Antacids are the most sold over the counter medication today! What does that mean? That means ALOT of people are struggling with digestion issues and stress, BUT what they don’t realize is that the antacids are making things worse.
If you read the fine print on the label it likely says the antacid should not be used for more than 2 weeks, but people I work with have been popping those pills like candy for years, and wondering why their digestive system is causing them so many problems. Is this you or someone you love?
Here is the real problem – too little stomach acid! Whhaaat? How can that be when it’s coming up my esophagus? Let me explain the physiology here of how it all works.
Our food enters our digestive system through our mouth cavity. We chew it up (not well enough in most cases) and we have salivary enzymes that start to break down the carbs, and then we swallow and the food travels down our esophagus to the stomach cavity. At the bottom of the esophagus is the esophageal sphincter, which is a one way door to let the food into the stomach cavity and nothing is supposed to come back out. BUT when we have been living in a state of chronic stress, it starts to malfunction and doesn’t seal quite so tightly and so stomach acid (HCl) can escape and get into our esophagus, causing “heartburn” or “acid reflux”. So it makes us think we have too much stomach acid and we get prescribed or go and buy antacids.
The reality is, when the body is in a state of chronic stress, our digestive system is shut down. This is because in this state the brain is trying to keep us safe and so has us in a state of “fight or flight”, pumping cortisol and adrenaline into our body, while sharpening our senses and increasing our blood flow so we can get to safety. In order to do that, it shuts down systems that it doesn’t need in that moment, namely digestion and procreation. When digestion is shut down our digestive enzymes and stomach acid are not produced. If they are not being produced, it means our stomach acid levels are actually low, not high and the more we swallow antacids, the more we prevent our body from producing HCl. Which means our body will not be able to properly break down our food when we do eat and instead it will take longer to move through our digestive tract, possibly even putrefying along the way, causing other issues down the line. Our body needs to produce HCl in order to digest our food well. So antacids are hurting you, not helping you.
When I work with clients, I teach them how to optimize their digestive system, as well as work with them to lower their stress and understand how to turn on digestion before eating and support the body as it heals with the use of natural digestive enzymes. We always start with my detox, and 99% of my clients tell me their heart burn goes away during the detox. That doesn’t mean the situation is resolved, we still have to address the root cause – stress, poor eating habits etc in order to allow the body to be able to function as it should, but it does mean that the recipes I provide, and the timing of their meals as well as the coaching on optimizing digestion can have profound impact, because the detox is only 3 weeks long! When we create the environment for the body to heal, it responds very quickly and lets you know it likes what you are doing, so you’ll keep doing it!
If you’d like to know more about optimizing digestion / resolving your digestive issues, please click here to book in for a complimentary 30 minute consult. When we eat 3 times / day for energy, it is no fun to have pain and discomfort as a result, and not get the benefit of the energy as the food isn’t getting fully broken down.