By Joan McDaniel July 30, 2013 Updated May 8, 2014
Heart Burn
Pharmaceutical companies persuade the public to buy antacids for what their advertising calls “over-acid stomach.”. Unless you never turn on TV or are Blind, Deaf and Dumb you can’t escape the barrage of advertisements for antacids. If you have heard one advertisement you have heard several for the temporary relief from the pain of acid indigestion, acid reflux, GERD, and heartburn. As many as four in 10 Americans have symptoms of gastro esophageal reflux disease, or GERD There is a big market for heartburn medication and a long list of name-brand (patented) pills.
But what your stomach needs is more acid not less.
There has never been an over-acid stomach with natural acid. All the “heartburn” and “acid indigestion” symptoms are created because of low stomach acid, which causes incomplete digestion.
Why do you think they call them antacids? They reduce the much-needed stomach acid. Antacids suppress or cover up or turn to cement what stomach acid is left in the stomach. But what your stomach with its heart burn signal is trying to tell you is “I NEED SOME SEA SALT” and I need something to help me digest the food. We are suppressing the all-important digestive process with antacids.
Antacid medications means big bucks for BigPharma.
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The Pharmaceutical companies are making big bucks selling anti-acid medications. Anti-acids are the third highest-selling class of drugs in the United States, after antipsychotics and statins, with over 100 million prescriptions and $13.9 billion in sales in 2010, in addition to over-the-counter sales. For some of these medications, the originally patient has run out and it can now be sold over the counter for others you need a Doctor’s Prescription to protect the original patient.
The Pharmaceutical Company’s propaganda or sales pitch is; “To treat Frequent Heartburn over a 14 day course of treatment. The medication action is described as “reducing the total load in the GI tract and elevate gastric pH to reduce Pepcid activity.”
Are Drugs Making Your Heartburn Worse and Worse? That’s ok Just Fix It with Surgery!
What starts as mild upset stomach often escalates to major antacid meds and maybe eventually to Endoscopy, ulcers, surgery or other life threating diseases like cancer. You find yourself starting with the mild forms of antacids like:
Alka-Selzer, Andrews Antacid, Briochi, Eno, Equate, Gas-X, Gaviscon, Gelusil, Maalox, Mylanta, Pepto-Bismol, Rennie, Rolaids, and Tums,
As the stomach problems worsen, you move on to the longer-lasting H2-receptor antagonist, which now have been replaced with the heavier and longer lasting PPI (proton pump inhibitors) The bloating, belching and heartburn seems to worsen. Your stomach gets distended and you begin to put on weight. Eventually treatments for ulcers and other stomach ailments and if not, including surgery follow.
These drugs are among the most widely sold drugs in the world. The vast majority of these drugs are benzimidazole derivatives, but promising new research indicates the imidazopyridine derivatives may be a more effective means of treatment. High dose or long-term use of PPIs carries a possible increased risk of bone fractures, and other side effects.
Clinically used proton pump inhibitors:
- Aluminium hydroxide
- Dexlansoprazole (brand name: Kapidex, Dexilant)
- Esomeprazole (brand names: Nexium, Esotrex, esso)
- Ilaprazole (brand names: Noltec, Yili’an, Ilapro, Lupilla, Adiza)
- Lansoprazole (brand names: Prevacid, Zoton, Monolitum, Inhibitol, Levant, Lupizole)
- Loperamide
- Misoprostol
- Omeprazole (brand names: Gasec, Losec, Prilosec, Zegerid, ocid, Lomac, Omepral, Omez,Omepep)
- Pantoprazole (brand names: Protonix, Somac, Pantoloc, Pantozol, Zurcal, Zentro, Pan, Controloc, Tecta)
- Rabeprazole (brand names: AcipHex, Pariet, Erraz, Zechin, Rabecid, Nzole-D, Rabeloc, Razo. Dorafem: combination with domperidone
- Sucralfate
Hydrochloric Acid: God’s Natural Antiseptic.
Hydrochloric acid is the acid found in the stomach
With sufficient and normal Hydrochloric Acid HCl, all waste acids along with fermentation disappear. It follows that all “heartburn” and gastritis are symptoms of low HCl, not high acid as the pharmaceutical sales pitches claim.
What is stomach acid for?
One thing is Immunity; your gut is your immune system. The good bacteria in your gut are what fight the bad bacteria. But if, the bacteria has been destroyed by antibiotics or a high sugar diet the colon becomes inflamed and the good and bad bacteria are destroyed.
If your gut is inflamed so is your immune system. Your immune system is simply overwhelmed and your physiological and mental health is probably inflamed also. You don’t feel very good; your temper is short your anxiety has increased, and your muscles hurt. You may even find depression. In fact, the doctor may be the first to diagnose depression for there is a long list of profit-making pills for that too.
You need stomach acid for digestion food that contains vital nutrients and minerals. Stomach acid is also essential for preventing the growth of bacteria and yeast in your stomach. With sufficient and normal HCl, all waste acids along with fermentation disappear. It follows that all “heartburn” and gastritis are symptoms of low HCl, not high acid as the pharmaceutical sales pitches claim.
Hydrochloric acid is the wall, if it is low the body cannot fight off pathogens. Pepcid is what digest food. Without it food just sits undigested (malabsorbed), becomes fermented (becomes non-oxidized alcohol) and rots. Your body cannot digest food.
With antacids covering the symptoms, the pains continue the stomach boating increases as does the gas and reflux. Septic or toxicity increases of the tissues and organs. Pyorrhea, symptoms of indigestion, nephritis, appendicitis, abscesses, pneumonia, etc., begin to appear. Deficiency of normal acid leads to stagnation of organs like the gall bladder and the pancreas, causing diabetes and gallstones, and leads the way to all forms of degenerative disease.
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What can help heartburn naturally?
My research found these Long term natural solutions.
Lifestyle changes in order to start eating right, cutting back on sugar, alcohol, and stress foods like caffeine, increase your intake of fats (saturated and polyunsaturated), increase your intake of Sea Salt (not modern processed salt) moderate exercise, relaxation and increasing intake of digestive enzymes. Try to eat as much raw food as possible, cooking or processing food destroys the much-needed enzymes that metabolize (digest) food.
Increase probiotic and prebiotic. Probiotics are the actual good gut bacteria or gut flora. prebiotic is dietary fiber. Eat foods high in fiber. (See my article Need Fiber in your Diet? Eat a Tree or better yet eat a Coconut!)
Well known probiotic foods include raw milk yogurt and other fermented foods, such as non-pasteurized sauerkraut (best if homemade). Probiotic supplements are also available.
Increase your intake of Vitamin D at least 5,000 IU a day.
Use real sea salt. Don’t make the error thinking “salt is salt”. What we think as table salt has been refined and processed. It has been radically altered by heating up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit which destroys all possible nutrients. To add to the process they then bleach the product to make it look white and pure. Table salt is chemically cleaned and is nutrient free. The processed salt is not pure sodium chloride but is only 97.5 percent sodium chloride and anticaking and flow agents are added to compromise about 2.5 percent. These are dangerous chemicals like ferrocyanide and aluminosilicate.
Mild cases of “heartburn” can also be aided by a daily regimen of apple cider vinegar, which stimulates natural production of HCl in the stomach. Take 1 tablespoon in 8 ounces of water, before meals. Look for the raw unfiltered Apple cider Vinegar, you can tell its raw for there are pieces that float in the bottom of the bottle. This Vinegar is available in most food stores.
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A word of caution when it comes to baking soda (bicarbonate of soda, not baking powder), which actually shoots alkalinity way up. This is not recommended because baking soda is too alkaline for a stomach that needs acid. An ounce or two of unprocessed Aloe Vera juice is good for heartburn and stomach ulcers.
Ginger and Peppermint have gastro protective effects. They have been found to promote regression of GERD symptoms without side effects.
Cayenne powder is another remedy. Use half or full teaspoon of cayenne powder and water.
Use activated Charcoal supplements, which absorbs the unwanted gas. Supplements are available online.
Chris Kresser Report
Chris Kresser, a licensed acupuncturist and practitioner of integrative medicine, has created a helpful, and amazingly thorough, series on how to cure GERD without drugs that includes reducing the factors that promote bacterial overgrowth and improper levels of stomach acid; replacing them with factors that promote balanced levels of stomach acid, enzymes, and other nutrients vital for proper digestive health; and restoring beneficial bacteria and a healthy mucosal lining through diet.
You can read his amazing report and entire GERD series here:http://chriskresser.com
An Essential Presence
The acid in the stomach is needed the campaign to reduce it is side-stepping the issue. It is making money for some but the issue of an irritated gut runs deep into the issue of good health. The crime of alkalizing the stomach runs deeper. The epidemic of cancer may be directly related. But the antacid people have a ruse called confusion of cause and effect. This is only one more example of the system, which we call benevolent totalitarianism, manipulating the people against their best interest with sales propaganda.
Sources
An excellent book on this subject is Your Stomach: What is Really Making You Miserable and What to Do About It by Dr. Jonathan Wright, MD, published by our friends at Praktikos Books.
http://easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/hydrochloric-acid-gods-natural-antisepticbb/
http://www.naturalnews.com/035720_acid_reflux_natural_remedies_heartburn.htm
http://www.myfrienddebbie.com/article_master.php?id=1120
http://balancedbites.com/2012/01/why-you-want-more-stomach-acid-not-less.html
http://www.overthecountertoday.com/2009/04/pg-races-to-stay-ahead-of-otc-ppi-competition.html
http://www.myfrienddebbie.com/article_master.php?id=1120
