Acid Reflux: The Rest of the Story

The general public has been told only about half the story when it comes to acid reflux. 

Your body actually requires acid in your stomach to digest your food.  Your body actually produces hydrochloric acid to digest your food.  When the system is working properly, your food is quickly digested by this acid in the stomach and then the food moves on within about 20 minutes to 2 hours into the small intestines.  Meats require more time to digest than fruit and veggies.

When your stomach acid is too low, your food sits in your stomach longer than it should and it actually begins to ferment.  This fermentation process actually forms another acid.  This is the culprit acid in most cases of acid reflux.  Your food and the acid continue to sit in your stomach and then are more likely to come back up, or reflux.

Acid neutralizers, like Tums, can make the reflux not hurt but does nothing to fix the underlying issue.  Acid suppressors, like Prevacid and Protonics, actually suppress your natural hydrochloric acid production.  While this again will make a person more comfortable by lowering overall acid, it again does nothing to fix the underlying issue.  In actuality, both end up making the problem worse.  (Side note:  Tums is NOT a good supply of calcium as it is almost impossible to digest this calcium in a low acid environment.)

There must be sufficient acid in the stomach for the body to be able to absorb both iron and vitamin B12.  If a person has low stomach acid the likelihood of anemia increases.  If a person is anemic, and any ‘leaks’ have been ruled out the next item to consider is low stomach acid and the regular use of acid suppressors or acid neutralizers.

If there is not enough stomach acid to digest food the problems will continue to the rest of the digestion process.  This could lead to constipation, diarrhea, or alternating between the two.  It can cause inflammation in the intestines which might lead to diverticulitis or colitis.  It can also cause ‘leaky gut’ which makes a person more prone to food intolerances.

It is important to find out if low stomach acid is the culprit.  An easy self test would be to try an over-the-counter supplement called Apple Cider Vinegar tablets which will increase stomach acid.  If taken and acid reflux improves, continue taking the vinegar tablets.

If nothing changes, there may still be a low acid condition that the vinegar tablets are not strong enough to help with.  If so, please speak to Dr. Call and she will test to see if you need a stronger, but still natural, supplement. 

If your stomach hurts more after the vinegar tablets, this means that you have an irritation in the stomach that needs to be healed first.  This irritation started because of the fermentation of the food and once the irritation is healed, the low acid condition must be addressed.  Dr. Call can help you find out how to heal this stomach irritation.

Healthy Tip

We see numerous ads for drugs that will help relieve acid reflux pain.   While eating slower can be helpful for some, too little acid, as opposed to too much, is often the real problem for many.  If you can’t digest your food quick enough, it rots.  This rotting causes reflux!  Excessive soft drink intake can make reflux worse.

Why Chiropractic?

What do you think of when you think of chiropractic?  Back pain and neck pain are often the first issues that come to mind that chiropractic care can help with.  I wanted to take this month to let you know what other issues chiropractic care has been able to help with.

Because chiropractic care addresses the nervous system, it has the potential to affect the entire body.  The brain has nerves that go down the spinal cord and out to every organ and cell of your body.  If there is a problem at the spine where these nerves go through, it can cause a “road block” and result in decreased function at the other end of that nerve and sometimes results in pain as well.

Here are some issues that chiropractic has been shown to help, starting with some of the more ‘traditional’ problems.

• Lower back pain/Sciatica
• Hip pain
• Mid and upper back pain
• Neck pain
• Headaches and migraines
• Knee pain
• Herniated disc
• Foot and ankle pain including heel spurs and plantar fasciitis
• Shoulder and arm pain
• Elbow, wrist and hand pain
• Jaw pain (TMJ) and biting tongue/cheeks on accident
• Asthma
• Allergies
• Arthritis
• Chest pain
• Digestive complaints (IBS, etc)
• Strengthening immune system
• Balance
• Fibromyalgia
• Comfort during pregnancy
• Colic
• Children (growing pains, etc)
• Wellness care for whole family

Remember that many of these issues are multifactorial and while chiropractic can be part of the treatment plan, there may be other underlying issues that need to be addressed for optimum health.  The body must have 3 areas of stressed addressed: physical stress (i.e. chiropractic misalignments, proper restorative sleep), emotional/spiritual stress, and chemical stress (nutrition).

Remember that health is not merely the absence of pain or symptoms.  Many times these “road blocks” at the spine may not cause any immediate problems, but if left unaddressed, can progress to major problems later.  Just as it is recommended to have your teeth and eyes checked regularly it is also recommended to get your spine checked and adjusted regularly to address these small problems before they have the chance to become big ones.

Consider chiropractic care for helping the whole family stay well and before trying more invasive options such as drugs and surgeries (which should be a last resort).

Healthy Tip

While back and neck pains come to mind most when thinking of chiropractic care, because chiropractic addresses the nervous system, it has the potential to affect the entire body.  From asthma, arthritis, chest pain, balance, fibromyalgia to colic, chiropractic care is for the whole family.  Chiropractic care is a great way to help your children grow strong and healthy and help keep you healthy as well.