carbs as well,” Dr. Norm Robillard explains. “There’s a whole variety of things that can affect how well your small intestines work.  Even drugs. On top of that, if you have consumed more than you are capable of digesting, that can cause symptoms as well.”  Fast Tract Digestion Dr. Norm Robillard has gathered all the information he learned from the past 14 years and compiled it in a book