Heartburn Medication = More Heartburn

If you have ever suffered from heartburn or GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease) you probably wanted it to stop as quickly as possible. For some, heartburn is just something we experience after a certain meal and rarely comes up. For others, however, it can be a serious issue that ends up being treated medically. The usual approach when dealing with this situation involves taking drugs that sooth the symptoms and act to decrease stomach acid. While this may seem to make sense at first glance, it can actually exacerbate the problem, which only leads to increasing the dose of the drugs. This means that these poor people never actually treat the root cause of heartburn and are stuck on antacids the rest of their lives!

The root of GERD

While there can be instances of too much stomach acid, the most common cause of GERD is actually the exact opposite! Most people as they age produce less and less stomach acid, leading to increased bacteria growth in the stomach, a weakened ability to fight off infection, decreased absorption of nutrients, and an increased likelihood of intestinal issues. How does this all relate to heartburn? Well, it all comes back to the cause of the symptom. Heartburn is essentially the feeling you get when stomach acid is pushed up into your esophagus. This is not a good situation, and it is right to take the necessary measures to resolve the matter. But before we start trying to attack the burning feeling (the symptom), we must focus on the cause: low stomach acid.

While this may seem paradoxical, it is usually the case. Low stomach acid is more likely to cause heartburn because of the gas that is produced when food is not properly digested and bacteria begins to grow within the stomach. As gas builds up, it creates pressure and can lead to a pushing effect against the esophagus. This can push stomach acid up into the esophagus and result in the sensation of heartburn.

The solution

There are three main factors when it comes to heartburn. Before you dive into self-diagnosis, however, I do recommend that you get tested for stomach acid levels. There are times when low stomach acid is not the culprit, in which case these treatments would not help. Check out the link below to read more about some of the common tests you can get to determine if stomach acid levels are the issue:

http://scdlifestyle.com/2012/03/3-tests-for-low-stomach-acid/

If you find out that you do, in fact, have low stomach acid, here are the three steps you should take to help your situation.

1) Deal with bacterial overgrowth

Bacteria thrive on sugar and undigested fiber, so the first step is to reduce starchy foods as well as any high fiber foods/supplements. The main things then to avoid would be grains, fruit, legumes, and most root vegetables. You should also try to avoid overeating as this can often result in heartburn as well. Smaller portions with mostly meat and non-starchy veggies will be the way to go.

If you try this out for a month (including the other recommendations) but are not seeing results, you may want to get checked for a particular strain of bacteria known as H. pylori. If you have an overgrowth of this particular bacteria, you may want to find a naturopathic doctor or herbalist that knows how to handle this in a healthy fashion.

2) Supplement your stomach acid

Given that you are dealing with the bacteria issue, it is time to aid your digestion. This starts by supplementing with a good HCL supplement (Now Foods Super Enzyme is a good one). It should be noted that if you are taking any type of anti-inflammatory medication, you should not take any HCL supplement. The goal should be to get off these medications first before starting this regimen.

If you are not taking any anti-inflammatories, then the goal will be to take one capsule with each meal, for the first week, then increasing by one pill per meal each week until you feel a slight warming sensation in your upper stomach. At this point, decease the dose by one capsule and continue to do so until you no longer feel the warming sensation. By the time you feel that sensation after taking only one pill, your stomach acid will have been replenished.

One other trick is to avoid drinking water with or around meals. It is best to have water or any liquids 30 minutes before or 60 minutes after meals.

3) Promote beneficial bacteria

Taking probiotics can help to fight off the harmful bacteria while aiding in digestion. It should be noted that you should not be taking PREbiotics (anything that helps feed bacteria, including food with high concentrations of soluble fiber as we talked about already or a probiotic/prebiotic supplement that has fiber or FOS included) as this will slow the process of removing the harmful bacteria. PRObiotics (void of prebiotic strains like FOS), however, can be helpful, and when possible, should come from real foods. Things like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha (especially when made in-home) can be very beneficial. Probiotic supplements such as New Chapters All-Flora can be beneficial, as well, in replenishing healthy bacteria.

Bringing it together

While all of these actions would probably be healthy for most people, it is important to know what you are dealing with before you start this process. If you think you suffer from chronic heartburn/GERD, have your stomach acid checked to confirm the need for this type of treatment.

Once you know, implement the above strategies for 30 days and see what happens.  If nothing has changed, you may want to get checked out for problematic bacteria like H. pylori. Most of the time, however, if you follow this strategy, you will find yourself feeling better and hopefully will not be stuck on medication for the rest of your life. GERD can be cured; it just takes the right approach!