Digestion
At least 10 percent of Americans have episodes of heartburn every day, and 44 percent have symptoms at least once a month. Overall, reflux or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease, also known as heartburn) affects a whopping 25 to 35 percent of the US population!
As a result, acid-blocking medications are the third top-selling type of drug in America today. Two other drugs to treat reflux, Nexium and Prevacid, are among the world’s best-selling drugs and account for $5.1 and $3.4 billion in sales annually (in 2006)!
Acid blocking drugs obviously block acid that can cause symptoms of heartburn and reflux. But your body actually needs stomach acid to stay healthy. Stomach acid is necessary to digest protein and food, activate digestive enzymes in your small intestine, keep the bacteria from growing in your small intestine, and help you absorb important nutrients like calcium, magnesium, and vitamin B12.
There’s evidence that taking these medications can prevent you from properly digesting food, cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and lead to problems like irritable bowel syndrome, depression, hip fractures, and more.
What else can you do to treat acid reflux?
Get tested by your physician for yeast or bacterial overgrowth.
- Try to eliminate dairy and gluten.
- Eliminate alcohol, caffeine, citrus, tomato-based, and spicy foods.
- Don’t eat within 3 hours before bed.
- Don’t eat junk food.
- Avoid processed foods.
- Eat cooked foods, like fish, chicken, cooked veggies, and rice; avoid raw food for now.
- Eat smaller, more frequent meals, at least 4 to 5 times a day.
Please keep in mind that everyone is different. I recommend working with a Functional Medicine practitioner to figure out what works for you.
#acidreflux #digestion #gerd #drmarkhyman #foodismedicine
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