Natural Ways to Address Acid Reflux & GERD
By Erika Dworkin, Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition®
"Chronic gastrointestinal (GI) complaints are often treated with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), antibiotics, and other medications that offer temporary relief of acute symptoms. Although these drugs are prescribed to provide promising results, new research indicates the drug treat- ments often mask unresolved physiological problems and cause further complications. Complex GI cases require a comprehensive assessment and a multifaceted approach... dietary guidelines, lifestyle recommenda- tions, and customized nutritional supplementation and herbs."
~ Nutritional Interventions for Gastroesoph- ageal Reflux, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Hypochlorhydria: A Case Report; Integr Med (Encinitas). 2016 Aug; 15(4): 49–53.
re you one of the estimated 60 million Americans diagnosed with acid reflux (AR) or gastroesopha- geal reflux disease (GERD)? Has it greatly complicated your diet, interfered with your sleep, otherwise disrupted your life, or increased your concern about esopha- geal cancer? Have you found that your prescribed traditional medications have not adequately addressed your symptoms, or do you prefer to address your symptoms with natural remedies? The good news is that evidence-supported and clinically proven nutrients can relieve and even resolve these frustrating and potentially dangerous conditions when combined with dietary and lifestyle changes.
A
Symptoms & Causes of Acid Reflux AR involves the travel of stomach acid
(hydrochloric acid/HCL) upward into the esophagus. Symptoms include heartburn (the feeling of acid backing into the throat or mouth), asthma, dry cough, difficulty swal- lowing, and stomach discomfort. AR is gener- ally not considered a serious health condition until it develops into GERD, characterized by symptoms occurring twice or more every week. While GERD can be labeled either erosive or non-erosive (known as NERD), depending on whether an endoscopy reveals damage to the mucosal lining of the esopha- gus, its most common threatening symptoms
include those characteristic of acid reflux, along with severe chest pain, esophageal ulcers and bleeding, and choking. Barrett’s esophagus is a severe, pre-cancerous compli- cation of GERD.
AR occurs when the normally contracted
lower esophageal sphincter (LES) malfunc- tions by relaxing. This muscle between the esophagus and the stomach, which should open only when food travels downward, opens when stomach contents are pushed upward because there is no skin flap to block them. This can also be caused or aggravated by the tightening of the pyloric sphincter at the bottom of the stomach, which normally allows food to move down from the stomach to the small intestine.
Factors that can cause AR include: (1)
food sensitivities and allergies; (2) bacterial or fungal overgrowth (Helicobacter py- lori, SIBO, or candida/yeast); (3) unhealthy lifestyle (smoking, poor diet, unmanaged excessive stress); (4) consuming a large meal, especially before bedtime; (5) consuming high fat foods (fat delays the release of food from the stomach into the duodenum; (6) low levels of stomach acid (hypochlorhydria), es- pecially attendant to aging (controversial); (7) bending over or lying down after eating; (8) pregnancy; (9) overweight and obesity, which create the same effect as pregnancy; (10) a hiatal hernia; (11) taking certain medications, including NSAIDS, antibiotics, bisphospho- nates (Boniva®, Fosamax®), asthma, Parkin-
son’s and certain blood pressure medications, certain tranquilizers, sedatives, and narcotics; and/or (12) mineral supplements (magnesium deficiency or iron and potassium intake).
Conventional Treatments & Their Disadvantages
Traditional medicine calls for the man- agement of acute symptoms of patients with AR, GERD, or Barrett’s esophagus, primarily through the use of proton pump inhibitors that inhibit production of stomach acid (PPIs; Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix). However, PPIs were initially approved solely for short-term use, there is no defined ideal course of use of PPIs in the scientific literature, and using them may reduce esophageal inflammation but will not prevent AR/GERD.
While overprescribed PPIs have gener- ally been thought to have few side effects, more recent scientific evidence has shown their association with various risks and complications, especially with long-term use. Research has proven that the HCL deficiency (hypochlorhydria) caused by extensive use of PPIs (or of even OTC antacids, like Tums or Rolaids, and H2 blockers, like Zantac and Pepcid AC) can be detrimental because stomach acid plays a key role in many physi- ological processes, including the activation of intestinal hormones, the absorption of important nutrients, and the breakdown of dietary proteins to help prevent food allergies associated with incomplete protein digestion.
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