GERD in Children
and in Adults, and the Body Ecology Guide to Overcoming It, Part II: Natural
Healing For GERD
(Be Sure to Read Part I: GERD
in Children and in Adults, Part One: The Symptoms and the TRUE Causes)
Many people who suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD,
take prescription and over-the-counter medicines to reduce symptoms.
Those pills have their place, but a natural approach to healing can
cure and prevent GERD.
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In part 2 of this two-part piece on gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD),
Dr. Leonard Smith will outline treatment and prevention for GERD, including
the best NATURAL options. To find out more about GERD, read GERD
in Children and in Adults, Part I: The Symptoms and the TRUE Causes.
GERD, also known as gastoesophageal reflux disease, is more than just heartburn;
it's a serious condition that can erode your esophagus, make swallowing difficult,
and cause changes in your esophageal cells that may eventually lead to cancer.
Millions of Americans experience the painful heartburn and acid reflux of
GERD on a regular basis and frequently turn to over-the-counter and prescription
drugs to control the symptoms.
Sufferers of GERD depend on drugs like Prilosec, Zantac, and Nexium to help
them get through their days.
In my experience, I've even come across patients who take drugs like these
every day for five years or more!
Did you know that acid-blocking drugs make more money than all health supplements
in industry? And what's more, they are loaded with ingredients that do not
support optimal health.
Leonard Smith, M.D., is a renowned gastrointestinal, vascular and general
surgeon as well as an expert in the use of nutrition and natural supplementation.
As a surgeon, Dr. Smith has first-hand experience of the problems associated
with faulty digestion and the surgical necessities they can cause.
For the past 20 years, Dr. Smith has investigated many holistic medical
programs, including nutrition, exercise, chelation, stress management
and the relevance of mental and spiritual attitudes in healing. Acknowledging
the effectiveness of whole organic foods and nutritional supplementation,
Dr. Smith strives to stay on the leading edge of research and breakthroughs
in the field of functional nutrition.
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Keep in mind that the short run, taking acid-blocking and other drugs
can be helpful because they give the esophagus a chance to heal. However,
over the long-term, it's far better to take a preventative approach to healing,
using natural measures that focus on wellness.
Read on to learn why taking conventional GERD medications can actually harm
your body and the natural approach to take instead.
What's Wrong With The Typical Heartburn Drugs?
Several different kinds of medicine exist to counteract the symptoms of gastroesophageal
reflux disease; the most common are proton pump inhibitors and H2 blockers.
Proton pump inhibitors and H2 blockers work by decreasing the acid secretion
in your stomach. The proton pump inhibitors essentially stop all acid production.
Both kinds of drugs generally ease symptoms, but they typically do not address
the underlying cause of the disease.
These medications can even create other health problems for you. Here are
some of the complications and side affects you may experience due to low stomach
acid (HCl):1
- H. pylori (the bacteria associated with ulcers) can thrive in
your stomach because there is not enough stomach acid to kill it.
- Other pathogenic bacteria and yeast can thrive in the stomach if
there's not enough acid, which can effect digestion, create pain in the
stomach (dyspepsia) and compromise your gastric immunity.
- Absorption of B vitamins, zinc and minerals decreases with low stomach
acid. You need adequate HCl to absorb these important vitamins and minerals.
In fact, without them, you may find that your health and moods suffer.
- The hormone gastrin. A more serious problem that is still being
researched involves gastrin, the hormone in your stomach that stimulates
the secretion of stomach acid.
When you eat, your body naturally releases gastrin to trigger acid secretion
in your stomach. If you take acid blockers, your body produces gastrin, but
no stomach acid. Preliminary data shows that the excess gastrin in your stomach
acts like an anabolic hormone and may eventually be shown to cause cancers
of the upper gastrointestinal tract.2
With risks like these associated with long-term GERD medications, it's important
to explore a more holistic approach.
Natural Solutions For Healing GERD
For the treatment of GERD, conventional approaches recommend lifestyle changes,
prescription medicine and occasionally surgery. Certainly these methods have
their place in treatment, and prescription drugs are sometimes necessary to
give your esophagus time to heal.
However, I believe that establishing a good foundation for health: reducing
stress and healthy eating choices,are some of the best ways to treat and
prevent GERD.
Foundational Health
Many times GERD is a symptom that you have poor digestion.
Here are 3 principles of foundational health that can help you heal, naturally:
1. Optimal Nutrition
I have found that the Body Ecology approach to health and healing is one
of the best ways to establish a healthy body, from the inside out. By specifically
addressing the health of your digestion, the Body Ecology system works with
your body to correct some of the conditions that contribute to GERD including:
- Low stomach acid. Body Ecology principles promote optimal digestion
and the recommended fermented foods and drinks help your body break down
food with ease.
- Constipation. With better digestion, your elimination will improve
and put less stress on your system. Body Ecology's principle of cleansing
provides natural solutions for constipation.
- Food allergies. Body Ecology starts with removing common allergens and
foods that feed pathogenic bacteria and yeast, so your body can heal. At
the same time, the foods you DO eat nourish your digestive system back to
optimal health.
- Excess abdominal fat. By adopting a new Body Ecology way of eating,
you might find that weight loss is a happy by product that eases GERD symptoms.
To learn more about the basic principles of the Body Ecology system of health
and healing read about the first
7 steps to great health.
2. Stress Reduction
As I discussed in Part
I of this series, GERD is often a reflection of the inability to "digest
life." By this I mean that the way you handle the stress of life can
directly affect your digestive health and the wellness of your entire body.
Try these techniques to help you cope with the stress of life AND reduce
chronic stress:
- Acupuncture. One study discovered that stimulation of acupressure
points may maintain normal esophageal sphincter pressures and thus prevent
acid reflux.
- Exercise. Exercise is proven to reduce stress and has myriad health
benefits. Add some movement to your routine, and your GERD symptoms may
ease up. If you need more reasons to exercise, be sure to read 9
Resolutions to Commit to the Most Beneficial Exercise.
- The LifeLine Technique. The LifeLine
Technique is a revolutionary new approach to healing that harnesses
the power of "infinite love and gratitude" to create lasting and
impactful change on the physical, mental and spiritual level of life.
- The Sedona Method. For releasing troubling emotions, few things
are easier than the Sedona Method. Simple and straightforward, many people
have used the Sedona
Method to free themselves from stress and painful emotions that cause
dis-ease.
Now is the perfect time to lower your stress levels and heal your body. Read
7 Resolutions to Commit
to Better Emotional Health to discover new techniques to change your life!
3. Food and Supplements to Improve and Eliminate Reflux
As you establish optimal nutrition with the Body
Ecology program and reduce your stress levels, there are also some supplements
and healing foods and drinks that can support prevention of GERD or acid reflix:
- Take a shot of bitters before your meal. Bitters
(plant extracts that are bitter) can stimulate stomach acid and help your
lower esophageal sphincter high pressure zone get tighter, helping to reduce
and eliminate reflux.
- Eat fermented
foods with your meal, but not before. The healthy bacteria
created during fermentation will help you digest your food AND provide healthy
bacteria and yeast to fight off dangerous pathogens.
- Take digestive
enzymes if your body is not putting out enough enzymes to digest
your food.
- Consider taking hydrochloric
acid (HCl) before your meals. Body Ecology's Assist
Dairy and Protein is a good supplement because it has HCl to aid your
digestion if you don't have enough stomach acid AND digestive enzymes.
Since low stomach acid inhibits absorption of B vitamins, minerals and
zinc, my recommendation is: take Assist Dairy and Protein with a snack
of animal protein or some other low fiber protein (since fiber can sweep
away some of these vitamins and minerals). In this way, you will aid your
body with the right amount of HCl and enzymes to absorb these much needed
vitamins and minerals.
- Include fermented probiotic beverages like Young
Coconut Kefir and CocoBiotic
GERD symptoms may be caused by pathogenic bacteria and fermented foods and
drinks help protect you from these pathogens.
- Cayenne pepper and spices, like cumin and curry, often lower inflammation,
build the health of your stomach and digestive tract and improve peristaltic
action. Though you might think that you should avoid spicy things like cayenne,
it can actually help!
- Essential oils can improve digestion and ease stress at the same
time. Consider frankincense
and myrrh for your GERD.
At the same time, some foods aggravate GERD and tends to loosen your lower
esophageal sphincter high pressure zone.
Avoid these foods and drinks if you want to help your body heal:
- Coffee
- Caffeine
- Sugar
- Chocolate
- Alcohol
Also consider the size of your meals. If you lie down within a couple
of hours of a large meal, you could set yourself up for reflux. Plan to go
to sleep 4 hours after eating, for optimal digestion.
Fermented foods and drinks can heal your digestion, help prevent and
treat GERD, and keep you healthy! Ferment your own delicious drinks
and cultured vegetables at home using Body Ecology starters that make
it easy and fun! Try our three-pack
of starters today!
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Eat, Drink and be MERRY
Following this foundational approach to health may clear up acute and chronic
GERD and you owe it to yourself to find out if it will work for you.
Whether GERD is caused by hiatal hernia or aging, you may find that you no
longer need to contemplate surgery or drugs. I do recommend, however, that
as symptoms clear up, you continue to get an endoscopy every 6 months to make
sure you are not suffering from asymptomatic GERD.
With a foundational approach to optimal health and nutrition, you can eat,
drink and be merry, instead of miserable with symptoms of GERD. And
more importantly, you will boost your immunity and create youthful energy
that makes this change in habits more than worth your investment of time.
Sources:
Excessive Growth of Bacteria May Also Be Cause of Stomach Ulcers, HHMI.org,
15 Jan 2002. http://www.hhmi.org/news/merchant.html
2 Ferand, A and Wang, TC, "Gastrin and Cancer: A Review," Cancer
Lett. 8 Jul 2006. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=16054292&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google
3 Acupuncture vs. Acid Reflux: 40% cut in sphincter relaxations brings hope
for relief, American Physiological Society, 30 Aug 2005.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/aps-ava083005.php
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