Digestive Health Series Part 3: Stomach Acid Home Remedy
Richmondchironeu • July 8, 2019
What You Can Try At Home:
producing acid again (stop the zinc after several months as it can result in a copper deficiency). Low acid makes it difficult to absorb zinc, and low zinc results in low stomach acid, which means you can’t absorb the zinc…so part of getting your stomach back to normal requires zinc with the HCL for a while. For most of us, this is what will help but:
However, this home test requires several caveats:
1. Have an antacid on hand to take if needed when you try the HCL supplement. Most of the time, people have low stomach acid, but as I stated earlier, low or high acid can cause similar symptoms. So if you take the HCL and things get worse (this is unusual but it can still happen) you can simply take the antacid (like a TUMS or ROLAIDS) to neutralize the acid. If the stomach acid supplement worsens your symptoms, check with a gastroenterologist to rule out ulcer/infection.
2. If you suspect that you have an ulcer, consider these symptoms: dull pain
in the stomach; weight loss; not wanting to eat because of pain
; nausea or vomiting; bloating; feeling easily full; burping or acid reflux; heartburn, which is a burning sensation in the chest.Notice that these are similar to the signs of low acid, so it can be confusing, and if you think there could be an ulcer, you will need to see a GI physician to rule that out. Thus, if you try the HCL, and you get more burning or worsening of symptoms, then consider seeing a gastroenterologist right away. In this situation, upper abdominal pain sets it apart from most cases of low acid, but not always. Ulcers can be caused by a stomach infection called h. pylori, and this needs to be checked. And lastly, if you see that you blackened stool, suspect bleeding in the upper intestine or stomach and have that immediately evaluated…like immediately. Maybe even yesterday, as it is a sign of a bleeding ulcer.
3. High acid is often a symptom of high histamine, so if you have allergies and/or food intolerances, hives, skin that easily is reddened just by light touching or scratching (dermatographia) along with reflux, then you may have high histamine and that can cause high levels of stomach acid. To confirm that, try an over-the counter histamine blocker like Zantac, Tagamet or Pepcid and if you get relief, it may be high histamine. If that is the case, it will require a consult with me or a physician that knows how to lower histamine.
Bottom Line:
Try this test at home, or if you are a current patient just ask for a sample of HCL so you can give the test a go. The next newsletter will cover leaky gut, food intolerances and dysbiosis. You may need more than HCL for these conditions, so we will cover that as well. See you next week. The next 3 newsletters will cover food allergies and sensitivities, leaky gut, dysbiosis, stress, SIBO and SIFO and GERD/reflux.
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Your Brain on Food
New Title
New Title
To Avoid Chronic Disease, Watch What You Eat
Hello everyone: I think I have mentioned inflammaging before but never really focused on it. So, let’s dig into this interesting topic. Inflammaging is when chronic, low-grade inflammation develops with age as dietary and environmental stress accumulates, contributing to the development of all of the various age-related diseases and health issues. It results from a loss of control over systemic inflammation, which tends to come from an unbalanced and dysregulated immune system. One of the key drivers of inflammaging is diet…which means that one of the key tools to slow and reduce aging is our what we eat as well as what we don’t eat. In this paper, the authors reveal that the typical Western Diet (what science calls the Standard American Diet or S.A.D.) is the best example of a pro-inflammatory diet pattern. “ Conclusion: Inflammation is a key physiological process in immunity and tissue repair. However, during aging it becomes increasingly more chronic. In addition, we found that certain foods such as saturated fats have pro-inflammatory activity. Taking this into account, in this review we have proposed some dietary guidelines as well as a list of compounds present in foods with anti-inflammatory activity. It must be taken into account that the amounts used in the studies that detect anti-inflammatory activity of these compounds are very high, and the intake of a single food to achieve its anti-inflammatory power is not feasible. (My Comment: what this means is that it is the overall dietary pattern that matters the most.) However, the combination of foods rich in compounds with anti-inflammatory activity could exert beneficial effects during aging and in pathologies associated with inflammation and in reducing the detrimental effects of foods with pro-inflammatory activity. Therefore, we can conclude that the compounds in our diet with anti-inflammatory activity could help alleviate the inflammatory processes derived from diseases and unhealthy diets and thereby promote healthy aging. Thus, we can use diet not only for nourishment, but also as medicine.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8389628/ anti-inflammatory diet and health aging https://www.healthline.com/health/5-minute-guide-to-inflamm-aging Bottom Line: We all must age, and how we do so is largely under our own control. To create an anti-inflammatory lifestyle is not that difficult, especially if you put it all together in stages. Start with a clean, whole-food, unprocessed plant-based food plan. And to begin, first focus on what you can add into your menus and use those additions to sort of crowd out the things that are more inflammatory…sugar, refined grains, processed and pre-packaged things. Set realistic goals such as going plant based one or two days a week, or even one meal…just start and gradually work up. It has to be doable so don’t stress. Next, start moving and doing regular exercise at least three times a week…and find what you enjoy doing and focus on that. Then add activities that de-stress you, whether that is socializing, church, meditation, prayer, yoga, etc. Overall, shift your attention to giving love to things that love you back. Sugar, drive-thru and processed food like thingies do not love you back but apples or kiwis or berries or veggies do. Sitting around does not love you back but going for a short walk after a meal does love you back. Hang out and give love to the people you really like to be with, they will most always love you back. Create a love you back lifestyle and see how you feel.
Hello everyone: I frequently hear about mental health issues with the people in our practice. They could be experiencing depression, or anxiety, feel flat, can’t focus or sustain attention, or may not feel well in general. These comments can come from anyone of any age…I can hear from parents about their kids, or it may be themselves experiencing these feeling. So, when I read this paper, it felt important to share it because we all seem to have mobile phones. Here is how the paper is summarized: “Concern about how smartphones affect users is widespread: half of American smartphone users—and 80% of those under age 30—worry that they use their device too much, and correlational research suggests that smartphone use is negatively related to mental health and cognitive functioning. However, few large-scale experiments have tested for causal effects. We report such an experiment, finding that blocking mobile internet for 2 weeks reduces smartphone use and improves subjective well-being (SWB) (including life satisfaction and positive affect), mental health (more than antidepressants), and sustained attention (as much as being 10 years younger). Despite the many benefits mobile internet offers, reducing the constant connection to the digital world can have large positive effects.” https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/2/pgaf017/8016017?utm_source=klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=%28Email%20-%20Chris%20Kresser%20General%20News%29%20Chris%27s%20Friday%20Favorites&utm_term=randomized%20controlled%20trial&utm_content=randomized%20controlled%20trial&_kx=fARhTo_gi8X3B_2-MaeO_RyzUl9tvT3tr4re-Dy7cNQ.my75y6 Bottom Line: It seems like a smartphone ‘timeout’ can be very beneficial for mental, emotional, physical health and can be an important part of stress reduction. The world today, with nearly instant communications, the almost constant bad and anxiety promoting news, and the fast pace of data consumption can add up to significantly stress us out and pull us down…or just simple keep us distracted. From what I can see, a ‘timeout’ may be just what the doctor ordered.
Hey there everyone: As you know, inflammation causes, perpetuates, and/or aggravates every known human condition, including aging. As we age, we become more vulnerable to non-communicable diseases such as heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, dementia, arthritis and more. How we eat can massively reduce our inflammatory burden and promote health as we age. It is your choice. One reason that I keep writing on this is that I keep running into the mindset that these diseases are inevitable and that there is nothing we can do about it. Plus, because there are so many different diets for sale out there, it becomes hard to know what to eat. What is important for you to know is that there is a growing scientific consensus about what to eat, but the media rarely mention it and our public health authorities don’t either. It definitely seems like money is more important than our health. So…consuming an overall low-inflammatory diet is what the science is adding up to show it is the healthiest way to go, plus it actually gives you power over your future. This is a great article worth the time it takes to read it as it is pretty comprehensive. Bottom Line: “To adopt an anti-inflammatory dietary pattern, it is recommended to replace refined grains with whole grains, substitute healthy fats (such as nuts, seeds and fatty fish) for saturated and trans fats and increase the consumption of colorful fruits and vegetables while reducing the intake of sugary and processed foods. Additionally, choosing lean protein sources like fish and legumes over red and processed meats, using herbs and spices (such as turmeric, ginger, garlic and cinnamon) in place of excessive salt and sugar and consuming probiotic-rich foods (such as yogurt and kefir) instead of processed and sugary snacks are advised. These dietary adjustments can help mitigate inflammation and promote overall health.” https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/overview-of-antiinflammatory-diets-and-their-promising-effects-on-noncommunicable-diseases/AA3166846841DCC1B219C063F52E2A7F (anti-inflammatory diet)
