I came across a headline today from Consumer Reports that echoes what I have been telling folks for 20 years.  The headline announced "Heartburn drugs can cause dangerously low magnesium levels".  It is amazing how long it takes the mainstream media to catch up with what researchers have known for so long.  It will probably be another 5-10 years before the "powers that be" decide that maybe these drugs are not such a good idea to just toss people on because they have indigestion.

The article goes on to tell you to contact your doctor immediately if you develop a racing heartbeat, palpitations, or an abnormal heart rate or rhythm, or if you have muscle spasms, tremors or convulsions.  These are signs of low magnesium levels.  The article focuses on proton pump inhibitors(such as Nexium, Prevacid, and Prilosec), but the same problem exists with any antacid medication.  Their best guess is that maybe the meds interfere with the absorption of magnesium from foods.

I do not know why they are playing dumb about what is happening.  We have known forever that to absorb minerals from your food or supplements you have to have enough hydrochloric acid in your stomach to ionize the mineral so it can be carried across the gut wall...no acid - no absorption.  Guess what antacids do?  They stop acid of course.  How hard is that to figure out?  No acid means no mineral absorption (like magnesium or calcium), and therefore dangerously low blood levels of these minerals.

How long this takes depends upon how good your internal supply of the necessary minerals is.  Usually in practice I find it takes several years for folks to hit these low points.  But in this article some people were hitting critically low levels within just a few months.

Hydrochloric acid is not optional!  You must have high concentrations of acid in your stomach to digest your proteins and absorb your minerals.  Without a ready supply of these nutrients your bones, muscles, and nerves can not function properly.

Acid indigestion is almost always a sign of not enough acid, not too much!  If your acid output is weak, the valve at the top of your stomach does not close tightly and you get the weak acid washing up into your esophagus.  Strong acid triggers a tight contraction of that valve and you get no acid reflux.

The problem: as we age our ability to form the strong acid we need diminishes.  From age 40 onward our stomach acid gets weaker and weaker.  It is part of Mother Nature's way of saying "you have had your kids so you can degenerate and die now." "We may not agree with that sentiment.  We may want to continue with health for many more years.

To do this we have to eat smaller meals so as to not use up the stomach acid or dilute it too much or replace the acid with supplemental hydrochloric acid tablets.  Too often we keep eating as much at a sitting at age 50 as we did when we were 25.  This does not work.

The other big cause of this problem is an infection of the stomach by a bug called H. Pylori.  50% of the population has an H. Pylori infection.  If you have stomach distress, you probably have an active H. Pylori infection.  This bug directly causes a shutdown of your acid producing cells in the stomach.  If you are eating really well and have a good strong immune system this bug is usually kept in check.  But if you are under a lot of stress this bug flares up.

Fortunately it is not that difficult to eliminate this bug, but be aware that it is also easy to pick it right back up again.  If you have it then your spouse and kids probably have it also so the whole family has to be treated at once even if only you have symptoms at the moment.  The best test for this bug is a breath test done at a lab.  The bug causes certain gases to be released into your breath that can be measured.  The cost of eliminating the bug naturally is usually less than the test so often doctors will just treat for H. Pylori without even doing the breath test.

If you have any kind of stomach disorder or acid indigestion problem, H. Pylori should be the first consideration before any antacid medications.  The real problem is that patients don't want to do the work of actually fixing the problem, they just want the symptoms to go away, so doctors have bent to patient pressure and now simply prescribe anti-reflux drugs.  This completely ignores the real problems and only treats the symptoms.  As the Consumer Reports article describes, this approach has very negative consequences.

Acid reflux or heartburn are potent warning signs that your lifestyle needs to change.  Your eating patterns are not in harmony with what your body needs.  Covering up this warning can lead to serious outcomes.

Just what you need is very individual, but general healthy eating revolves around at least 80% of your foods fresh.  Don't eat foods that come in a box, bag, bottle, or can that can sit on a shelf for months.  Eat real foods, fresh foods - fresh vegetables, fresh eggs, meats, poultry, fish, fresh fruits in small quantities, raw nuts and seeds, fresh herbs and spices, and plenty of good clean water.  Stay away from all sugars and grains - you don't need them.  All they do is damage your health.  Freshly prepared legumes are good if you soak them 12 hours and wash them well to get rid of the toxic lectins in the outer skins.

Listen to your body's warnings.  If you are over 40-45 then you might need supplemental Hydrochloric acid in the form of betaine hydrochloride with your meals.  The product we use in the office is HCLProzyme.  Many patients swear by this simple product for relieving their stomach distress.  You certainly need to eat smaller meals and fewer calories so cutting out the sugars and starches will help a great deal.  If you have an active H. Pylori infection then a strong herbal combination like we have in HPLR will clean these little bugs out of your system.

You don't need to live with heartburn and you don't need to take dangerous drugs to control it most of the time.       

Take care of yourself.

Good Journey,

 

 

david@fairoakshealth.com

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About Dr. DeLapp

Dr. DeLapp has been a philosopher, non-force Chiropractor, medical intuitive, and health innovator for over 30 years.  He began experimenting with  medical intuition in 1972 while studying physics at UC Davis.  In addition to physics he designed and completed an individual major in the philosophy and psychology of education.  Shortly after he choose to pursue a career in the only truly health oriented profession available at that time, Chiropractic.  He graduated with honors in 1981 with his doctorate and opened a private practice. 
Since that time he has continued his research into the effects of consciousness and learning on health. 
He developed the Biomagnetic Retraining system for correcting movement abnormalities. 
Since 1991 he has focused on developing a powerful system for uncovering and assisting the mind-body connection in health and personal growth.  The in-depth coaching, guided by the subconscious direction from the body, is called Heartflow and the simpler mind-body retraining for health and unfoldment he has named Gracework.  Both are available at Fair Oaks Health.

Dr David DeLapp DC
Chiropractor

Ellen Flowers FGM
Spiritual Life Coach

 

Somatic Therapies

 

Lorena Morales