Tag: Stomach Acid

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The Monday Mention – Why Stomach Acid Is Good For You by Jonathan V. Wright M.D. and Lane Lenard, Ph.D

The Monday Mention - Why Stomach Acid is Good for You

I’ve been lucky, I think I’ve only ever experienced heartburn once in my life. It woke me from a deep sleep and had me frantically digging through my kitchen cupboards at 3am, looking for some sort of relief. We aren’t milk drinkers, so I couldn’t try that old remedy. I had a surprisingly empty medicine cabinet for a pharmacist, only some first aid cream and bandages. No Tums, no Gaviscon, no aBISMALly pink Pepto-Bismal. I decided to use my half awake, “sciency” brain and tackle the acid with its known nemesis – a base. Baking soda to the rescue. I mixed it with some water and took it like a shot. It was, well, it was awful.  Not something I’d want to have to do regularly. It took a little time, but the fire finally subsided enough for me to crawl back into bed, bedside my blissfully unaware husband, praying that the inferno wouldn’t return.

For many people, the discomfort of heartburn, indigestion or reflux is a daily occurrence. Just walk through the stomach section of any pharmacy and you’ll see just how prevalent these issues are. In my years in the pharmacy, prescriptions for acid reflux medications flew off the shelves. It was an equal opportunity Rx too! Men, women, young and old. Everyone needed their “stomach pills”. But just because these tummy troubles are common, does not mean they are normal. Instead, they are a sign that there is something amiss and your body is letting you know that all is NOT normal.

Why are there so many “fire breathers” around these days? Why do so many people produce such vast quantities of stomach acid that they need to be on a medication to control it? The truth is, they don’t. Over-production of stomach acid is a very rare condition (Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome) and it only affects about 1 in 1 million people.  There can be a couple of factors at play here. One is that certain dietary and lifestyle habits can relax the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES). The LES is the gateway between the esophagus and the stomach and it is meant to stay tightly closed to prevent stomach acid from coming into contact with the unprotected tissue of the esophagus. When you only experience symptoms once in awhile, simply changing some habits and avoiding those foods that trigger your symptoms will often suffice. 

The most common cause though, the ROOT cause, of these symptoms is actually insufficient stomach acid. Yes, wrap your brain around that. The current recommended remedies for heartburn and indigestion not only fail to treat the cause of the symptoms, but contribute to them and many more problems. This is the concept behind the book Why Stomach Acid Is Good For You by Johnathan V. Wright M.D. and Lane Lenard Ph.D. 

Wright and Lane propose that it is a lack of stomach acid that causes heartburn, indigestion and GERD and to properly treat the cause, the acid must be replaced. Drugs prescribed for these conditions turn off production and decrease stomach acid even further. They appear to help because they cover up the symptoms (your body’s way of messaging you that something is wrong), but they are actually potentiating the problem. So why is low stomach acid a bad thing, if it makes us feels so much better? 

Stomach acid plays a vital role in digestion. One of the key components of the gastric juices is HCl (hydrochloric acid). HCl is necessary to break proteins down into amino acids, which can then be absorbed. Many other nutrients require an acidic environment for absorption as well. Stomach acid is also the starter pistol or trigger for almost every other event in the digestive sequence. Without stomach acid, digestion functions about as well as car on empty.

The acidity of the gastric juices makes the stomach a sterile environment. Stomach acid kills pathogens that we ingest with our food. As well as protecting us from infection, this acidic environment prevents bacteria from surviving in the stomach and interfering with the digestion of certain nutrients. The negative consequences of low stomach acid continue to affect our digestion all the way down the line. I discuss the consequences (ad nauseam) in THIS blog post, if you want to get into the nitty gritty!

I found it interesting to learn that the cells that produce HCl (parietal cells) decrease as we age. Much of the malnutrition we see in senior citizens maybe caused by low stomach acid and treatable with acid supplementation. The authors discuss how nutrient deficiencies caused by low stomach acid may contribute to several conditions from depression all the way to rosacea. Besides nutrient deficiences, the book also looks at how low stomach acid leads to large, undigested protein molecules. These can make their way through the lining of the small intestine (made “leaky” by the damage of bacteria growing in the low acidic environment of the stomach). These large food molecules enter the bloodstream. They are not broken down enough to be recognized by the immune system, are tagged as foreign and attacked. Overtime, this immune system activation can cause food sensitivities and contribute to the development of autoimmune conditions.

Although I did find the authors somewhat wordy and repetitive, there was a lot of good information in this book. The link between low stomach acid and the myriad of problems it may contribute to makes common sense, even if there are few quality studies to support some of these claims. (I mean, a drug company is not likely to fund a study that may show their product is unnecessary at best and harmful at worst!)  As it was published in 2001, it would be nice if there were a newer edition of the book to highlight any current information in this area. I don’t know that I can agree wholeheartedly with some of the authors’ ideas that low stomach acid may be the out right cause of certain diseases. I certainly can agree that it could be a contributing factor and, as such, it is prudent to optimize stomach acid and digestion in all conditions. 

Do you have signs of low stomach acid? Work with a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner to learn how to better support your digestion!

Please note, that if you are currently on a medication that lowers stomach acid, I am NOT recommending that you stop this treatment. Seek out a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (like moi), who can help you make some dietary and lifestyle changes that support digestion. Once those are in place, you can talk to your physician (or ideally your FNTP and physician can work together!) to discuss whether you need the medication, create a plan to wean off the medication and possibly start some acid supplementation, if needed, all while monitoring your symptoms.

Rating 3.5 Peaks
My Rating 3.5/5 Peaks

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“BAD DIGESTION IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL” -Hippocrates

Digestion Tips

Ok – so Hippocrates may have been a bit of a drama queen, but he was certainly no dummy!  The reality is that poor digestion really does affect our health on all levels.  If we can’t digest the food we ingest, we won’t absorb its nutrients and every cell of every tissue of every organ in our bodies relies on those nutrients for proper structure and function.  “But how do I know if I’m properly digesting my food” you ask?  Burping, upset stomach, heartburn and reflux, gas and bloating, diarrhea, constipation…these are NOT normal!  These are your body’s way of letting you know that the digestive train has run off the track.  Ignoring or putting a bandaid disguised as an antacid over them will only lead to bigger issues in the future.  Let’s take the journey and see exactly where and how that train jumped the track.  

Just as the route of proper digestion travels north to south, so too does the dysfunction.  Let’s start with the brain then.  If you were so kind as to read my last post all the way through (insert applause here), you’ll remember that digestion only occurs when we are in a relaxed state.  Stress completely shuts down digestion.  Think about it, if you’re being chased by a bear (admittedly, a pretty stressful situation), do you want your brain sending messages telling the digestive system to organize the breakdown of the berries and deer meat you just consumed?  Or do you want it to ignore that stuff and send those resources to your heart, lungs and muscles to give you the energy to get the heck out of there!?!  The brain, as amazing as it is, cannot differentiate between the stress of a bear attack and the stress of our modern lives.  So when you are grabbing breakfast on your way out the door, eating dinner while stuck in traffic on the way to the ball game, working through lunch or mindlessly shoving popcorn down while watching Game of Thrones…you probably aren’t digesting.  Just for kicks, let’s carry on with the journey. 

Everyone can remember at some point in their lives being told (usually by mom or grandma) that you need to “slow down and chew your food”.  Rather than just a devious plan to make family mealtime even longer, it was valid advice!  Food should be chewed for about 30 seconds before swallowing.  Without proper chewing, the brain does not receive the message to trigger digestive processes and the production of saliva.  Without enough saliva, the breakdown of carbohydrates does not begin in the mouth and cannot be completed further down the line in the small intestine.  So we end up with undigested carbohydrates entering the colon, feeding candida (yeast) and generally disrupting the balance of microbes in our gut (dysbiosis).

We now arrive at the stomach.  The stomach is all about that stomach acid.  The acid in the stomach is our first line of defence against any little nasties (bacteria, parasites, viruses) that we may ingest.  Without enough stomach acid, these organisms can thrive and proliferate, wreaking havoc on our G.I. tract.  Digestive issues in the stomach most often stem from too little stomach acid.  You read that right.  The heartburn, reflux, bloating many experience is caused by TOO LITTLE ACID.  I know you are thinking “what about all those people who have to take antacids every day because they have TOO much stomach acid?”  The reality is that producing too much stomach acid, a condition known as Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, is very rare and affects only about 1 in every 1 million people (https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/zollinger-ellison-syndrome).  The majority of us have too little stomach acid (HCl) and its production is inhibited by things such as stress, excess carbohydrate consumption, alcohol and certain nutrient deficiencies.  But how can we experience such discomfort and burning if we don’t have enough acid?  Let’s take a look.  When there is not enough acid in the stomach, food does not get broken down.  This undigested food sits in the stomach and start to degenerate.  Carbohydrates ferment, proteins putrefy and fats rancidify.  Sounds lovely, no?  This produces gas and increased pressure in the abdomen causing a backward flow into the esophagus.  The lining of the esophagus was not intended to be exposed to acidic conditions so, even though the amount of acid in the stomach is too low for proper digestion, it will still burn the heck out of the unprotected lining of the esophagus. 

Compounding the problem, the pyloric sphincter – or doorway –  to the small intestine does not want to open because the chyme in the stomach is not at the right acidity.  This further potentiates the degradation, gas and pressure build up.  Eventually the sphincter releases allowing the contents into the small intestine.  The acidity of the chyme is not low enough to trigger the release of the pancreatic juices containing sodium bicarbonate and pancreatic enzymes.  Without the sodium bicarbonate, the chyme remains too acidic for the tender tissues of the small intestine and duodenal ulcers can occur.  Pancreatic enzymes, which complete digestion, can only work at a higher pH.  Their activity is impeded in this acidic environment and we now have large molecules of food impacting those little villi and microvilli of the small intestine.  This, essentially, punches “holes” in the lining of the small intestine causing LEAKY GUT SYNDROME.  With the integrity of this membrane compromised, large molecules of protein and fats can pass through and activate the immune system. (Your immune system sees these large molecules as foreign).  

The maldigested foods then pass on to the large intestine where they continue to degenerate.  This disrupts our healthy gut flora and causes a weakening of the cells of the colon.  This can cause inflammation, loss of tone and contribute to a myriad of intestinal health issues.

You can see how just one imbalance (low stomach acid) can lead to a snowballing cascade of digestive issues.  I haven’t even touched on the effect of unhealthy fats and inadequate hydration on the digestive processes.  More on those at a later date.  We are sneaking into “overwhelm” territory with this post!  I think it’s also important to recognize that digestive processes require nutrients.  Nutrients like chloride to produce stomach acid and proteins to create enzymes.  When we aren’t digesting our food properly, we aren’t absorbing these required nutrients and so it becomes a viscous cycle.  So what can you do?

TIPS FOR SUPPORTING DIGESTION

  • REST TO DIGEST – create a relaxed mealtime routine.  Use breathing techniques to “come down” from the stress of the day.  Take time to appreciate and savour your food.   
  • CHEW your food thoroughly – try putting your fork down between bites!
  • DON’T drink a lot of fluids right before or during meals – this can dilute stomach acid
  • DO drink adequate water at other times during the day  – provide your body with the nutrients it needs to produce stomach acid.  These include good quality, filtered water, chloride from sea salt and zinc (meat, shellfish and properly prepared legumes are good sources)
  • AVOID unhealthy fats (hydrogenated, trans, canola, soy) and low fat diets  – these lead to gallbladder dysfunction and issues with fat absorption
  • DO eat a nutrient dense, properly prepared, whole foods diet – many foods help support proper digestion by supplying the nutrients required for the digestive processes  

I think we’ve done a pretty thorough job of making our way through digestion and seeing how important it is to our overall health.  For those of you who managed to stick with me through the journey (Hi mom and dad!), this is the end of my Community Outreach Project for my Nutritional Therapy Course.  Going forwards, I plan to mix it up a little to include some favourite recipes, meal prepping tips, food sourcing info along with a little more (less intense) talk about the foundations of health.  If there is anything you’d like to learn about please let me know by clicking on the post and commenting!  Until then, I wish you good health!