Raise your hand if you have taken, or regularly take some sort of antacid...
...who hasn't, right? Latest statistics show that roughly 30% of Americans suffer from GERD. GERD is a chronic condition where the liquid content of the stomach (acid) refluxes (or returns) into the esophagus. On a usual day, things we eat or drink travel in one continuous direction down the esophagus, through the sphincter (think of a door) and into the stomach...but, in the instance of GERD, the typical path is altered, and the "door" at the opening of the stomach swings open the opposite way.
Heartburn (AKA acid indigestion) is a common symptom of GERD. Other common symptoms are:
Burning sensation of the stomach, chest or throat
Chest pain (sometimes mistaken for a heart attack)
Difficulty swallowing
Persistent dry cough
Hoarseness or sore throat
Regurgitation of food or sour liquid
Sensation of a lump in throat
Have you ever noticed that the more you take an antacid, the more you need it? If the answer is yes, allow me to explain...
God knew what He was doing, when He designed how our bodies would function. He created the stomach and intestinal lining to be able to withstand a liquid that, in another container, would liquify anything it touched. That acid is in the stomach to perform a singular purpose: to breakdown the things we eat for digestion. Under normal circumstances, food sits in the stomach breaking down for about two hours before moving down into the large intestine.
Most people believe their acid reflux is due to overproduction of acid; but most people, actually suffer from too little stomach acid. When we reach for an antacid, often it is after a meal that was too big, or too acidic; it could be because we have eaten something recently that we have a sensitivity to, or because we ate processed food with chemical additives we were not designed to break down. We take the antacid, which does its job and, neutralizes the stomach acid.
The food then sits in the stomach longer than it should, because there is less acid to break it down, producing excess gas bubbles which serve to push acid back up and out of the stomach. In response to this, we usually take some more antacids which neutralize the acid even further, then the next meal we eat has less acid to break it down; and the cycle continues until we find we need stronger antacids, taken more frequently. This is the most common reason for acid reflux. There are other causes that are not self-induced, but less frequent such as medication side effects or ulcers (to name a couple).
If realizing many of us are disrupting natural processes is not startling enough, recent findings have shown that many antacid, or GERD related drugs, have been linked to various forms of cancer. The ideal thing to do, would be to try to eliminate the need for them all together. The key lies in identifying the cause for your reflux issues. Sometimes a simple food journal can help; or perhaps food sensitivities testing, or gut bacteria balancing.
Extinguish the burn for good today!
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