Combating Acid-Reflux

[Guest guest]

Dr. Mercola's article on how to get away with acidity, acid-reflux, ulcer, etc. Link: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/25/News-Flash-Acid-Reflux-Caused-by-Too-Little-Acid-Not-Too-Much.aspx

Acid Reflux Caused by Too Little Acid, Not Too Much...

Acid reflux is an extremely common health problem. So common in

fact, it affects one out of two of you watching this video. Other terms

used for this condition are gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD), or

peptic ulcer disease. Typically, acid reflux is thought to be caused by

having too much acid in your stomach.  

This is a serious medical mistake that affects hundreds of millions of people.  

What’s the REAL Cause of Acid Reflux? 

 

It’s important to understand that acid reflux is NOT a disease of

too much acid being produced, but rather it’s a condition related more

commonly to hiatal hernia – a condition in which the acid is coming out

of your stomach, where it’s supposed to remain.  

There’s a valve between your stomach and your small intestine called

the pyloric valve. When the acid in your stomach refluxes over that

valve, it causes symptoms very similar to those of acid reflux.  

Heartburn is the primary symptom of acid reflux; a burning sensation

that radiates up from your stomach to your chest and throat. It occurs

when food and stomach juices reflux up into your esophagus, which is

the tube that leads from your throat to your stomach. It’s typically

most bothersome at night, and tends to occur in connection with certain

activities, such as: 

 

After eating a heavy meal

 

Bending over

 

Lifting

 

Lying down, especially when laying on your back

Other symptoms include: 

Hoarseness A feeling that food is stuck in your throat Tightness in your throat Wheezing Asthma Dental problems Bad breath 

While I was in residency training in medical school in the early 80s, an Australian physician named Dr. Barry Marshall

did some pioneering work on acid reflux. He discovered that an organism

called helicobacter pylori (initially called campylobacter) causes a

chronic low-level inflammation of your stomach lining, and is

responsible, or at least a major factor, for producing many of the

symptoms of acid reflux. 

There are over 16,000 articles supporting the fact that suppressing

stomach acid does not treat the problem. It only treats the symptoms.

And one of the explanations for this is that when you suppress the

amount of acid in your stomach, you decrease your body’s ability to

kill the helicobacter bacteria. So it actually makes your condition

worse and perpetuates the problem. 

Of course now we have treatments such as antibiotics that are 

designed to eradicate that organism. However, I’ve found that it’s

virtually never necessary to use antibiotics, and I’ll share several

simple, effective strategies to eliminate the helicobacter without the

use of drugs. 

How to Wean Yourself Off Dangerous Acid Reflux Drugs  

If you suffer with this condition, and made the unwise choice of

seeing a conventional physician for it, you’ve likely been put on a

proton pump inhibitor like Prilosec or Prevacid.  

Please understand that these are very dangerous drugs. It’s the last thing you’ll want to take for this condition.  

Unfortunately, proton pump inhibitors are very popular because they

work quite well. However, you’ll develop both tolerance and dependence

on them, so you can’t stop taking them without suffering serious

repercussions. 

You should NEVER stop taking proton pump inhibitors cold turkey.

You have to wean yourself off them gradually or else you’ll experience

a severe rebound of your symptoms, and the problem may end up being

worse than before you started taking the medication. 

Ideally, you’ll want to get a lower dose than you’re on now, and

then gradually decrease your dose. Once you get down to the lowest dose

of the proton pump inhibitor, you can start substituting with an

over-the-counter H2 blocker like Tagamet, Cimetidine, Zantac, or

Raniditine. Then gradually wean off the H2 blocker over the next

several weeks. 

Safe and Effective Strategies That Can Eliminate Acid Reflux  

While you wean yourself off these drugs (if you’re already on one),

you’ll want to start implementing a lifestyle modification program that

can eliminate this condition once and for all.  

These strategies include: 

 

Eliminating food triggers -- Food allergies can be a problem,

so you’ll want to completely eliminate items such as caffeine, alcohol,

and all nicotine products.  

Increasing your body’s natural production of stomach acid -- Like I said earlier, acid reflux is not caused by too much acid in your stomach -- it’s usually a problem with too little

acid. One of the simplest strategies to encourage your body to make

sufficient amounts of hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) is to consume

enough of the raw material.  

One of the simplest, most basic food items that many people neglect is a high quality sea salt (unprocessed salt).  

I recommend eliminating processed, regular table salt for a lot of different reasons, all of which I’ve reviewed before. But an unprocessed salt like Himalayan salt

-- one of the best salts on the planet – will not only provide you with

the chloride your body needs to make hydrochloric acid, it also

contains over 80 trace minerals your body needs to perform optimally,

biochemically.  

Taking a hydrochloric acid supplement – Another option is to

take a betaine hydrochloric supplement, which is available in health

food stores without prescription. You’ll want to take as many as you

need to get the slightest burning sensation and then decrease by one

capsule. This will help your body to better digest your food, and will

also help kill the helicobacter and normalize your symptoms.  

Modifying your diet – Eating large amounts of processed foods

and sugars is a surefire way to exacerbate acid reflux as it will upset

the bacterial balance in your stomach and intestine. Instead, you’ll want to eat a lot of vegetables, and high quality, organic, biodynamic, and locally grown foods. You can also supplement with a high quality probiotic or make sure you include fermented foods in your diet. This will help balance your bowel flora, which can help eliminate helicobacter naturally.  

Optimizing your vitamin D levels -- As I’ve mentioned many

times in the past, vitamin D is essential, and it’s essential for this

condition as well because there’s likely an infectious component

causing the problem. Once your vitamin D levels are optimized, you’re also going to optimize your production of 200 antimicrobial peptides that will help your body eradicate any infections that shouldn’t be there.   

You’ll want to make sure your vitamin D level is about 60 ng/ml, and

I strongly recommend you use LabCorp, which is a high quality testing

facility.  

As I’ve discussed in many previous articles, you can increase your vitamin D levels through appropriate amounts of sun exposure, or through the use of a safe tanning bed.

If

neither of those are available, you can take an oral vitamin D3

supplement. However, whenever you use oral vitamin D, it’s imperative

you get tested regularly to make sure you’re not reaching toxic levels.

 

Implementing an exercise routine – Exercise is yet another way to improve your body’s immune system, which is imperative to fight off all kinds of infections.