Do you still recommend people getting their stomach acid tested? Is it very accurate? Page 27 of my heartburn/GERD e-book. I like the idea that people get to see a solid result to get them on board with treatment.

Chris Kresser:  That testing, I’m not sure. I think you’re in the U.K., Justine. I’m not sure how available the Heidelberg acid test is in the U.K., but it’s difficult to find here, so we’ve only had a small fraction of our patients get that kind of testing, and I don’t think it’s necessary. If you look at the comments for any post that I publish related to GERD, so for example, I’m sure many of you just saw the recent post that I did on updated research on the adverse effects of PPIs. Look through the comment section of that and see how many people have been able to make dietary changes and completely reverse their GERD without using PPIs, even after long-term PPI use. So, it’s definitely possible to get people to make changes even without having those test results, and they’re pretty difficult to come by, around here at least.