For over a decade I’ve had on-and-off heartburn. But mostly it was no big deal—just one of those discontents of modernity—until a few years ago, when out of nowhere I started to have acid reflux.
Not just any acid reflux—it was nasty. I’d wake up with pains shooting through my entire body. Or not be able to fall asleep at all. I’d have to sit up completely upright, and sometimes wait a bit, for it to subside.
I was really worried about it. I’d go running and seemed to feel my damaged esophagus as I ran. In the spring I scheduled an appointment for an esophagogastroduodenoscopy—for a gastroenterologist to send a camera down my throat to see what was going on.
But then I took a trip to Mexico. And, as one does in Mexico, while there I drank only bottled water.
After the first few days I noticed that I had no acid reflux. For the rest of my two weeks there I had no reflux. It was very noticeable.
When I got back to Seattle, I cancelled the endoscopy appointment. It was clear that some difference between my life in the U.S. and how I lived in Mexico for a few weeks was causing my reflux.
At first I tried to keep as many things as I could the same. I ate Mexican food; I drank water out of large bottles like the garrafones used in Mexico; I slept on the couch instead of in my bed.
Over time I returned to my more usual cuisine. And I started sleeping in my bed again. No reflux. I switched from bottled water to filtered water. No reflux.
Except… I still did have occasional nights. Like one night in a month.
And I’ve realized that it always correlates to when I drink water from a source I don’t know is filtered, such as water from a cafe, or times when I’ve cooked using tap water.
When I cooked using filtered water, I had no issues.
That convinced me: it’s the water.
Seattle’s water comes from the Cedar River and, according to Seattle Public Utilities, is treated thus:
- Screened to remove debris
- Chlorinated to remove microbial contaminants, such as bacteria and viruses
- Fluoridated for dental health protection
- Ozonated for odor and taste improvements and Giardia control
- Disinfected with ultraviolet light to disable microbial contaminants such as chlorine-resistant Cryptosporidium
- Supplemented with lime for pH adjusted corrosion control to minimize lead leaching in older plumbing systems.
One of these treatments is likely what my body is reacting to. And it’s almost certainly the chlorination: not only do I clearly smell the chlorine in the water, but my Brita filter is capable of removing it, but not fluoride.
One anomaly is that cooking with tap water seems to cause the reflux. Seattle City Utilities say they chlorinate with “‘free chlorine’”, as opposed to chloramines, so in theory it should be removable by boiling.
I suppose the rate of degassing of chlorine while boiling lentils is a question as yet unexplored by science. Or perhaps the chlorine remains dissolved in water absorbed by the legumes.
Another possibility is that it is not the chlorine itself, but one of the many hundreds of possible disinfection byproducts, or perhaps another contaminant also removed by an activated charcoal filter (or by sitting in a filter pitcher for hours) that is causing my reflux.
But for now, I’m glad to have found a way to eliminate this terrible problem. It hung like a cloud over my life, and to find a resolution to it has been a wonderful thing. That’s why I find myself writing about my digestive woes on my blog: to share what has been a revolution in my health, and such a simple thing, in case it helps someone else.
