Ever feel a burning sensation that starts in your stomach
and radiates up through your chest? This
sensation is known as acid reflux or “heartburn”, and is very common. Acid reflux affects about 50 percent of
Americans today. Gastroesophageal reflux
disease or Peptic Ulcer disease are other common terms for this condition as
well.
There is a misconception that acid reflux is cause by too
much acid in your stomach, and is conventionally treated with acid-blocking
medications. This misunderstood
condition adversely affects many people, as heartburn is actually caused by too
little acid.
When you swallow your food, it passes through
your esophagus and then into your stomach.
There is a muscular valve between your esophagus and stomach called the
lower esophageal sphincter (LES). After
food reaches the stomach, the LES closes, preventing food from moving back up
into the esophagus. Acid reflux occurs
when the LES relaxes inappropriately, allowing acid from your stomach to flow
(reflux) backward into your esophagus. It's important to understand that acid
reflux is not a disease caused by excessive acid production in your
stomach; rather it's a symptom more commonly related to:
• Hiatal
hernia
• Helicobacter
pylori (H. pylori) infection
Although a Hiatal hernia and H. pylori are unrelated, it is not
uncommon for an individual to have both conditions simultaneously. This can lead to chronic inflammation of the
stomach lining, and can eventually result in an ulcer. (Mercola)
Proton pump inhibitors (PPI’s) are the most
commonly prescribed drugs for heartburn and acid reflux, which designed to
block acid production in the stomach.
Since stomach acid is creeping up into your esophagus when you suffer
from acid reflux, it may make sense to most to block acid production in order
treat it. However, this is often the
worst approach possible, since it is typically caused by too little acid production
in the stomach.
There are over 16,000 articles in the medical
literature showing that suppressing stomach acid does not address the problem.
It only temporarily treats the symptoms.
PPIs like Nexium, Prilosec, and Prevacid were
originally designed to treat a very limited range of severe
problems. According to Mitchell Katz, director of the San Francisco Department
of Public Health, who wrote an editorial on this topic, proton pump inhibitors
(PPIs) are only warranted for the treatment of:
• Bleeding
ulcers
• Zollinger-Ellison
syndrome (a rare condition that causes your stomach to produce excess acid)
• Severe
acid reflux, where an endoscopy has confirmed that your esophagus is damaged
According to Katz, "about 60 to 70
percent of people taking these drugs have mild heartburn and shouldn't be on
them." Part of the problem with PPIs is that when you suppress the amount
of acid in your stomach, you decrease your body's ability to kill the
helicobacter bacteria. So if your heartburn is caused by an H. pylori
infection, it actually makes your condition worse and perpetuates the problem.
Besides that, reducing acid in your stomach diminishes your primary defense
mechanism for food-borne infections, which will increase your risk of food
poisoning. PPI drugs can also cause potentially serious side effects, including
pneumonia, bone loss, hip fractures, and
infection with Clostridium difficile (a harmful intestinal bacteria). (Katz)
There are
some natural ways to treat the actual cause of acid reflux, rather than just
suppress the symptoms. Balancing and
restoring the balance of bacteria in the GI tract is key. Having an unhealthy balance of good and bad
bacteria can promote overgrowth of harmful bacteria, and lead to infections,
such as H. pylori. This healthy balance is important not
only for relief of acid reflux, but also for optimal gut function and long-term
health as your gut flora can increase absorption of nutrients and is important
for mental and physical health. Eating a
diet high in processed foods and sugars increases unhealthy bacteria, and is a
breeding ground for infections such as H.pylori. Thus, cutting out processed foods and
reaching for whole food sources is the best way to achieve the proper
balance. It is also important to make
sure you are consuming enough good bacteria from fermented foods, or from a
probiotic supplement. This will help to
eliminate Helicobacter bacteria naturally. (Mercola)
Works Cited
Katz, MH.
"Failing the acid test: benefits of proton pump inhibitors may not
justify the risks for many users." Internal Medicine (2010):
747-748.
Mercola, Dr. mercola.com. 28 04 2014. 1 05 2015
<http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/28/acid-reflux-ulcer-treatment.aspx>.
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