Heartburn
Background
Do you think your problem is too much stomach acid? If you think so, keep this in mind. The older people get the more likely they are to use antacids. This is interesting as stomach acid production decreases dramatically as people get older!
We seem to forget that having stomach acid is both necessary and normal. In fact, the body has gone to great lengths to be able to produce stomach acid without digesting the stomach itself! Your body needs to have proper nutrition, however, to make the mucous lining that protects the stomach. Instead of giving your stomach what it needs to heal, we sometimes make the mistake of turning off our stomach acid to solve the problem.
What goes on in real life is that most of the enzymes we need to digest the food we eat are naturally present in the food. This occurs because enzymes are what a fruit or vegetable uses to ripen.
Many decades ago, food processors realized that they could prolong the shelf life of food from days to years by destroying the enzymes present in the food. Because of this, most of the enzymes present in processed foods, which we need in order to digest our food, have been eliminated over the last 30 plus years. This corresponds to the period of time in which we have seen a dramatic increase in degenerative diseases, autoimmune conditions, food allergies (with wheat going from being the "staff of life" to the stuff of allergies) and indigestion.
When you can’t digest your food properly, the acid starts to reflux up into your chest and you get burning in your solar plexus (just below the bottom of your ribs) and mid chest (called indigestion or "acid reflux"). As a simple hint, food should be past the stomach less than an hour after eating it. If you’re still tasting what you ate over an hour ago when you burp or have acid reflux, you’re not digesting properly and should take digestive enzymes.
An additional cause of indigestion and ulcers is a stomach infection with bacteria called H. Pylori.
The Problem With Acid Blockers
Though turning off stomach acid helps you feel better in the short term, acid blockers used for over 2 months can be both dangerous and addictive. In rare cases, such as precancerous changes in the esophagus, they may be needed long term (so discuss with your physician who prescribed them). But overall they are being overused, resulting in osteoporosis and nutritional deficiencies (again, we make stomach acid for a reason). In addition, acid blockers have been shown to be addictive, causing rebound massive acid secretion when you stop them. So wean off them using the treatments we discuss instead of stopping them suddenly.
The Problem With Chewable Antacids
If they are just calcium (and most are), taking plain calcium may increase heart attack risk. Use Rolaids that also have magnesium, which can be heart healthy.
Treatments
General Diet Advice
Drink warm liquids
Drink warm liquids with meals instead of ice drinks. Cold temperatures inactivate your digestive enzymes. Save ice drinks for between meals.
Or drink refrigerator-cold diet colas
Cola has the same acidity as stomach acid, so drinking some diet cola with large meals (for example Zevia cola) can actually improve digestion. Drink these at only refrigerator temperature as opposed to ice cold.
Recommended Supplements
For immediate heartburn relief:
Instead of Tums or other plain calcium antacids (which may increase heart attack risk 31%, as shown in studies using plain calcium for osteoporosis), use chewable antacids that include heart healthy magnesium, and vitamins D and K.
Plant-based enzymes
Take plant-based enzymes (not animal sourced) to help digest your food. Complete GEST enzymes (Enzymatic Therapy) are excellent. Take 2 capsules with each meal (or with larger meals) to help digest your food properly. If the enzymes are irritating to the stomach, wait till your stomach feels better on the licorice and mastic gum (see below) before resuming the enzymes.
Licorice
The herb licorice is as effective as Tagamet in head-on studies, but instead of turning off stomach acid it actually helps heal your stomach’s protective lining — a good thing. Licorice tea can help, but there is no licorice in licorice candy
Advanced herbal remedies for heartburn relief
Add 1 capsule a day of a special herbal mix for heartburn relief of Limonene (which can kill the indigestion-causing infection in your stomach) and Sea Buckthorne oil, which may help heal your stomach’s natural protective lining. This can give you long-term relief. Another option for this step is mastic gum 1,000 mg twice a day for 1-2 months (thereafter as needed). Either can kill the H. Pylori infection in your stomach.
Medications
Tagamet or Pepcid (Cimetidine or famotidine)
After a month on this regimen (using the plant based enzyme plus the licorice treatment recommendation together), your doctor will often be able to stop your acid-blocker medicine if you’ve been on them. Instead of stopping them suddenly, I recommend you switch to Tagamet (an over-the-counter medicine that decreases stomach acid without turning it off) for a month. By month 2, you’ll usually be able to stop all treatments, though you may prefer to continue the digestive enzymes and something to supply more stomach acid. The treatments above can be used intermittently if you have a recurrence of the indigestion. I strongly recommend against other heartburn medications (called PPIs) for long term use.
Antibiotics
Your physician may prescribe a mix of antibiotics and acid blockers to kill the H. Pylori ulcer-causing bacteria . Often, the natural treatments above can take care of the problem. If you do take the antibiotics, take 500-1,000 mg a day of vitamin C with the antibiotics to increase their effectiveness.