Do you struggle with Heartburn, Acid Reflux, Indigestion or Peptic Ulcers? Are you having to take Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs aka antacids) to help relieve your symptoms?
We have seen an increase in acid reflux and heartburn lately, although the cause for patient varies significantly.
It’s easy to quickly run to the nearest store and pick up some antacids or call your doctor for a medication, but could that be making your symptoms worse if you don’t know the underlying cause?
One of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States is a class of medications called Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs). You might be asking:
—should I take this medication?
What Is Acid Reflux?
Before we even get to talking about PPIs, the first thing to identify is what reflux is and why you are having it.
Reflux is caused by increased pressure, inflammation or other imbalance causing the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) to relax and allow any amount of acid to flow into the esophagus.
Underlying Causes of Heartburn & Acid Reflux
- Structural Abnormalities (LES)
- Hernia
- Low stomach acid
- Infection
- Inflammation
- Gas
- Poor diet
- Alcohol consumption
- Pregnancy
- Obesity
- Smoking
- Side effects of medications
Notice, HIGH stomach acid is not on this list, and you can see there are many different causes of heartburn.
If you just throw an Antacid or Proton Pump Inhibitors at the problem, it isn’t addressing the cause, instead can make your condition worse. It doesn’t SOLVE the underlying problem all it does is it just puts a band-aid on it… no one wants to wear a band-aid for the rest of their lives. Wouldn’t you rather heal the cut for lasting results?
How to Treat Heartburn and Acid Reflux
So what are the options to identify the cause of your reflux?
The simplest place to start is to alter the things you can control – your diet, stress, alcohol intake, smoking. Are you pregnant, overweight or on any medication that has heartburn as a side effect?
1. Diet
Begin by addressing your lifestyle to see if you notice any patterns. Cut out foods that make acid reflux worse including spicy foods, tomatoes, fried and foods, caffeine, alcohol, chocolate and peppermint.
2. Meal Time & Eating Speed
Be sure you’re eating your meals slowly and mindfully to support proper digestion and try not to eat within two hours of bedtime, which can also make acid reflux worse. If none of these help, it could be due to structural changes including trauma/injury, hernia and/or inflammation.
3. Maintaining Healthy Stomach Acid
Acid reflux can also be due to changes in stomach acid. Stomach acid can become too low due to stress, poor diet, leaky gut, intestinal bacterial or yeast overgrowth, parasites, family history, medications including antibiotics, and more. This is important to fix because you need the proper amount of stomach acid to properly digest and absorb nutrients, especially protein. Also interesting is that stomach acid decreases as we age, which is likely much of the reason for the increase in heartburn and GERD in the elderly. This also means that if heartburn were caused by TOO MUCH stomach acid, we’d have a bunch of teenagers popping TUMS all day instead of the elderly, which we all know isn’t the case.
4. Eliminating Infectious Esophagitis
Lastly, an unusual cause of reflux and heartburn is infection, also known as infectious esophagitis. This causes high amounts of inflammation around the LES, causing acid to flow back into the esophagus. In this case it’s vital to address the immune system as the priority, so taking a PPI may not be very helpful.
Most importantly, you should always talk to your doctor and never change your medications based on a blog.
How antacid Proton Pump Inhibitors medication works.
Still…if you’re taking a medication, it’s important to understand how it works, what the side effects might be, and whether or not there are other options!
Proton Pump Inhibitors work by stopping the production of stomach acid. That sounds great if you have acid reflux, but then we have to think about all the downstream effects. Without enough stomach acid, you could…
Compromise nutrient absorption (like vitamin B12, calcium, and magnesium)
Change your gut microbiota (possibly even leading to overgrowth and SIBO)
Affect the health of organs outside the gut (including the kidneys and heart)
Plus…
A new study of more than 200,000 Americans found that regular use of Proton Pump Inhibitors increased the risk of developing diabetes by 25%.
The risk for diabetes was highest in people who took PPIs for the longest duration of time. That’s important because PPIs were approved only for short-term use of 2 weeks. Sadly, many people take these medications for a much longer time because they don’t know what else to do!
The Real Question: We Should Be Asking Is Whether There Are Other Options?
We at Regenerate Health Medical Center Say YES!!
Naturopathic medicine has an extensive toolkit of options for optimizing digestive function and eliminating symptoms like heartburn for good. Instead of covering up the symptoms with an acid blocker, we’ll search for the root cause and help your gut recover naturally.
Want to get started on a better path to health?
Click here to get started with your no risk next step discovery call
We hope to see you soon!
