From The Doctor’s Farmacy, Dr. Mark Hyman
Reflux is common. It does not mean there is something defective in your design. It means you are doing the wrong things for our body and your body is rebelling. Your body is calling for you to do something different.
Acid blocking drugs such as Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec are the third leading drugs sold in this country. But taking them it shuts down many important digestive functions because we need acid to digest our food as well as absorb minerals and vitamins. They also cause secondary problems including irritable bowel, bloating, acquired pneumonia, osteoporosis, B12 deficiency, and more. Often when people are on these drugs and want to stop taking them, they will have problems because you can get rebound acid production. Your body will produce more acid and you will think I definitely need to take this drug. Fix the cause and slowly taper the drug over a couple of weeks.
What is the root cause of acid reflux?
Food – fried, spicy, citrus, processed, tomato based, alcohol, caffeine
Smoking
Eating before bed
Being overweight
Stress
Low levels of magnesium – 45% population low or deficient, very important in relaxing sphincter
to allow food to go down
Food sensitivities – gluten, dairy (Cyrex Test)
Bacterial overgrowth in gut due to lots of sugar and processed foods
Bacteria H. Pylori which you can test for with breath test or stool antigen test
Besides fixing your diet and making lifestyle changes, there are supplements that can help. You may have already tried probiotics and aloe but have you tried licorice! Specifically deglycyrrhizinated licorice. You can chew 2-3 tablets before you eat. Also, glutamine which is an amino acid that helps heal and soothe the gut. And zinc carnosine which will activate key enzymes of your digestive tract.
And remember a properly functioning nervous system will help improve digestion. A properly functioning nervous system happens when your spine is aligned properly. Get your spine checked!!
