Are You Burning To Get Off Antacids?

I?ve written about the dangers of antacids before, the fact that they are a cheap shot at satisfying an immediate need for relief. The real problem you should be concerned about isn?t just the unfriendly metals and the long term side effects they cause, but that you are not addressing the simple root causes of acid reflux and heartburn.

I know it?s unpleasant and even alarming to have digestive acids rise up into your throat and mouth. But frankly you could be doing more harm than good popping those little flavored after dinner mints. The cost of what you?re doing is far greater than the money you paid for your quick fix. Fact is there are available to you inexpensive ?quick fixes? that do not contradict your body?s underlying needs.

Your body needs to maintain a precise balance of many things digestive acids are one. The best way to allow this healthy balance is to help your body?s natural pH (potentate of Hydrogen) balance. You can determine your pH yourself by testing your saliva and urine with litmus paper. It is vital your body keep a pH near 7.4, that?s slightly alkaline. Lower than pH 7 is considered acidic.

I?m not referring to your stomach acid . . . pH refers to your blood, body fluids and tissues. Please don?t confuse the two. If your body?s pH is acidic it means you are retaining cellular wastes. This imbalance eventually affects every system in your body, including stomach acid reflux and digestion. The trick is everything you eat makes your whole body either more acidic or more alkaline.

For instance, if you eat a diet rich in minerals found in green leafy vegetables, the minerals (electrolytes) act as electrical conductors in the water making up more than 80% of your body. Either this cellular water is full of life giving minerals, or it is full of disease forming wastes and toxins.

It is interesting to note that yeasts, fungi and parasites as well as viruses and cancers thrive in an acid pH environment. Having too much metabolic (cellular) waste in your system also reduces oxygen levels and raises carbon dioxide, which they also need to thrive.

Knowing which foods to eat can have an impressive affect on your acid reflux as well as over all health. That?s why this is so important to understand that ignoring what seems to just be bothersome heartburn may lead to other serious problems as well.

A healthy pH level will improve your digestive health by allowing good microorganisms to grow. You?ll find these same beneficial organisms in yogurt and kefir as well as other naturally fermented foods. But you need to discover how to help your body produce these good bacteria.

The other thing that confuses many people is that ?certain? highly acidic foods will produce healthy alkaline levels. Citrus fruits are a prime example. Another great example is raw apple cider vinegar. You wouldn?t think so but these are powerful alkalizers.

Did you know that if you eat peeled apples that you?ll probably get heart burn? Yet eating the whole apple can cure it. The reason is simple, you see there exists in nature an ?enzyme? for every thing you eat, there?s enzymes for protein, carbohydrates and sugars.

Without these enzymes you can?t digest your food. The enzymes to unlock the nutritional benefits inside an apple are hidden within the skin of the apple . . . quite ingenious isn?t it?

Millions of people that suffer needlessly from recurrent acid reflux do not have too much stomach acid in truth they have an enzyme deficiency. Your pancreas is an organ that helps the digestion of foods by producing key enzymes and like any organ depends on a balanced pH level also.

Another factor is that poor digestion and diet can lead to a B vitamin deficiency which can cause a hydrochloric acid (HCL) deficiency (low stomach acid). Contrary to popular belief ?low stomach acid? can cause acid reflux, because food is not digested and therefore presses on the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES), the flap that keeps stomach acid and bile down.

When someone has an HCL Deficiency, their body is deficient in mineral salts (electrolytes) that are needed to produce stomach acid. You see, the good news is minerals like potassium not only support the healthy production of stomach acid but also is also necessary to maintain a balanced pH level of the blood.

I hope now you see that popping antacids is NOT the answer to your acid reflux, heartburn and acid indigestion problem. Addressing the root cause takes some reasoning but it?s worth the effort.

Live well,

Martin Jacobse
Medical Investigator

P.S. To find out more about natural health remedies for heartburn and acid reflux download Barton Publishing’s Reflux Remedy Report.